Technical difficulties plague Paul-Tyson fight as Netflix punches into live programming
8 rounds, no KO… Jake Paul may’ve technically beaten Mike Tyson in Friday’s big boxing match, but the real winner was Netflix. The streamer said 65M viewers tuned in to the live event, which is expected to help juice subscriptions this quarter. The catch: Netflix couldn’t handle the crowd. At least 100K people reported they were experiencing issues streaming the fight, and disgruntled fans complained on social media about buffering and disconnecting. Glitches haven’t slowed Netflix’s push into live programming: it’s set to exclusively stream two NFL Christmas Day games, and it just announced that Beyoncé will headline a halftime show.
Stuck at 99% loaded… Netflix isn’t a stranger to technical difficulties during live broadcasts. Its “Love Is Blind” reunion show was such a disaster that Netflix scrapped the livestream, posting a prerecorded version instead. Netflix said it’s been testing its tech using smaller live shows, like a cooking show with David Chang, as preparation for airing larger events like WWE matches that’ll start in January (it paid $5B for the rights to hit shows like “Raw”). As streamers come for cable’s lifeline (sports), Netflix isn’t the only one struggling to go live:
NBCUniversal’s Peacock had issues while streaming soccer and tennis last year, and fans complained about buffering during an October NFL Sunday Ticket game on YouTube TV.
The lights are harsh in the arena… and the stakes are high with live events. Friday’s fight had some questioning whether Netflix could pull off its NFL game featuring Beyoncé, which could draw 30M+ viewers. But live programming could be worth the risk: it introduces ads that even premium subs can’t skip. On that note: Netflix said it sold out of its Christmas Day NFL ad slots.