In a surprising move, Netflix is set to offer live broadcast TV. Beginning summer 2025, the company will launch five live channels from France’s largest commercial broadcaster, TF1 Group.

It’s a historic move that shows a dramatic shift in strategy for the streamer, which has previously been seen as a company dismantling TV.

Netflix and TF1: A New Chapter

The partnership between Netflix and TF1 will give its subscribers in France a familiar TV experience, but one adapted to a modern-day streaming platform. Not only will they be able to watch live broadcasts of channels on the service, but they’ll also be able to watch more than 30,000 hours of on-demand content from TF1 by summer 2026.

The content range will include popular reality shows, scripted series, and live sports. It’s a way for viewers to get more variety, and it extends Netflix’s library in France.

The partnership isn’t the first between the two companies. They previously worked together on the French historical drama Les Combattantes (aka Women at War), which was produced and released on both services.

However, this new deal goes further. It is a deep integration of live TV in the Netflix streaming interface, something few services have experimented with.

Financial terms weren’t disclosed, but the size of the partnership shows it’s a long-term agreement.

“We are thrilled to partner with France’s leading broadcaster, enabling French consumers to enjoy even more reasons to visit Netflix every day, and to keep coming back for all their entertainment needs,” Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters said.

For TF1, the agreement is an opportunity to reach a much wider audience. The company’s live channels will remain ad-supported, meaning it can advertise to a much wider audience than if it relied on a traditional pay-TV platform.

“It’s an incredible opportunity to forge an alliance with the world’s leading SVOD service and a symbol of our firm commitment to drive our expansion,” TF1 Group CEO Rodolphe Belmer said. “As the on-demand mode of consumption gains ground and fragmentation of audiences accelerates, this unprecedented partnership will allow our premium content to reach audiences in an unparalleled way.”

He continued, “In the context of a secular decline of linear TV, it will be a means to continue remaining at the forefront of the game by being able to take advantage of the giant power of Netflix.”

Netflix and Regulating for TV Rights

But Netflix also benefits from the partnership in a regulatory sense. In France, services with more than 1 million subscribers must reinvest 20 to 25 percent of revenue in the country in local content. Through the partnership with TF1, Netflix is fulfilling that obligation and expanding its library with shows that are well-known to French audiences.

There’s also a significant amount of viewership potential. TF1’s broadcast channels attract 58 million viewers per month, while its streaming service TF1+ has 35 million users. By comparison, Netflix has 10 million subscribers in France, according to co-CEO Ted Sarandos in 2022.

Through this integration, TF1’s traditional viewers will see the streaming service and vice versa. It creates a win-win scenario that keeps the companies’ content in front of one another.

“We’ll see how the market performs before we do anything else,” Peters said. “If it works in France, then I think we’ll try to replicate it in other parts of the world, including Europe, and possibly in the U.S.”

But with the agreement, Netflix may be setting itself up to be that destination for all kinds of content — from binging on popular shows to live sports to real-time TV.

For many viewers in France, the service already feels like television. Now, it will become one.