Netflix CTO announces interactive real-time voting for live content

Netflix CTO Elizabeth Stone announced TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 The streaming service is branching out into immersive and interactive experiences, starting with real-time voting. The move marks a new way for streamers to increase engagement, as it allows viewers of live shows to interact in real time.

Viewers will be able to vote while watching live content to directly influence the outcome of what they’re watching on their TV or mobile device

Streamer Test begins In August his live cooking show will introduce real-time voting on “Dinner Time Live with David Chang” and the reboot of “Star Search,” a talent competition series that has been off the air for 20 years and will be brought back by Netflix next year.

“If you’re sitting at home watching ‘Star Search’ on your TV, you’ll be able to actually cast a vote on the TV or your mobile phone that advances or doesn’t advance certain contestants on the show,” Stone said on the main stage at TechCrunch Disrupt on Tuesday. “So we think this is just a very early example of the ways that content can become more interactive over time, across devices, between TV and mobile, where a member subscribing to Netflix can actually feel like they’re part of the story, influencing the story and being immersed in it.”

Viewers will be prompted on-screen and have a limited amount of time to rate the performance. If you rewind or don’t catch up with the livestream, you may miss the voting window.

On “Dinner Time Live with David Chang,” viewers were asked to vote on whether they preferred tuna fish or grilled cheese. In another example, they were asked if they thought soups were better than salads. Viewers can see the voting results displayed on the screen.

Netflix said it saw consistent engagement episodes in early tests of real-time voting, which it believes indicates strong potential for more interactive entertainment in the future.

The streaming service says it’s focused on creating more ways for viewers to feel engaged in what they’re watching, which is why it’s working to allow real-time responsiveness to content. At a time when Netflix faces mounting competition from other streaming services, the company likely hopes its new interactive functionality will create a shared, community-driven viewing experience for its members.

It’s worth noting that this isn’t the first time Netflix has explored real-time voting with content, as streaming services have done before Tested interactive viewer poll During her reality TV shows “Too Hot to Handle” and “Love is Blind.”

In addition to live, Netflix focused on real-time responsiveness for its new format party game TV, and finally, for podcasts, so users can engage with what’s happening right now.

“There’s a lot of exciting things happening with cloud games, which introduce another kind of interaction pattern,” Stone said. “So we launched some fun living room party games this year, more next year, more — like, Bogle. So it’s on your living room TV screen. You’re able to do it locally with friends and family using your mobile phone. It’s another way to think about more immersive, fun, in-the-moment content, more traditional film and TV, which we want to park.”

Also on Tuesday, Stone announced that Netflix is ​​launching an immersive experience on its homepage that the company says will bring its content to life through animation and dynamic special effects. For starters, Netflix has launched a new Halloween Collection immersive experience. Going forward, the company will debut a holiday collection in December and more IP-driven collections in the future, such as a “Bridgerton.”