Netflix has had a very rough couple of weeks, and it hasn’t helped that they are in the heart of the streaming wars. Potentially cracking down on password sharing, considering an ad paid tier, and the continued practice of canceling many of their shows not named Stranger Things or Bridgerton, hasn’t won Netflix any favors either.
However, in an effort to further evolve its content library, Netflix is considering live-streaming in the future.
According to a report by Deadline, this move would affect their previously existing unscripted shows and stand-up specials. It would also mean that Netflix would be able to use the feature for live voting for competition series and talent contests. This includes their upcoming dance competition series Dance 100 from The Circle producer Studio Lambert.
As previously mentioned, Netflix has a lot of content to try out this new potential live system on. Many of their stand-up specials have been major hits for their company, and they usually film a handful of them at their annual Netflix Is A Joke comedy festival. Some heavy hitters from this festival include Dave Chappelle, Larry David, and Pete Davidson. If the streamer decides to go down this new route, they could live stream the hottest specials instead of just pre-recording them for a later date. The other prime candidates for the live treatment are reunion specials for shows like Selling Sunset which just aired its reunion special for Season 5.
This also means that there may be more unscripted shows in the future to compete with cable channels like CBS and ABC. Netflix already has a few unscripted shows like Love is Blind and The Circle under their belt which could benefit from a move like this. However, the biggest promise a major move like this could have is Netflix finally getting into the sports game. While the streamer has had success with their Formula 1 racing series Drive to Success, live sports are the one area Netflix hasn’t really dabbled in yet. With other streaming services like Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV+ covering live sports like baseball and football, this is definitely something Netflix would want to consider if they want to remain on top of the streaming food chain. However, Deadline suggests that sports are unrelated to this live-streaming plan at this time.
The days of Netflix feeling comfortable in their complacency is likely over as they now have to compete with the likes of Amazon Prime, Apple TV+, HBO Max, Disney+, Paramount+, and Shudder. Most of those newer streaming options already have live channels or live programming to keep their subscribers happy. While it’s important to remember that this live-streaming plan is still in the very early stages of development and hasn’t been officially announced yet, this looks to be where Netflix is heading sometime in the near future.
With streamers like Disney+ getting into the live content game as the new home for Dancing with the Stars, Netflix seems to be poised to try anything to keep their content from running stale. Until that next evolutionary step occurs, you can stream unscripted shows like Love is Blind on Netflix right now.