Unexpected Gem of Meme: Netflix Delay "Love Is Blind" maybe the best proof of love by Netflix Subscribers
Unexpected Gem of Meme: Netflix Delay "Love Is Blind" maybe the best proof of love by Netflix Subscribers
“Love Is Blind” goes live — or does it?
The live reunion for the mega-hit dating show “Love Is Blind” experienced delays on Netflix Sunday evening, displaying an error message for users attempting to tune into the live stream of the reunion. The event was set to begin at 5 p.m. PT, but the web browser user interface currently directs to an error message reading: “Pardon the interruption. We’re having trouble playing Netflix. Please check your internet and try again.”
(Netflix posted / tweeted around 1.20am ET. “Promise” smooth aired 12pm PT on April 17th):
Netflix posted 12pm PT, April 17th (screenshot 12.20pm):
Netflix (around 10.33 pm ET) gave up on showing #LoveIsBlindLIVE after 90 minutes. It will be shown later on “tape delay.” Imagine if this was a live sporting event (Super Bowl, NBA Play Off, NBA Final, FIFA Football World Cup / Soccer World Cup, F-1 with 5 games in US [Miami, Las Vegas, Austin] - Canada - Mexico; US Open, etc) with a sold-out crowd. Just an absolute colossal failure for Netflix tonight. Netflix has been looking to get into get into live sports for the past year. They can stop now. This is a massive disaster. You can excuse a brief delay or minor latency issues but a one-hour delay? No team or league would ever be able to sell that to their fans.
Netflix is down for more than 11,000 users in the United States on late Sunday, according to outage tracking website Downdetector.com and not counting another country. Downdetector tracks outages by collating status reports from several sources including users.
The much-hyped “Love Is Blind” reunion marks Netflix’s second-ever live event, as the service broadcast the comedy special “Chris Rock: Selective Outrage” on March 4, streaming with no widely reported technical issues, and drawing sizable viewership numbers over the following days.
As frustrated reports of a delay continued to pour in on social media, Netflix acknowledged the situation through a post: “Love is… late… #LoveIsBlindLIVE will be on in 15 minutes!”
Moments before the post informing viewers that the reunion would face a 15-minute delay, Netflix was still promoting the live reunion with a kickoff time of 5 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. ET.
Netflix tried its best to entice viewers through the delay, sharing another tweet with a photograph of controversial cast member Irina Solomonova. The caption reads “promise it’s worth the wait.”
The delay resulted in a social media pile-on, with competing networks and streamers poking fun at Netflix’s delay. “We would never keep you waiting for a reunion,” reads a post from Bravo’s official Twitter account.
Both the “Love Is Blind” reunion and the Chris Rock special represent highly promoted leaps for Netflix, as the streamer looks to continue venturing into live programming. Next year, Netflix will stream the Screen Actors Guild Awards ceremony live, which will mark the first major awards show to broadcast on a streaming service.
“Love Is Blind” host Vanessa Lachey thanked fans for being patient on social media, sharing a video of herself and her husband, co-host Nick Lachey, ready to go live in front of a studio audience. She indicated that the entire cast was seated in place — indicating that the delay was perhaps due to a technical error, as opposed to participants running late.
“Apparently y’all, everyone broke the internet to see this reunion,” Lachey said. “We are ready to roll.”