Netflix Rolls Out Its Biggest TV Update Yet

Netflix is rolling out a major update for the Netflix on TV experience on Wednesday. The new look, which Netflix dubs "the biggest update in Netflix history to our TV experience," will work not only on game consoles, but also on devices such as Roku and on Smart TV and Blu-ray players.

Netflix says that the update has been in the works for more than a year and a half, with the primary goal of making it easier for users to discover great content.

"Our members collectively watch more than a billion hours of Netflix a month, most of that is on a TV," Netflix's chief product officer Neil Hunt said in a statement. That billion hours a month figure is precisely why Netflix is so focused on discoverability.


Netflix has a full library of content but previous experiences have made navigation around that content more difficult.

In the past, the "flagship" Netflix experience has largely been available only on game consoles (such as the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360) and certain devices such as TiVo and Roku. As a result, if you had a Blu-ray player or Smart TV with Netflix, chances are the experience was older and not updated.

The new Netflix for TV was designed to run on all kinds of devices, from low-powered set-top boxes to high-end consoles. Moreover, because the new experience uses JavaScript to build its new look, it will be easier for the company to roll out future updates and changes.

The challenge of dealing with these embedded systems is an issue many streaming services face. At last month's Samsung Developer Conference last month, Tom Conrad, CTO and EVP of product at Pandora, talked about that challenge, especially when it comes to updating legacy systems. That's one reason Conrad and Pandora are excited about the potential of solutions such as Samsung's MultiScreen SDK and the Netflix/YouTube initiative, DIAL.

Supported Devices

The new Netflix TV experience will support Roku 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, newer Smart TV and Blu-ray players. The rollout starts on Wednesday and will hit all Netflix customers globally within two weeks.

Older Roku 2 devices and other devices will receive the update in the next few months.

The Xbox One has its own custom Netflix experience, as does the Apple TV.


Image: Netflix

Load Comments

What's New

What's Rising

What's Hot