Netflix Adds Video Previews to Interface in TV Application Update
In what Netflix says is the first major update to its TV applications since late 2013, the company announced it is adding motion to its content selection screens. Currently, when a subscriber clicks a show from the Netflix UI, they'll see a still image or a series of images alongside program information. With the update, however, they'll see video instead of an image. If it's a movie or show they've already started watching, that video will continue from wherever they stopped.
In the blog post announcing the upgrade, Netflix said "We’re letting the content speak for itself by providing a more immersive and cinematic experience that best represents the capabilities and expectations of today’s TVs."
The improved UI began rolling out yesterday to subscribers around the world. It should take a few days to update all devices. Netflix says that "eligible devices" will get the new UI, but didn't specify what devices are included.
In other over-the-top news, market and consumer research company GfK announced that households with at least one member of Generation X (35- to 49-year olds) or one child (under 18) are more likely to stream video on a TV set. Those households are slightly more likely to stream to a TV than households with a millennial (18- to 34-year olds). The data comes from the 2015 Ownership and Trend Report from GfK's The Home Technology Monitor.
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