The news: Netflix is expanding its short-form content offerings through a series of new publisher deals with BuzzFeed, Condé Nast, Hearst Magazines, PMX, People Inc., Tastemade, and others.

• On August 3, the streamer will add videos from the publishers’ properties, including Vogue, Bon Appétit, Cosmopolitan, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, and Rolling Stone.
• Content will cover categories like food, travel, entertainment, and wellness and will range from three minutes to 20 minutes long.

These deals follow Netflix’s deeper investments in video podcasts and live programming.

The bigger picture: Netflix’s business model is currently built around binge-watching, but consumer attention is shifting toward platforms that support multiple short viewing sessions every day rather than a few long ones every week.

Creator-style, low-cost programming that previously lived primarily on YouTube could make Netflix a bigger part of consumers’ everyday media routine and help it compete more closely with that platform by expanding on Netflix’s connected TV (CTV) success.

• We expect US adults’ time spent with Netflix will increase by only one minute per day in 2027, compared with an increase of three minutes per day for YouTube.
• Netflix accounted for 7.8% of total US TV viewing time in April, per Nielsen, coming in second among streamers, behind YouTube’s 13.4%.

The strategy: Netflix changing its premium-only streaming playbook by mixing in internet-native content could help fill in content gaps between TV seasons to avoid subscriber churn.

Licensing publisher content is a far cheaper solution to viewing gaps than producing more scripted series and offers publishers another distribution channel as well as incremental licensing revenues.

Recommendations for marketers: More short-form programming on Netflix could expand premium CTV inventory, let advertisers reach audiences in more casual viewing moments, and create more opportunities for commerce integrations.

As Netflix experiments with new content, marketers should test how creative, targeting, and measurement strategies differ between lean-back TV viewing and quick-burst, lean-in viewing sessions.

• Adapt creative to viewing context, such as sponsoring a recipe video with a product placement and shoppable call to action instead of a mid-roll ad.
• Compare campaigns in Netflix’s short-form content against traditional long-form shows using metrics like ad recall, website visits, and purchases to see if the format drives stronger outcomes.