Netflix is coming to France to take on Disney+. In a bit of a surprise move, the streamer is planning to start carrying five live broadcast TV channels from one of France’s top commercial broadcasters, TF1 Group, this summer.

It’s a marked shift in the platform’s approach — a company that has helped destroy TV is now borrowing from its playbook.

Netflix and TF1: A French Pact

According to The Financial Times, the Netflix-TF1 deal will provide viewers in France with a familiar television experience on a modern streaming platform. Alongside the live channels, Netflix subscribers will get access to more than 30,000 hours of on-demand TF1 content by summer 2026, which will include hit reality shows, scripted dramas and live sports.

With this deal, viewers will get more options and Netflix will add to its entertainment offering in France.

The two companies have worked together before, partnering on the French historical drama Les Combattantes (The Warriors) but this deal goes much deeper. It involves integrating live TV into the streaming platform — something few services have tried.

The deal wasn’t priced, but it’s a significant agreement for both sides.

“This is an opportunity to offer a larger, more diverse daily experience for our members,” said Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters. “We’ll not only add compelling content to Netflix, but by partnering 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 needs.”

For TF1, the deal offers exposure and the chance to push its advertising. TF1’s live channels will remain commercial, allowing the company to reach more eyeballs and a broader ad base.

“The profound alliance is perfectly in line with our digital strategy,” said TF1 CEO Rodolphe Belmer. “As viewing habits are shifting toward on-demand consumption and audience fragmentation is increasing, this unprecedented alliance will enable our premium content to reach an unprecedented number of viewers.”

He added that linear TV is in “secular decline” and that partnerships like this could be a way to stay relevant by “benefiting from the massive engine that is Netflix.”

Also, the deal helps Netflix in a regulatory sense. Under French law, streamers must invest between 20 to 25 percent of their revenue in France in local content. Partnering with TF1 allows Netflix to meet that requirement and expand its library with popular, local content.

Additionally, there’s a large audience to tap. TF1’s broadcast channels are seen by 58 million viewers each month and its streaming platform, TF1+, has 35 million users. Netflix only has 10 million subscribers in France, according to co-CEO Ted Sarandos in 2022.

The deal could bring TF1’s viewers to Netflix and vice versa, creating a virtuous cycle of engagement and visibility.

That’s only the start. Peters said the company will evaluate how the deal goes in France before doing similar pacts in other regions. If successful, it could extend to other countries in Europe and the U.S.

It’s not the first deal where a streaming service carries live channels. Services like YouTube TV already offer linear channels. Netflix’s integration of live broadcast channels could be a signal of something bigger. Streaming services are no longer disrupting television, they’re becoming it.

The deal with TF1 positions Netflix as the go-to for all forms of entertainment, from bingeable series to sports to real-time TV for many French viewers.

To many French viewers, Netflix already feels like television. Now it’s about to become it.