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Home Viewers Flock, Pipe Congested

Michael Hedges March 24, 2020 Follow on Twitter

Big bandwidth has been the holy grail for the entire digital media universe, currently the entire media universe if not, well, the whole universe. Not all that long ago, bandwidth took to steroids thanks to genius scientists. Bandwidth, in the realm of physics, is the same for internet and mobile data delivery. Telecoms are in charge of this.

call the plumberLast week, European Commissioner for Internal Markets Thierry Breton reached out to Netflix founder/chairman Reed Hastings for help with bandwidth. The popular streaming video on demand (SVoD) service uses 12.6% of worldwide bandwidth consumption, according to a 2019 report by consultancy Sandvine, quoted by Variety (September 10, 2019). YouTube follows at 8.7% then the aggregate of all IPTV streaming at 7.2%. Commissioner Breton asked for a reduction in HD (high definition) streaming to SD (standard definition) for a month. Mr. Hastings quickly agreed “given the extraordinary challenges raised by the coronavirus,” quoted by TechCrunch (March 19).

The conventional wisdom, appearing like a flash, has been that streaming media consumption would dramatically spike as more folks choose to wile away their work from home (WFH) hours with a bit more screen time. It’s true, at least in developed Western markets. In the first two weeks on March, reported Kantar Media (March 23), average daily TV viewing time in Spain increased by an hour.

The Netflix response reducing HD output to SD levels, a 25% reduction, was followed by Google (YouTube), Amazon Prime Video, Disney and Facebook (with Instagram and WhatsApp). All have committed for 30 days. “To help alleviate any potential network congestion, we will temporarily reduce bit rates for videos,” said a Facebook spokesperson in a statement to tech portal silicon.co.uk (March 23).

That reasoning is a bit different from that of network suppliers. “Global networks and the internet is able to cope,” said Cisco UK/Ireland chief technology officer Chintan Patel, quoted by Euronews (March 23). “There is always an element of buffer and capacity that’s built into networks around the world, and we’re working with our service provider customers across Europe and across the world to make that we’re delivering on the capabilities that are needed in these critical times.” Cisco Systems makes network hardware and related telecom services and products.

This week (March 24) the Walt Disney Company (Disney) rolled out the long awaited Disney Plus video streaming service in Western Europe; Austria, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and the UK. At the request of the French government Disney Plus will be delayed for French people until April 7th to alleviate network congestion. Disney Plus launched in the US, Canada and the Netherlands last November and in 12 weeks amassed more than 28 million subscribers. For the rest of Western Europe, a new subscription video on demand (SVoD) service with a big brand name has arrived.

Clever they are, the Disney marketing team, who nobody doubts. The first episode of The Mandalorean series, part of the Star Wars franchise, was broadcast in Germany on free-to-air ProSieben last weekend. Alas, those sufficiently teased will need to pay-up for Disney Plus to see more. The launch dates, France notwithstanding, were set weeks ago. The coincidence with coronavirus induced lockdowns is pure serendipity.

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