In a surprising turn of events, Netflix is planning to bring live broadcast TV to its streaming service. Starting next summer, Netflix will begin offering French subscribers access to five of France’s most popular broadcast channels owned by TF1 Group.

It’s a turnabout that is particularly noteworthy for Netflix. The streaming giant is now incorporating the playbook it used to kill off traditional TV.

The Netflix-TF1 Alliance

According to the Financial Times, Netflix will make available TF1 Group’s live channels, which can be watched in France as well as in other European countries, to its subscribers. By the summer of 2026, users will have access to more than 30,000 hours of on-demand content from TF1 Group, including reality shows, scripted dramas, and live sports, providing French users with more options and content for Netflix.

Although the two companies have already collaborated in the past, co-producing the French historical series Les Combattantes (which was later released as Women at War), the new deal is significantly different. Instead of merely working together on content, Netflix and TF1 are now taking live TV and embedding it into the streaming platform. It’s a move that few, if any, streaming services have done.

There are no details on how much money was paid for the deal, but it seems to be a significant long-term investment for both parties.

“This deal is a great way to increase daily viewing engagement,” said Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters, referring to the fact that the company stopped reporting subscribers and is focusing on daily active users. “We’re delighted to partner with France’s leading broadcaster, which will provide French viewers with even more reasons to come to Netflix every day, and stay with us for all their entertainment needs.”

TF1 CEO Rodolphe Belmer called the deal a “revolutionary step” in the company’s “digital transformation,” adding that as viewing habits shift towards on-demand content and audience fragmentation increases, this “unprecedented alliance will give our premium content the most massive reach and the greatest visibility ever achieved.”

Belmer continued, “Although linear TV is in secular decline, we are demonstrating that we can innovate and that this ‘monolith’ can also benefit from the massive impetus of Netflix.”

Regulation and Growing User Base

There’s another reason Netflix was able to do this deal. According to French law, streaming services must reinvest 20% to 25% of their revenue in France in local content. By partnering with TF1, Netflix can meet that requirement while continuing to increase its library with local, culturally relevant content.

Moreover, there’s a significant amount of growth potential here. TF1’s broadcast channels reach 58 million monthly viewers, while its streaming service TF1+ reaches 35 million users. Compared to that, Netflix has just over 10 million subscribers in France, as reported by co-CEO Ted Sarandos last year.

And this may not be a one-off deal. Peters told the Financial Times that Netflix will keep an eye on how the TF1 deal performs before exploring a similar strategy in other markets. Should it succeed, it could be deployed in other European countries, or even in the U.S.

What is going on is a shift in how viewers consume content. According to Nielsen, streaming represented 44.8% of all TV viewing in May, surpassing cable (24.1%) and broadcast (20.1%) for the first time since the ratings company began tracking data in 2021.

Some live channels are already available on YouTube TV, among other services, but Netflix taking a key part of linear TV signals a shift. Streaming services are no longer only taking the place of traditional TV. They’re becoming it.

Through the TF1 deal, Netflix is likely trying to position itself as the one-stop shop for all types of entertainment, whether it’s binge-able series or sports that can be watched live.

For many French viewers, Netflix is already television. Soon, it’ll be the television.