Netflix is acquiring the most-watched short videos on YouTube A new strategy to challenge the dominance of social networks
Netflix recently announced that it will expand its offering and is preparing to bring many of the web's most popular videos to the platform. Starting August 3, subscribers in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand will be able to watch content created by some of the leading digital media outlets and editorial brands on the platform – without having to go through YouTube or other services.
The initiative involves well-known brands active in journalism and entertainment, such as BuzzFeed, Condé Nast, Hearst Magazines, People, Tastemade and several brands from the Penske Media group, including Rolling Stone, Variety, Billboard and The Hollywood Reporter. The content will cover a wide range of topics, from cooking to travel, fashion to wellness, as well as entertainment, design and interviews with celebrities.
The length of these videos will vary considerably. Some will be short clips lasting just a few minutes, while others will run for around twenty minutes. Netflix will offer both previously released content and new episodes of formats already appreciated by the audience – providing a constantly updated catalogue of short clips over time.
Netflix focuses on short videos to expand its catalogue
@latimesstudios Netflix is bringing short-form videos to its homepage starting August 3rd. The streaming giant will feature clips ranging from three to 20 minutes from digital publishers like BuzzFeed and Condé Nast. Covering everything from gardening and travel to popular series like "30 Questions" and "Lie Detector," this new feature rolls out in the U.S., Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. It's the latest move in Netflix's push to expand beyond traditional TV into short-form content, live events, and games. #Netflix #Streaming #ShortForm original sound - LA Times Studios
Among the programmes confirmed for the new short-video catalogue are Open Door by Architectural Digest, focusing on celebrity homes, Tasty's recipes dedicated to simple and creative cooking, Struggle Meals by Tastemade, featuring affordable dishes prepared with easily available ingredients, I Draw, You Cook by BuzzFeed, in which a chef creates recipes based on unusual drawings, and the famous Lie Detector Test by Vanity Fair, where actors and celebrities answer questions while connected to a lie detector machine.
The goal of Netflix's project is to offer easy-to-follow content designed for those looking for something to watch in a few minutes. This choice also represents a test to understand how interested Netflix users are in content native to digital platforms. Compared to TV series or films, these videos require lower investments and can be produced more quickly, allowing the catalogue to be expanded more frequently.
The initiative comes at a time when the way people consume online video is changing: while many users continue to rely on social networks to watch short-form content, interest is also growing in content created by recognised and authoritative publishers, which is considered more refined and engaging than what is found in individual platform feeds – which in this way often encourage, more or less indirectly, the so-called doomscrolling.
Netflix's new challenge in the streaming market
With this project, Netflix appears to be trying to further increase its relevance within the streaming market, with the goal of increasing the time users spend on the platform and offering an increasingly diverse selection.
The experiment could also influence the rest of the industry. If the audience responds positively, other streaming platforms could establish similar partnerships with digital publishers to enrich their catalogues with short-form content that is also carefully curated from an editorial perspective.
For now, the launch is limited to six English-speaking countries, but Netflix has already stated that it intends to expand the number of partners involved in the future. The success of the initiative will depend above all on the ability to integrate these new contents into the usual viewing experience of subscribers and make them a stable part of the platform's offering.
