Netflix is testing Direct, a linear channel with real-time, scheduled programming from its library, which is accessible only via its website, in France
VarietyElsa Keslassy
Context & Ripple Effects
France is the one market where Netflix's rivals organized first: regulators approved the broadcaster-backed Salto joint venture, and French producers agreed to give Salto exclusive rights that blocked sales of their shows to Netflix. Against that backdrop, Direct reads as a countermove — Netflix packaging its own library into a real-time, scheduled web-only channel rather than waiting for rights.
It also fits a pattern of format experimentation beyond the standard on-demand grid, which later extends to carrying other broadcasters outright when Netflix signed the landmark TF1 deal to show linear TV for the first time.
First-order effects
French subscribers get a lean-back, appointment-viewing surface inside Netflix's site, putting Netflix's catalog into direct competition with Salto's curated-French-TV pitch using content Netflix already owns.
Second-order effects
A working linear-on-streaming product weakens the rationale behind Salto's exclusivity strategy — if Netflix can schedule and package locally relevant programming itself, locking producers out matters less.
Success in France gives Netflix a template it can extend through partnerships like the TF1 arrangement, where third-party linear channels ride on Netflix's distribution instead of competing against it.
Third-order effects
If scheduled channels keep proving out, the boundary between streamer and broadcaster blurs: platforms converge on hybrid grids mixing owned-library channels and licensed live feeds, and national content-protection regimes increasingly respond by pulling global platforms into local carriage deals rather than keeping them out.
The trend: Streaming platforms are reabsorbing linear television's formats — first as self-built scheduled channels, then as hosts for traditional broadcasters — with France as the early testbed.
Eventually, Netflix will be just like NBC https://variety.com/...
@theodorestrauss
Theo Strauss on x
Imagine if NBC Peacock and CBS All Access did this too https://twitter.com/...
@muzkmuzkmuzk
@muzkmuzkmuzk on x
the key word is “scheduled.” no one wants to rush to a certain time or be constrained. it wont work. https://twitter.com/...
@openoutcrier
@openoutcrier on x
Netflix is testing a TV channel...amazing https://twitter.com/...
@axe_hat
Akshath on x
So, Netflix is effectively testing a...TV channel?? https://twitter.com/...
@dfriend
David Friend on x
Having a linear channel also gives Netflix some competitive options they wouldn't have as a traditional streamer. Like say...showing the Oscars on a live stream. https://variety.com/...
@dfriend
David Friend on x
“Many viewers like the idea of programming that doesn't require them to choose what they are going to watch.” Netflix tests a linear channel in France that would stream programs on its web platform as if it were a traditional TV channel. (Variety) https://variety.com/...
@dfriend
David Friend on x
Netflix's test of a linear channel comes much later than I anticipated. Other smaller streaming services have been doing this for years, including Shudder, as a way to expose viewers to shows already in progress. Crave streams its live Canadian channels. https://variety.com/...
@scottygb
Scott Bryan on x
Netflix looking into a linear streaming channel is very 👀👀👀 https://twitter.com/...
@manori_r
Manori on x
This is a huge development, and marks the streamer's first foray into real-time, scheduled programming. Netflix's new subscriber-only “Direct” channel will be available via web browser, ft. French, international and U.S. feature films and TV series. https://variety.com/...