Netflix weighs 24/7 live channels and streaming bundles amid slowing engagement

Netflix is weighing always-on, 24/7 live channels built around genres, a move that would make its app feel more like linear television as the company tries to keep viewers inside it longer. It is also exploring streaming bundles that could let subscribers buy third-party services, including NBCUniversal’s Peacock, through Netflix.

The push comes as Nielsen put Netflix at 7.8% of U.S. TV viewing in April 2026, its weakest share since May 2025. Streaming still held the largest slice of household TV use at 47.6%, but the numbers point to a different challenge for Netflix: keeping attention once viewers open the app. A nonstop channel of shows or films would reduce the need to search title by title and could address discovery fatigue, lower engagement and weaker completion rates.

Netflix has spent years tying growth to watch time. In its first-half 2025 engagement report, the company said members watched more than 95 billion hours on the service, and its second-half 2025 report put total viewing at 96 billion hours. Netflix says watch time is its best indicator of member happiness, and that heavier viewing makes members more likely to stay and recommend the service to others. That makes the current move less of a break from its model than an attempt to protect it as viewing habits flatten.

The company has already signaled that live programming belongs in its broader mix, alongside TV series, films and games. It also has a direct precedent for linear-style experimentation: Netflix Direct, a France-only product that tested a channel-like format, and a June 2025 partnership with TF1 Group to bring TF1 channels and TF1+ on-demand content to Netflix members in France starting in summer 2026. That integration went live on June 19, 2026, with live broadcasts from TF1, TMC, TFX, TF1 Séries Films and the 24-hour news channel LCI. TF1 said the deal would help it reach new audiences and advertisers.

For Netflix, the appeal of live channels is partly strategic and partly commercial. A steady stream of passive programming could give the service another way to hold onto viewers who might otherwise leave after a few searches, and a bundle approach could widen the number of paid relationships routed through one app. Netflix has not announced timing, markets or pricing for the proposed channels.