For years, TV executives have fretted there is too much TV. Now, with the coronavirus looming large, they are worried there might not be enough.
Because of the pandemic, streaming surged last weekend, according to Wurl, a company that delivers video and advertising to connected TVs. The amount of time people spent streaming spiked by more than 20% worldwide, including more than 40% in Austria and Spain.
While streaming services have not commented on any increases in traffic, researchers are seeing more activity in platforms such as Netflix and Twitch, the online gaming network owned by Amazon.com.
Installations of the Netflix app leapt 34% last week in Spain and 57% in Italy, according to SensorTower. Italy has the second-most coronavirus cases worldwide, after China.
"While video streaming is far from the most important thing on the world agenda, it is an industry that indirectly will see a major shift due to the crisis," said Sean Doherty, Wurl's CEO.
Driving that growth is the collapse of many leisure and entertainment activities because of the virus, from restaurants and cinemas to professional sports and concerts.
While viewing of live TV is also on the rise thanks to 24/7 coverage of the virus outbreak and more people being stuck at home, production of most TV shows and movies has halted for the foreseeable future, creating a potential shortage of new programming.
Streaming services are in a good position because consumers look to them for their libraries of titles on demand - not a live feed - and they have already banked programmes for release in the weeks ahead.
Traditional TV networks must be on the air 24 hours a day, and outlets such as CBS and ESPN have scrambled to replace the live sports that have gone on hiatus.
That's opened the door to unconventional forms of programming, such as live in-home concerts. Singer John Legend performed from his home on Tuesday, streaming live on Instagram for an audience that reached almost 100,000 people.
One industry that may face minimal disruption from the pandemic is video games, which participants have long enjoyed and played without being in the same place.
The audience for Twitch, which lets viewers see gamers compete via live streams, has increased 10% in the past few days, said Doron Nir, CEO of StreamElements, a provider of services to the industry. And YouTube Gaming is up 15%.
"With more stay-at-home mandates being issued around the world and the entertainment industry finding new ways to migrate their offerings to live streaming platforms, we expect to see these numbers rise," he said.
An increase in viewers could translate into more revenue from advertisers or sponsors looking to reach that captive audience, unless, that is, those companies tighten their belts too.
Bloomberg
Even Nintendo sneezed
Gamers breathed a sigh of relief on Wednesday after the end of a network outage that affected Nintendo's online games, with internet-based systems under increasing pressure from people staying home over the coronavirus.
"The issue with our network services has now been fixed," tweeted Nintendo on its European Twitter account, with similar messages posted on its other accounts.
"Thank you for your patience!"
The hours-long outage affected its online games and its e-shop, which was offline for a shorter period.
Nintendo has not specified the reason for either outage, which came after other online game systems, including Microsoft's Xbox Live, dealt with problems related to increased demand.
The outage affected people using the popular Nintendo Switch console as well as its 3DS and Wii U models.
Nintendo's original Switch console, a hybrid that can be used for hand-held play or hooked up to a screen at home, has become a huge global seller. It is entering its fourth year.
In September last year, Nintendo also launched a scaled-back, cheaper version of the console, called Switch Lite, which is a strictly hand-held device. Its sales have also been solid.
Online, there was despair at the outage, which comes as people around the world find themselves confined to their homes to prevent the spread of the virus.
"Only a few days into the coronavirus self-isolation and Nintendo servers are already down . oh dear god," tweeted one frustrated user. - AFP
