It’s a complete full circle for the streaming industry. Netflix has announced it will start streaming live channels in France next summer.

Starting next year, all Netflix subscribers in France will be able to access five linear channels from TF1 Group, the largest commercial broadcaster in France. It will make it possible for viewers to watch TF1 channels directly within Netflix’s app.

And that’s not all. FT reports that by the summer of 2026, Netflix users in France will also be able to access more than 30,000 hours of content from TF1 on-demand. It will include both scripted series and reality shows, from The Voice to sports broadcasts.

The deal may seem surprising on the surface, but it also signals a new direction for the streaming giant. For years, Netflix drove the death of cable, now it’s including parts of it in its platform.

Netflix and TF1 are no strangers. They’ve worked together as co-producers in the past on series like Les Combattantes, a historical French miniseries also known as Women at War. This deal takes the partnership to a whole new level, though.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it’s clear that both companies believe in the value of this partnership. In particular, Netflix has dropped its subscriber numbers as a KPI, so it’s leaning heavily on engagement as its key performance indicator.

“Teaming up with France’s top broadcaster will enable us to offer our members in France even more reasons to tune in to Netflix every day and stay with us for all their entertainment,” said Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters.

TF1 is counting on its own opportunities here. The broadcaster will still show ads during its programs, and with Netflix’s user base, that’s a whole lot more viewers.

“Viewership fragmentation and new viewing behaviors are key trends,” said TF1 CEO Rodolphe Belmer. “This alliance is the fruit of this analysis. An unprecedented alliance which, for the first time, brings together a generalist channel and the leading streaming service, with the goal of offering an exclusive, premium content program to the greatest number of viewers.”

He also stressed the advertising opportunity this partnership will provide, including the opportunity to align with its own streaming platform TF1+.

For Netflix, this partnership could also address a regulatory issue. Since 2021, the French government has required streaming services to reinvest between 20% and 25% of local revenue into French content. A deal with the nation’s largest broadcaster helps meet that goal.

And there’s also a big opportunity for growth. TF1 says its linear channels are seen by some 58 million viewers each month, and its streaming service TF1+ has 35 million monthly users. That’s a big gap from Netflix’s approximately 10 million subscribers in France in 2022, according to co-CEO Ted Sarandos.

Should this deal prove successful, it could open the door for similar partnerships in other countries. Peters confirmed that Netflix would hold off on launching more broadcasting deals until after evaluating the success of this first effort.

The deal also speaks to how people are watching. Earlier this week, Nielsen reported that for the first time since the company started tracking, streaming overtook cable for the first time in May. It was responsible for 44.8% of TV consumption in the month, ahead of cable (24.1%) and broadcast (20.1%) combined.

With streaming taking the lead, linear broadcasters — that at one point looked like they’d be disrupted by Netflix — could find a new home within those very same services. Instead of fighting it, TF1 seems to be welcoming it.

“Linear TV is in secular decline. We’ve tried to compensate for that with launching our own free-to-view platform. But also by trying to bind and benefit from the huge driving force of Netflix,” Belmer said.

For viewers in France, though, the shift won’t be jarring. Peters told FT that for many viewers, Netflix is already “TV.” This new partnership may make that description a reality, not just in France, but around the world.