Some Netflix users in France have recently noticed that a new service of this streaming platform, Netflix Direct, has become available.

The company confirms that it is a test in France only, aimed at establishing whether people think that it is better sometimes to watch linear programming selected by someone for them, instead of films and series available on demand.

Based on its surveys, Netflix says that France has a fair share of viewers who do not always feel like choosing programming to watch, and prefer someone else to select TV programming for them instead. Regular television is still widely popular in that country.

Now viewers preferring passive TV watching can turn on Netflix’s Direct channel, available via the web system only for now, and then watch whatever I offered in linear programming, including some of the films, series or documentaries available on Netflix.

This streaming service hopes that this ‘TV channel’ will open the doors to new users, and that linear programming will present and reveal some content to the existing users which they have not come across before. A project tested by Netflix on smart TV sets had a similar purpose, as it included the special ‘Shuffle Play’ option, for random selection of available programming for viewers who have no idea what to watch.

Netflix Direct shows what is on air in the coming 24 hours. It is important to note that a programming schedule is available for five days n advance and that it is created following Netflix’s selection and data on popularity of specific content, rather than following preferences of individual users.

Source: SEEbiz, Bug.hr