Netflix’s “live” broadcast failed. Or did it?
Netflix posted quarterly financial results Tuesday. It earned a $1.3 billion profit and acquired 1.75 million subscribers in the January-through-March period. Not a bad showing, but subscribers have been a little grumpy about the streaming giant lately, between its plan to crack down on password sharing and Sunday’s “Love Is Blind” fiasco.
Fans who logged on for the highly anticipated live cast reunion of the dating reality show were left hanging for over an hour before Netflix said it would be available the following day as a prerecorded special. The company attributed the delay to technical difficulties.
So, what is a streamer doing trying to pull off a live broadcast in the first place?
The “Love Is Blind Live” error screen might have been the most viewed thing on Netflix this week. But by the time fans could finally watch, the drama of the delay had way more traction than any gossip coming out of the reunion.
“It certainly has a brand impact, right?” said Adam Deutsch, managing director at Deloitte. “A frustration impact.” He still doubts this is Netflix’s last crack at this.
In the fierce competition among streamers for our time and attention, Deutsch said live content is the next frontier.
“They are a forcing function to get audiences to gather in one specific moment,” he said.
He added that carrying live concerts or sporting events is a way to attract advertisers and stand out — not exactly a new idea.
“Like, wink wink, we’re not television, but like, we’re doing exactly what television does,” noted Eleanor Patterson, who studies media trends at Auburn University. Netflix hasn’t disclosed exactly what went wrong, but she said its slip-up wasn’t a complete wash.
“Their tweets are hilarious,” she joked. “It’s like, we’re sorry to all the millions and millions of people. That’s such great marketing. They’re making it into this bigger event than it might have been.”
Patterson said this could create hype around the streamer’s next live event, which, now that they’ve had a practice run, hopefully won’t come with a 19-hour delay.