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Netflix (NFLX) will bring real-time voting to “Star Search” and future programs. VP Brandon Reigg believes live content will enable Netflix to win the “streamer wars.” Netflix makes positive moves, while NBC (CMCSA) and Paramount (PSKY) are busy with a bidding war over Warner Bros. Discovery. “Love Island” fans should brace for a different kind of bombshell. Soon, they may be able to vote in real time and dictate the outcome of episodes. On Oct. 28, Netflix (NFLX) revealed it will introduce real-time voting for one of its popular reality TV programs, competition show “Star Search.” The success of this new functionality will shape the future of reality TV and live content in general. If it’s a hit, wise fans should watch for live voting — and other interactive features — to come to their favorite show as well. Let’s walk through the specifics of this first rollout and which programs might see the feature first. “It’s just a very early starting example of the ways that we think content can be more interactive over time, across devices, between TV and mobile, where a member who subscribes to Netflix can actually feel like they’re part of the story, influence the storyline, and feel immersed in that,” Netflix CTO Elizabeth Stone told TechCrunch. She confirmed that “Star Search” will be the next program to incorporate the feature. “If you’re sitting at home watching ‘Star Search’ on your TV, you’ll be able to either on the TV or your mobile phone actually put in a vote that advances or doesn’t advance some of the contestants on the show.” Not all viewers may be aware, but real-time voting has already rolled out for a cooking program as part of a larger live programming push on Netflix. Netflix VP thinks live content is the future Netflix boasts a ton of reality properties, some of you likely know, such as dating show“Love Is Blind,” fashion staple “Queer Eye,” and “Is It Cake?,” the self-explanatory cooking show. The streamer also produces a slew of lesser-known live reality titles, which make ideal testing grounds for new concepts. That’s exactly what Netflix did for its new live voting feature, testing it on “Dinner Time Live with David Chang” this August, per The Verge. The move is the latest in a series of live content advances spearheaded by Vice President Brandon Reigg. “Live programming is now a major priority at the streaming giant — and Mr. Riegg, 48, sits atop the effort, making him one of the most-watched executives in the entertainment world,” Nicole Sperling wrote in her New York Times profile of Reigg. “[Reigg’s] growing corner of Netflix includes unscripted series, sports, documentary series, and efforts to integrate gaming technologies, which allow viewers to vote for winners of a show, into unscripted events.” Netflix’s top reality shows through Q2 2025: “Love Is Blind” (S8): 13,400,000 views “Million Dollar Secret” (S1): 11,100,000 views “Temptation Island” (S1): 10,600,000 views “Single’s Inferno” (S4): 8,200,000 views “Dubai Bling” (S3): 6,900,000 views “Battle Camp” (S1): 6,300,000 views “Selling the City” (S1): 6,100,000 views “With Love, Meghan” (S1): 5,300,000 views “Stranded with My Mother-in-Law” (S2): 5,000,000 views “Love Is Blind: Germany” (S1): 5,000,000 views Source: FlixPatrol If Reigg has his way, real-time voting will only be the tip of the iceberg for streaming innovation. My best read on his macro strategy: Reigg is eager to test the limits of how much viewers want to interact with their live programming, while also feeling out the boundary between streaming and gaming. CTO Elizabeth Stone confirmed this at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025: “In addition to Live, Netflix is focused on real-time responsiveness for formats like its new Party Games for TV, and, eventually, podcasts, so users can engage with what is happening in the moment,” Aisha Malik writes. Netflix is betting that Reigg’s wild laboratory, aka his live content ideas, will give them a leg up in the long-running so-called “streamer wars” against fellow reality TV players Paramount, Comcast’s NBC, and Disney (DIS). Netflix, Paramount, NBC joust over reality TV audience There used to be a million cable channels, each with its signature show. Now those networks have to be divided among the streaming big boys. For example, fans of “Duck Dynasty” and “Storage Wars” can keep watching their favorites by purchasing A&E on Hulu. The reason A&E is even available on Hulu is that Disney owns both. It’s quite the ask to keep track of which network has been gobbled up by which streaming behemoth. Just listing the players at the reality TV table — Disney’s Hulu, Paramount+, Amazon Prime, NBC’s Peacock, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Netflix itself — emphasizes how crowded the marketplace is. However, to differentiate itself from the pack, Netflix is doubling down on gaming. “So we’ve got some fun living room party games launching in Q4 this year, more next year — for example, Boggle. So it’s on your living room TV screen,” Stone explained. “You’re able to do it with friends and family locally using your mobile phone. It’s another way to think about more immersive, fun, in-the-moment content, in addition to the more traditional film and TV, which, of course, we’ll continue to hit out of the park.” It’s key to understand how exactly these games work. Essentially, you pull the game up on your living room TV, and each person participating uses their phone as a controller of sorts to select answers for trivia or make moves in other game types. Netflix is leaning heavily on these games and has a huge slate of new offerings coming down the pike before the end of 2025, per its news page. “Party Games” coming to Netflix by end of 2025 LEGO® Party!: Square off against your friends in the ultimate LEGO party game. Compete in hilarious minigames and hunt for gold through themed Challenge Zones. Boggle Party: Race against the clock to find words (the longer, the better) in a jumbled-up letter grid. Play solo or make it a party with up to eight players. Pictionary: Game Night: Draw ’til you drop — or one of your friends guesses what you’re sketching — in this hilarious and fast-paced spin on Mattel’s classic group game. Tetris Time Warp: Time-travel with friends to different eras of Tetris, from the 1984 original to the classic Gameboy version. Can you warp your way to a top score? Party Crashers: Fool Your Friends: One person at this party secretly has no idea what everyone else is talking about. Figure out whose clues are fishy to unmask the crasher. Source: Netflix Games and real-time voting are two new arrows in Netflix and Reigg’s considerable live-content quiver. Others include: Needle-moving addition of holiday NFL games Live sports broadcasting in general (including boxing & combat sports) Unexpected smash hits like “Squid Game: The Challenge” The focus on live content offerings is a strategic move on Netflix’s part, separating it from rivals. HBO leads the prestige, high-concept space, but is in danger of being separated from Discovery or outright acquired. See, Discovery merged with Warner Bros. (HBO’s parent company) in a move intended to pair its considerable reality offerings with HBO. That pairing may not last long, as it is under pressure from two directions. Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav says he wants to separate HBO and Discovery again, and Paramount and NBC are jockeying to acquire WBD, either wholesale or in parts. Netflix is betting its live content plans will allow it to make strides while its rivals punch each other out. Once the dust settles, the little-DVD-service-that-could might be in the lead.
