Netflix has signed content deals with BuzzFeed Studios, Condé Nast, Hearst, Penske Media, People Inc. and Tastemade to bring short-form publisher video to the platform, including vertical formats. Australian members get access from 3 August and Netflix told AdNews local publishers are not off the table.
"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."
Netflix is bringing short-form publisher content onto its platform, signing deals with BuzzFeed Studios, Condé Nast, Hearst Magazines, Penske Media, People Inc. and Tastemade. Australian members get it from 3 August.
The format tells the story. Episodes run from three minutes to 20 minutes, include vertical video and cover food, travel, fashion, entertainment, design and wellness. The launch slate mixes licensed archives with ongoing series: BuzzFeed Celeb's 30 Questions, Vanity Fair's Lie Detector, Harper's Bazaar's Burning Questions, Variety's How Well Do They Know? and Tastemade's Struggle Meals. Australia is in the first wave alongside the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland and New Zealand.
A Netflix spokesperson told AdNews that while the company is focused on current partners, Australian publishers are not off the table. That is an open door for local media businesses with strong short-form libraries.
That is John Derderian, the Netflix vice president overseeing the vertical. Translated from platform speak: Netflix wants the scroll time currently going to TikTok, YouTube and Instagram, and it is buying proven publisher formats to get it.
Why it matters
Distribution keeps beating platform loyalty. Publishers spent a decade building short-form audiences on social platforms that paid them poorly for it. Now a premium subscription platform is licensing that same content and putting it on the biggest screen in the house. Content built for one channel keeps finding new shelves, which is the strongest argument going for owning your formats rather than renting a platform's.
When publisher short-form lands for Netflix members in Australia and five other launch markets
For marketers the second-order effect is the one to watch. Netflix has an ad tier, and short-form publisher content is exactly the kind of inventory that suits it: snackable, brand-safe and endlessly repeatable. If the format holds attention, ad products around it follow.
What to do about it
If publisher short-form performs on Netflix, every streamer will want a version of it within a year, and the price of good Australian content goes up with the demand.