The streaming service’s failed live reunion for Love is Blind became a social media moment we never knew we needed.
The not-so-live reunion for Netflix’s Love is Blind Season 4 finale Sunday night sparked much conversation about live streaming and what the popular streaming service is really capable of.
From the jump, many speculated that Netflix was way out of its league for trying to air a live event of that status, but some were confident the streaming service could pull it off. Ultimately, viewers were met with a spinning dial, and error messages that promised the event would start soon. The Love is Blind reunion was set to start at 8 pm ET, and Netflix promised the delay would only last 15 minutes in a now-deleted tweet. The reunion was actually delayed for over an hour, and when it eventually started, not all users got access to it.
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The attempted live event was Netflix’s second time trying to put on live programming in history. The platform’s first live event was the Chris Rock: Selective Outrage comedy special last month, which was live-streamed without glitches. Still, it’s safe to assume that Love is Blind brings in a much larger audience, which could have had something to do with the event’s technological difficulties. Had the live stream of the reunion actually happened, its success would have set a precedent for future live programming on the platform. Netflix has much to learn from what went wrong before trying this again.
Since the live event was a bust, Netflix promised to get it online for everyone on Monday. It’ll be interesting to see if the streaming platform makes some edits to the final reunion cut since there were many production glitches that should have been avoided. For instance, some camera shots were showing the wrong cast mates at times, mics were muffled, and at one point, co-host Vanessa Lachey had to tell the control room to turn their mics off since cast mates could hear them.
While some viewers flocked to social media to file complaints about their frustrations, big-name brands across any industry you can think of got in on the delay and capitalized on the rare moment. Come on, The Cheesecake Factory, eBay, Hello Fresh, Oreo, Blockbuster, and many more shared witty Instagram comments and tweets, creating the best marketing moment we didn’t know we needed. This exchange from Blockbuster and Redbox was ironically top tier and my personal fave of the night:
Here’s a snapshot of some more tweets from the night:
Even LIB Season 4 contestant Marshall Glaze got in on the fun … while he was at the delayed event.
#LoveIsBlindReunion is still trending on Twitter, meaning viewers and supporters of the show are still highly interested in the show. So, what’s next for Netflix and live programming? For starters, we hope the brand sheds some light on what actually happened since there was a successful rehearsal ahead of the live event. We’ll be watching to see how the streaming service responds.
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