(Bloomberg) — Netflix Inc. apologized Sunday after its service buckled under the strain of the popularity of a live streamed reunion episode of dating reality show Love Is Blind.
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Thousands of users reported Netflix streaming was unavailable Sunday, according to monitoring website Downdetector. #LoveIsBlindLIVE was the top global trending topic on Twitter, with Netflix building up anticipation with tweets counting down to the livestream’s commencement. The company also promised that the live reunion would be the first time that viewers would be able to help pick out the questions asked of participants.
But after the widespread outages, Netflix apologized and said it would film the episode and upload it for viewers to see as soon as possible. The company later tweeted Netflix users will be able to watch from 12 p.m. Pacific Time on April 17, a day later than the original intended time.
Love Is Blind, a reality show where couples pair up and get engaged before meeting in person, is one of Netflix’s biggest unscripted hits. The series helped fuel subscriptions during pandemic lockdowns in 2020 and has remained popular for the streaming service. It’s produced by Kinetic Content, which was acquired by media mogul Peter Chernin’s North Road Co. last year.
Netflix has begun to experiment with live programming, starting with a comedy special from Chris Rock earlier this year. The reunion episode for its dating show was set to be the biggest test for Netflix’s ability to expand beyond its on-demand video roots.
–With assistance from Lucas Shaw, Nick Turner, Vlad Savov and Michael Sin.
(Updates with details of when episode will be available in third paragraph)
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