Netflix Originals can’t be added to your watchlist on Chromecast with Google TV

Ben Schoon | Nov 23 2020 - 3:29 pm PT

The new Chromecast with Google TV brings some killer features for content management, specifically with its watchlist feature that works across services. Unfortunately, though, that excellent watchlist on Chromecast with Google TV doesn’t support Netflix Originals.

To quickly summarize the Google TV watchlist, this feature allows users to create a list of shows and movies they like, which can be kept in one location — something that’s especially useful as the number of major streaming services keeps expanding. Since this list can show content on multiple services, it’s a powerful tool for taking advantage of your various subscriptions, especially as content shifts between libraries.

Netflix has a huge collection of originals with some hugely popular films and shows. One of the most recent hits, for example, is “The Queen’s Gambit.” While these shows are only available on Netflix, users invested in the new Google TV watchlist may want to include these titles on their own personal list.

Unfortunately, that’s just not possible. We can’t say with certainty when this changed, but the watchlist on Google TV no longer offers the ability to add Netflix Originals to the list or remove ones that are already there. When these actions are attempted from the Chromecast itself, the error message seen below appears on the top of the screen, and the action is blocked completely.

Notably, though, this feature still works with the Google Watchlist found in Search. If you try to add or remove a Netflix Original from the web, it’ll still work just fine. The same applies to the Google TV app on Android. In fact, it’ll even appear on the Chromecast interface, and you’ll be able to access it. For some reason, this functionality is only blocked directly from the Chromecast and only for Netflix Originals.

When reached for comment, a Google spokesperson said:

With Google TV, our goal is to bring the best of our search and discovery features across your subscriptions to your favorite devices. We work with each content partner to enable these entertainment experiences, and the level of integration will vary by partner.

It’s unclear who’s to blame for this, but it seems like a decision by Netflix rather than Google. In any case, it’s a frustrating issue that, hopefully, will eventually be resolved.