Netflix is considering the introduction of channels always onwhich would continuously broadcast selected films and series without forcing the user to search for what to watch. The internal discussions are reported by the Wall Street Journalaccording to which the company thinks in parallel about selling subscriptions to competing services directly from its app. At the origin of both moves there is a worrying fact: the involvement of subscribers shows signs of decline.
The imagined channels would replay programs chosen or grouped by genre, in a seamless flow, and would appear as boxes on the home screen next to the on-demand catalog. It’s a return to the logic of old linear TV by the company that more than any other has pushed viewers to abandon it, and closely resembles free platforms such as Pluto TV and Tubi. With a substantial difference in the model: those services are free because they are entirely supported by advertising.
A new space for advertising
But advertising is precisely one of the reasons of interest: a schedule that scrolls without stopping opens up a new space for advertisements that the viewer can’t jump. Netflix’s ad-supported plan, which is increasingly popular, is expensive today 6.99 euros per month, and every additional advertising space is a revenue lever.
On the package front, the company has explored the inclusion of third-party subscription services, including Peacock by NBCUniversal, to be sold from its own app as Amazon and Apple have already done for some time. This also marks a distance from the origins for a service that has built its identity on being a single destination.
The crux of involvement
Engagement, i.e. how long a film or series is watched and how often a film or series is completed, is today the reference metric in Hollywood: a subscriber who consumes a lot is a subscriber who rarely cancels. It is the reason why his failure, which emerged as a recurring theme in internal meetings, pushes the company to seek countermoves.
The picture is linked to another difficulty: Netflix is trying to understand why the second seasons of its series recorded significant drops in ratings. In the meantime, the catalog has opened up to formats other than the prestige series, such as video podcasts and content produced by digital publishers such as BuzzFeed and Condé Nastdesigned to remain lit in the background without requiring full attention. However, none of the ideas on channels and packages have been confirmed: for now, internal discussions remain, and the company has not commented.
