Netflix is finally ready to foray into live streaming months after news of its plans surfaced. The service has confirmed that Chris Rock will debut live comedy specials on the service sometime in early 2023. He is the “first artist” to be honored and the stream will be broadcast worldwide, the company said.
The company revealed its live performance strategy following a Deadline scoop in May of this year. At the time, Netflix said it would focus on unscripted material like talk shows, competition shows and the upcoming Netflix Is a Joke Festival. In theory, you could vote on a reality TV series, or watch an unmistakable original comedy show.
The expansion isn’t shocking when some of Netflix’s main competitors have at least some form of live streaming in place. Disney+ streamed the Oscar nominations in February and will stream live episodes of Dancing With the Stars this fall. Others are very focused on movement. For example, Amazon Prime Video shows weekly NFL games, while Apple TV+ shows Friday Night Baseball. These offerings give you a reason to join the service or continue your subscription when you’ve exhausted your usual on-demand fare.
Netflix has also never been shy about experimenting with its movies and TV shows in different formats beyond its linear. It offers trivia shows and other interactive programming, and has branched out further into mobile games. Live streaming could help Netflix further enrich its content and help it avoid a repeat of the subscriber losses it experienced this year.
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