Netflix has a new TV experience. And it's f**king good.
In the coming weeks and months, Netflix is going to be refreshing the experience users have on connected TV devices.
The update is focused on improved discoverability, moving the Search and My List links to the top of the page where they can be seen more easily, better realtime recommendations, and a cleaner design.
You can see the new-look in effect below and I think it looks really great. Currently on the home screen, users are only presented with a vertical cover image with the title. The new interface offers more info allowing users to make an informed choice with synopsis, genre, duration, and age classification.
The change delivers a greater focus on individual titles, removing the sense that it is just a large bucket of stuff. That’s not an easy thing to pull off visually when streaming services are generally just big digital buckets of stuff.
There’s also some updates coming to mobile devices. Because anything with AI generates headlines, you’ll see a lot of attention placed on a small, opt-in beta being run on iOS devices which brings generative AI to the search function. Users can search for titles by using conversational phrases like “I want something funny and upbeat.”
That phrase is a suggestion from Netflix, obviously. I’d be more inclined to ask for something like “I want a movie where Jon Hamm makes me feel like less of a man.”
A TikTok-like feed of short clips from Netflix shows will also be added to mobile devices. Users can then click through to the full show/movie, or add it to their watch list.
In announcing the roll-out, Netflix held a call with reporters. The video presentation part of this has been made available:
How long will it be until we start seeing similar UI changes on every other streaming service? Netflix has long led the way in terms of setting the benchmark for what users expect from streaming platforms.
I really like the look and feel of Max, but the deeper information offered by Netflix on the home screen now is a leap forward. Everyone else is now in the position of playing catch-up.
You can read more about the update on the Netflix blog.
News Desk
With Sonequa Martin-Green finishing up on Star Trek: Discovery, she is moving over to co-star in new CBS Blue Bloods spin-off Boston Blue. Read: Deadline
Could we see Marvel publishing X-Files comic books? It seems more like a possibility than something that is being actioned - especially when the franchise is set for a Ryan Cooglar-helmed reboot. Read: Bleeding Cool
CBS has announced mid-season show Y: Marshals (a working title… hopefully it doesn’t stick), which will be a spin-off from Yellowstone following Luke Grimes as Kayce Dutton, who joins an elite unit of US Marshals. Read: Deadline
Some of the 133 clerics set to enter the Sistine Chapel for the conclave have watched the movie Conclave for pointers. Read: Politico
SBS has launched a Request for Expressions of Interest process for the future location of its planned new SBS production hub and talent incubator in Western Sydney. Of course, why it needs a second location placed in Western Sydney and not one of the many other states around Australia is a bit of a mystery to me. Also… why does it need a second location at all? Read: TV Tonight
CBS has ordered a full writers room to produce 12 scripts of new series Cupertino from Robert & Michelle King. Read: Deadline
Animal Control and Going Dutch have been renewed at Fox. Read: TV Line
Rescue: HI Surf has been cancelled mercifully after one season at Fox. Read: THR
Dean Cain has come out and admitted that Lois & Clark co-star Teri Hatcher was difficult to work with. But he also says she was the best thing about the show. Read: New York Post
BBC has announced a Call the Midwife prequel series and a feature film. Read: C21
Parks & Rec star Amy Poehler is finally returning to TV with Peacock ordering Dig, an adaptation of Kate Myers’ bestseller Excavations and follows four women who work at an archeological dig in Greece. Read: Deadline
Could we start seeing characters wearing Airpods in Grand Theft Auto VI, meaning music can be played in-game outside of cars? Read: Radio Times
Trailer Park
Echo Valley debuts on Apple TV+ June 13.
A mother and daughter are bound by a dark secret. Julianne Moore and Sydney Sweeney star in Echo Valley.
Foundation returns for season 3 on Apple TV+ July 11.
That’s the newsletter for today.
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The Apple TV/tvOS Netflix app experience is also getting a much needed upgrade as part of this I read.