Netflix is bringing in even more content it doesn’t have to produce.
In recent months, the streamer has done deals with content creators, podcasters, and for live sports licensing. For some of these deals–like its agreement with Salish Matter–Netflix appears to be at least somewhat involved in providing production muscle. But most of these deals are for syndication, where Netflix will get the benefit of expanding its programming library without having to make anything itself.
The latest deal brings Netflix into yet another area: content from digital publishers like Penske Media, BuzzFeed, and Condé Nast.
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This week, Netflix announced it’s partnered with the aforementioned publishers, plus Hearst Magazines, People Inc, and Tastemade, to add their video content to its streaming service.
Per The Hollywood Reporter (which is part of this deal, as it’s owned by Penske Media alongside Billboard, Eater, IndieWire, Rolling Stone, and Variety), Netflix will get video content that ranges from three-minute shorts to 20-minute episodes. All of this content will be “discoverable directly from the Netflix homepage” starting Aug. 3, the platform said.
It added that the “first wave” of content will cover topics like travel, cooking, fashion, celebrity profiles, home and gardening, and viral moments.
Content and verticals included in the deals are…
- BuzzFeed: A*Pop, BuzzFeed Celeb, Cocoa Butter, Inga Lam, Pero Like, Tasty, 30 Questions
- Condé Nast: Allure, Architectural Digest (and its series Walking Tour), Bon Appétit, Condé Nast Traveler, Epicurious, Glamour, House & Garden, Self, Teen Vogue, Vanity Fair (Lie Detector), Vogue, Wired, World of Interiors
- Hearst Magazines: Cosmopolitan, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar (Burning Questions), Seventeen, Women’s Health, Town & Country, Delish, Good Housekeeping
- PMX, a subdivision of Penske Media: Billboard (24 Hrs With), Eater, Indiewire, Rolling Stone, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety (How Well Do They Know?)
- People Inc: My Life In Pictures, Entertainment Weekly, Food & Wine, InStyle, People, Travel + Leisure (Travel Unfiltered)
- Tastemade: Tastemade
- The Hollywood Reporter: Hollywood Firsts, Close Collabs, THR in Focus, and Inside THR
Some of the shows are archival IPs, while others are ongoing. Past and new installments will be available to Netflix subscribers in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand.
“Members don’t just want to watch a show or film and move on; they want to keep exploring the stories and personalities they love long after the final credits roll,” John Derderian, Netflix’s VP of Animation Series and Kids & Family TV, said in a statement. “These partnerships help us deepen fandom and create more ways for members to carry those stories with them throughout their day.”
Netflix said more publisher partnerships will be announced at later dates.
So what’s the context here?
These deals, along with Netflix’s creator signings, podcast push, and live sports, are all about bulking up its content library. The goal is, of course, to bring in more watch hours, and to challenge YouTube. Google’s UGC juggernaut now has a commanding share of connected TV watch time not just in the U.S., but globally, and Netflix has not been shy about viewing YouTube as a competitor. If it can hike its own watch time without committing production resources, that could bring a bump to its position in the market.
