Netflix‘s deal with TF1, announced last month at Cannes Lions, will give both companies “an opportunity to learn,” the streamer’s co-CEO, Greg Peters, said Thursday on the company’s quarterly earnings call.The milestone teaming, which will see the French broadcaster’s programming offered within the Netflix app in France starting next summer, will also be a way for Netflix to put new technology to use.“We’ve invested a lot in a bunch of enabling capabilities that are either required or highly leveraged by this deal,” Peters said. Along with creating its own ad tech stack and introducing new live programming tools, the company has also rolled out a major update to its main user interface, he noted.Those innovations will help subscribers gain access to TF1’s linear channels and on-demand content without leaving Netflix. The roster of programming will include local titles and genres like soap operas, unscripted competition shows and marquee live sports like the UEFA Nations League.News of the partnership has resonated far beyond Europe, with stakeholders in the declining linear TV business wondering if it heralds a future state of the traditional pay bundle. Financial terms and logistical details, however, have not been revealed. Plus, the business of TF1 and the French TV industry cannot be compared apples-to-apples with those of other network owners and territories.Above all else, Peters said, the partnership will expand the range of programming on the service. It is an “accelerated way” to satisfy subscribers’ unquenchable thirst for more, he added.“You would think with that long list of amazing titles that Ted just rattled off that we’d have enough to satisfy every person on the planet,” Peters said with a smile, offering his remarks moments after Co-CEO Ted Sarandos wove several dozen names of film and TV titles into a single response to an analyst’s question. “But it turns out we actually consistently hear from our members that they want more. They want more variety, more breadth of content. So, the fundamental purpose for this TF1 partnership is all about that goal of expanding our entertainment offering.”The strategy recalls the way the company embarked on original programming with House of Cards and other early titles via third-party deals before it had built the infrastructure to make shows or films.In that spirit, “this is just another mechanism to expand that offering,” Peters said. “And in this case, it specifically about highly relevant local-for-local content in a country that has strong demand for that local content.”While optimism is high that the companies can work together to “scale the local content that TF1 is producing to more customers in France,” Peters said, the rubber still has to meet the road. “We’re looking forward to seeing what consumers think. You never really know until you get out there and get the real reactions and obviously we’ll factor that into our plans going forward.”
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