Chelsea Handler Deal Portends New Directions for Netflix

Chelsea Handler. Photo by Associated Press.
By
Tom Dotan

Netflix announced today that it wants to be in the Chelsea Handler business. And in picking up Ms. Handler in a multi-pronged deal that includes some version of her topical E! talk show, Netflix sent another message: it’s moving closer to being a real-time television network.

By extension, it’s also setting itself up to be a good venue for advertising.