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Flixed Newsletter 2 - Mar.16/2020

Flixed Newsletter 2 - Mar.16/2020

Flixed Newsletter - Coronavirus and Cord-Cutting: It's Complicated

Issue 11: March 16, 2020

Things are getting weird worldwide, but there may be an unanticipated impact on cord-cutting and streaming. As more people get put into forced quarantines, many will start considering how to fill up that downtime with on-demand and live TV streaming. Here's how the novel coronavirus COVID-19 could impact your cord-cutting experience. Read on to find out more in this week's Stream Report.

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Streamer's Spotlight: How Coronavirus Quarantines Could Impact Streaming

If you've not been put into mandatory "social distancing" quite yet, you may find yourself there at some point in the coming weeks. And as millions more people spend time at home, there's going to be a significant stretch on cord-cutting and streaming services like never before.

Internet bandwidth will be strained

As more people spend time at home thanks to coronavirus quarantines, work closures, and school shutdowns, expect internet bandwidths to slow down significantly. This is not uncommon, as bandwidth slowdowns occur almost daily during the evening, a time period known as the

"internet rush hour"

. Yet it's uncommon for so many extra devices to be connected consistently all day, every day.

So if you're experiencing

much slower internet

than usual, don't be surprised. There are likely just far more people around you using the internet than usual, and most will likely be streaming video.

Streaming services may go down periodically

All streaming services have a limited amount of server capacity. They also have fairly predictable streaming volumes. But it's quite possible many streaming services will see their server capacity strained beyond what's normal, leading to significant buffering for customers, or even site crashes. The larger services, such as Netflix, are likely prepared with the proper bandwidth, but there could be surprises.

After all, even Disney+

crashed continuously on launch day

due to the overload on its system from so many simultaneous connections.

New cord-cutting sign-ups will increase dramatically

Many newcomers, unfamiliar with cord-cutting and not used to having so much time on their hands, may start looking into and signing up for streaming services at a faster clip. Live TV streaming options like YouTube TV, Sling TV, and others may see a huge boost in sign-ups thanks to so many more people sitting at home looking for something to watch.