Netflix Lets Viewers Pick the Plot
Next year will bring an interactive episode of “Stretch Armstrong.”
In a blog post published on Tuesday, Ms. Fisher said: “The children’s programming space was a natural place for us to start since kids are eager to ‘play’ with their favorite characters
and already inclined to tap, touch and swipe at screens.
We need you to lean forward a little bit to engage with the choices.”
The introduction of such a feature — which Netflix will roll out for another children’s series next month,
and a third next year — is, at this point, an experiment.
The first interactive episode, called “Puss in Book,” will last 18 to 39 minutes (depending on which
path viewers go down), with viewers being asked to make a decision every two to four minutes.
Although the streaming service has not made plans to feature this kind of interactive viewing in, say, a future
season of “House of Cards,” the potential is there for it to eventually expand beyond children’s programming.
The interactive initiative comes as Netflix is locked in a battle with the rival streaming services Amazon
and Hulu over creating and acquiring as much children’s programming as possible.
PBS, as part of its PBS Kids live stream, is planning digital interactive games
that will complement programming that children have just finished watching.