Netflix has begun a remarkable experiment in the form of a linear web channel. Here you watch content according to a schedule. That mean it will be possible to watch old-fashioned TV with Netflix
Watching old-fashioned TV with Netflix
You know. You come home after a long day of work, give your partner a kiss on the mouth, pat the dog on the head, throw off your shoes and grab a treat. You turn on the TV and start zapping, hoping that you will find something you can watch – without an active decision process preceded. Video streaming services are of course great because you can always watch what you want, but the surprise element of watching old-fashioned TV is as good as gone. But Netflix seems to be doing something about that now.
In France, the video streaming service is testing one remarkable function, namely a linear web channel. Via this channel you can watch the available content in the old-fashioned way, but at fixed times. Just like it happens on all kinds of television channels. The schedule is known five days in advance and you can look it up on the website, just like you would with a paper or digital TV guide, for example. Netflix presents the most popular content here, so you may have already seen an episode of a series.
But that’s the whole point, of course: it shouldn’t matter. Just as it doesn’t matter if you’re watching some sitcom series for the hundredth time on traditional TV at the end of the day. The point is that you can sit down and watch something that is offered to you at that moment. Moreover, it can happen that you discover something new on Netflix in this way, if such a series knows how to surprise you. This is therefore doubly interesting for the platform, because subscribers then continue to watch the content.
The reason Netflix is doing this experiment in France is because people there are very used to live TV. At the moment, the new channel, called Direct, only works in the browser and not within the company’s apps. By the beginning of December, all customers in France should have access to Direct. The function is now being rolled out slowly. The question is what Netflix is planning with this and whether such a function will also be available in other countries. Nothing has been announced about this yet.
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