Netflix (NFLX) shares recovered from earlier losses on Monday after the streaming giant’s highly anticipated boxing event between heavyweight champion Mike Tyson and YouTube personality Jake Paul experienced technical glitches throughout the live broadcast.
The problems have sparked concerns in regards to the company’s ability to deliver other kinds of live programs, especially with the upcoming NFL Christmas Day games in only over a month.
Customers complained about buffering disruptions and streaming issues while watching the event Friday night. Downdetector, which tracks web outages, received hundreds of outage reports throughout the evening.
Netflix declined to directly comment on the glitches when asked by Yahoo Finance.
Because the start of the 12 months, Netflix shares have surged over 70%, far outpacing the broader markets and streaming rivals, including Disney (DIS) and Comcast (CMCSA). Shares climbed greater than 2% in afternoon trade on Monday.
Bandwidth issues were likely at fault: The corporate revealed 60 million households all over the world tuned in to look at. It alluded to the technical problems in an Instagram post, saying the event “even had our buffering systems on the ropes.”
However it’s not the primary time Netflix has faced technical glitches from its various live events, which have included comedy specials and reunion tapings. That is led to investor concerns the corporate won’t have the opportunity to get things right in time for its NFL Christmas Day doubleheader, with the Kansas City Chiefs vs. Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens vs. Houston Texans.
Multiple users on social media platforms vented their frustrations, explicitly calling out the streaming issues and disruptions throughout the night.
Still, Oppenheimer analyst Jason Helfstein shrugged off the client complaints, writing in a note to clients on Sunday that viewing was likely twice as large as the corporate’s internal expectations, “a prime quality problem than could be easily fixed by Christmas Day.”
Netflix inked a three-season take care of the NFL earlier this 12 months to air the Christmas Day games, which can be produced by CBS Sports (PARA). The streamer reportedly coughed up about $75 million per game, based on the Wall Street Journal.
Late Sunday, the corporate announced Beyoncé because the headline performer through the Ravens vs. Texans halftime show. It can be the primary time the artist will perform her Grammy-nominated album “Cowboy Cater” live.