Starting in summer 2026, Netflix subscribers in France will be able to watch commercially broadcast TV content “without ever having to leave the service.” The streaming giant has announced a distribution deal with French media company TF1 Group to make TF1’s free-to-air live TV channels and on-demand TF1 Plus streaming content available to French Netflix users as part of their existing subscription plan.
“This is a first-of-its-kind partnership that plays to our strengths of giving audiences the best entertainment alongside the best discovery experience,” Netflix CEO Greg Peters said in a statement. “By teaming up with France’s leading broadcaster we will provide French consumers with even more reasons to come to Netflix every day and to stay with us for all their entertainment.”
The carriage deal will enable French Netflix subscribers to watch major live sports matches, scripted dramas like Broceliande and Erica, soap operas such as Demain nous appartient, and unscripted shows like The Voice. Financial details were not disclosed, but for Netflix, this deal may also contribute towards a legal requirement to invest a portion of its French revenue into French-language content. Netflix started experimenting with a linear-style TV feature in France in 2020 called “Direct” that broadcast a programmed schedule of shows, but the TF1 partnership is the first deal to host channels from a third-party network.
The partnership could be compared to Netflix being granted the output for CBS in the US, or ITV in the UK. It’s significant because the TF1 network holds around 24 percent of the French linear TV market — higher than the domestic US market share for NBC, CBS, ABC, or Fox.
As more consumers switch from traditional TV to streaming on-demand content, the Netflix TF1 partnership could pave the way for similar deals to help struggling networks bolster their audiences by piggybacking off the very streaming services that viewers are jumping to.
In the announcement, TF1 Group CEO Rodolphe Belmer said, “as viewing habits shift toward on-demand consumption and audience fragmentation increases, this unprecedented alliance will enable our premium content to reach unparalleled audiences and unlock new reach for advertisers within an ecosystem that perfectly complements our TF1 Plus platform.”
