Netflix Reportedly Looking Into Livestreaming

Netflix subscribers may be getting a live-streaming option for unscripted shows and stand-up specials, according to Deadline. Citing unnamed sources, the publication indicates this functionality is still strictly in the earliest stages of development and there is no timeline.

Netflix has not provided a comment about the upcoming feature, but according to Deadline a small team within the company is in the preliminary stages of developing the product. Deadline speculates that the live-streaming functionality could be used for live-voting competition series and talent shows--and more visibility for the annual and recently concluded Netflix is a Joke festival.

The streaming platform's most recent addition to the service was adding a new "two thumbs out" option for rating content back in April. While not revolutionary, that was Netflix's latest major swing after the service's January price hikes and just before a disastrous Q1 earnings report that disclosed a loss of 200,000 subscribers and the expectation to lose 2 million more in Q2.

Announcements of features being trial-ballooned by Netflix to see how they will be received will likely be par for the course as the streaming service must confront its growing competition from rival services. As the service acknowledged in its letter to shareholders, "competition for viewing with linear TV as well as YouTube, Amazon, and Hulu has been robust for the last 15 years," but there is simply no denying that the last three years--overlapping with the pandemic and people being far more ravenous for streaming content--has woken the world and traditional entertainment companies to realize that "streaming is the future."