Following a viral 75-minute battle with the entertainment service, reality TV fans were left confused and disappointed on the evening of Sunday, April 16 after Netflix scraped the air time of a long-anticipated live stream reunion of the popular blind date concept television series Love Is Blind.
Love Is Blind: The Live Reunion–Netflix’s only second-ever live stream event– was expected to begin airing from Los Angeles at 8 p.m. EST. However, less than 10 minutes into the scheduled air time, viewers who tuned in began questioning the show’s start time when a message on the user interface displayed an error message that read: “Pardon the interruption. We’re having trouble playing Netflix. Please check your internet and try again.” By 8:09 pm EST, Netflix addressed the error message online by tweeting a photo of Love Is Blind contestant Irina Solomonova with the caption "Promise #LoveIsBlindLIVE will be worth the wait….”
In the interim customers also took to social media to express their confusion and disappointment, using the opportunity to highlight the issues Netflix and streaming services at large have long had with events like series releases, password sharing and platform capabilities to truly “host” livewatch events. “We deserve to all share the same password after this,” tweeted one Netflix user.
“Netflix resorting back to mailing out DVD copies of the LIVE reunion,” the same user joked as the live episode struggled to buffer for nearly an hour and a half.
“I’m trying y’all” another viewer tweeted, taking the idea of self-service to a whole nother level by including a photo implying they personally were trying to solve the Internet issues mentioned by the streaming service earlier in the evening.
“Don’t ever raise prices again,” chimed in another agitated Netflix user.
“Netflix trying to win this streaming wars but can’t even do what cable did for years,” wrote another.
“NASA was able to broadcast from the moon in 1969 but Netflix can't figure out Livestream in 2023,” asked yet another dissatisfied fan.
NASA was able to broadcast from the moon in 1969 but Netflix can't figure out Livestream in 2023. #LoveIsBlindLIVE
Love Is Blind fans described it as nothing short of a dumpster fire, and some of them even felt like clowns waiting for the live stream to load with no sure start time for the season 4 reunion event. As the night progressed it also became filled with social posts from Netflix pleading with frustrated viewers to hang tight while they worked to troubleshoot technical difficulties. Co-host Vanessa Lachey even attempted to quell customer concerns, posting a video from the live reunion stage saying, "apparently y'all, everybody broke the internet to see this reunion,” suggesting that customer demand for the live special was so much show that it inhibited the streaming service from functioning correctly. “We are ready to roll, we just gotta figure this out," she continued in the video. “We are not asking any questions to anybody until we are streaming live."
Meanwhile, in Hollywood, a watch party filled with Netflix celebrities, press and social media influencers were experiencing the delay in real-time. After such a long wait time, Netflix ultimately made the choice to tape the reunion, despite claims that some viewers would be able to watch it as a live stream, as intended, on Sunday night. A spokesperson for Netflix told Variety Magazine that evening that the special–now taped as live–would still be available to all Netflix users later Sunday night. However, most viewers were still unable to access the Love Is Blind season 4 reunion episode as stated by the streaming platform on April 16. That night, Netflix took to Twitter once more to issue a formal apology, stating: “To everyone who stayed up late, woke up early, gave up their Sunday afternoon… we are incredibly sorry that the Love is Blind Live Reunion did not turn out as we had planned. We're filming it now and we'll have it on Netflix as soon as humanly possible. Again, thank you and sorry.”
The announcement by Netflix echoes past remarks by the organization that claim live streaming is a bigger hurdle for the company to jump than once thought: broadcasting rights for live events are costly. And for a brand that’s seeing considerable decline and a loss of customer loyalty, the move to live stream might not be just chump change–or something to avoid–anymore. In fact, in an effort to increase revenue Netflix has in recent years canceled shows, laid off workers, developed games, added ads, tried interactive experiences, and even revamped its subscription model. For the company, which has been increasingly up against competitors like Hulu, Disney+, Paramount, and YouTube, jumping onto the live stream wave was another opportunity to broaden Netflix’s appeal and attract consumers. But considering the fact that these aforementioned competitors have already executed live streaming in successful ways and even pioneered the idea, for Netflix to enter the scene so late is indicative of its weakening influence in the world of online entertainment.
While its first live stream event for Chris Rock’s comedy special went off without a hitch, not much can be said about Netflix’s ability to deliver this time around. As it turns out, users weren’t the only people to notice: other television outlets, entertainment brands and streaming services from Blockbuster Videos to Hulu chimed in to remind Netflix users that they have plenty of other options when it comes to watching their favorite shows, films and series.
While some posts
were more subtle than others
the resounding consensus between fans and competitors was the same:
Despite receiving an apology from Netflix and after all the confusion surrounding the show’s live stream air time, it was clear that from the beginning users weren’t expecting much from the company in terms of a make good or sincere problem solving:
And they didn’t get much of one the following day when the company didn’t just announce–it promised–once again via Twitter, that the taped reunion special would be available to watch by 3 pm EST on Monday, April 17. At as 6 PM EST, at the time this article was published, CCW Digital confirmed that in some areas of the New York City metropolitan area the episode was not yet available for viewing:
As not just the day–but the year–progresses, Netflix will have an opportunity to show customers that quality service and consumer feedback matters, or risk falling further down the streaming service rabbit hole. But after all the other objections customers already have about Netflix, will they let their love for binge watching blind them of customer service shortcomings?
Photo by Oscar Vargas on Unsplash: https://unsplash.com/photos/KJz3g6FJ98I