- calendar_today August 30, 2025
In a bold move, Netflix is adding live broadcast TV to its roster. Come summer 2025, the streaming giant will begin making five linear broadcast channels from France’s largest commercial broadcaster, TF1 Group, available to French subscribers.
It’s a move that comes as a surprise from a company known for breaking the traditional TV mold. Netflix is now taking notes from its own playbook.
How Netflix and TF1 Are Teaming Up
According to the Financial Times, through the partnership, Netflix users in France will have access to a TV lineup that looks more like the traditional experience. Alongside access to live channels, Netflix subscribers will get on-demand access to over 30,000 hours of on-demand content from TF1 by the summer of 2026.
That includes hits like The Voice, scripted dramas, and live sports, offering more variety for viewers and a greater range of entertainment on Netflix.
Netflix and TF1 have partnered in the past, working together on the French historical series Les Combattantes (The Warriors), but the new deal takes the partnership further. Rather than co-productions, it’s an integrated partnership of live TV within the streaming platform — something that few streaming services have done.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the scale of the deal suggests a long-term commitment.
“We’re excited about this unique opportunity to work with TF1, France’s premier broadcaster, to increase daily engagement,” said Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters. “We will provide French consumers with more reasons than ever to come to Netflix every day and stay with us for all their entertainment needs.”
For TF1, the deal will change its exposure and advertising options. The linear channels will still run commercials, which means the broadcaster will have a larger reach and a new avenue to connect with ad buyers.
“It is our desire to be at the heart of this evolution,” said TF1 CEO Rodolphe Belmer. “In an ever-changing media environment with ever-increasing fragmentation, and with viewers migrating towards on-demand viewing, this unprecedented alliance will enable our premium content to reach unparalleled audiences.”
“Linear TV is in secular decline,” he added, “but our partnership with Netflix is another way to remain relevant, to benefit from the huge power of Netflix.”
A Big Deal From a Regulatory Standpoint
In addition to the access and entertainment value, Netflix is also using the deal to comply with regulations. French streaming services must reinvest 20 to 25% of their revenue generated in France back into the country. Working with TF1 means Netflix can check that box while adding to its library with content that’s familiar and more relatable to French viewers.
Plus, there’s the size of the potential audience. TF1’s channels draw 58 million viewers monthly, and its streaming platform, TF1+, has 35 million users. By comparison, Netflix has less than 10 million subscribers in France, according to co-CEO Ted Sarandos in 2022.
Adding TF1 to the mix may draw TF1’s audience to Netflix — and vice versa — in a feedback loop of engagement and awareness.
Peters said that Netflix will monitor the performance of the TF1 deal before looking to expand in other territories. If it works out, the model could extend to other European countries and even the U.S.
Consumer behavior is still shifting, though. According to Nielsen, streaming now accounts for 44.8% of total TV viewership in May, more than cable (24.1%) and broadcast (20.1%) for the first time since Nielsen began tracking in 2021.
Linear channels are already available on services like YouTube TV, but this partnership is different. Instead of simply competing with linear channels, Netflix will become one. In France, it already is.
If the TF1 deal goes as planned, Netflix may be evolving into the platform that offers it all — binge-worthy shows, live sports, and real-time TV.
For many viewers in France, Netflix is already television. It’s about to become all television.
