new York
CNN
—
Netflix’s much-anticipated live reunion on Sunday for the cast of the fourth season of its reality dating show Love is Blind has been postponed as technical issues kept anxious fans waiting.
Finally, Netflix decided to record the show for streaming. to announce It would be available worldwide on Monday at 3pm ET.
“To everyone who stayed up late, got up early and gave up their Sunday afternoon… we’re incredibly sorry that the Love is Blind Live Reunion didn’t go the way we planned,” Netflix said tweeted in a statement. “We’re shooting it now and will release it on Netflix as soon as possible. Thanks again and sorry.”
The second live show in Netflix history was scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. ET on Sunday. A few minutes after the scheduled start time, Netflix tweeted: “Love is … late. #LoveIsBlindLIVE starts in 15 minutes!”
The streaming service came a few minutes later promised the show “will be worth the wait…” When Netflix subscribers tried to access the stream, they were presented with a screen that read, “It’s almost time! The live event will start soon.”
The company isn’t used to broadcasting live events like many of its streaming competitors. The live show only It aired on Netflix on March 4 with the live broadcast of “Chris Rock: Selective Outrage,” a standup special from the comedian. This streamed with no problems.
Netflix’s competitors have found success with live streaming. Last year, Amazon Prime began airing Thursday Night Football. Apple TV+ partners with Major League Baseball on select games. And other competitors have also entered the live area.
But Netflix has been notoriously resilient — not because of technological hurdles, but because the company has done so said repeatedly Live broadcasting rights, especially for sports, are associated with high costs. Still, Netflix had a difficult 2022, loss of subscribers as consumer behavior changed. As the media landscape continued to change, the company began experimenting with live broadcasts.
As the world waited for the reunion episode, which was hosted by Nick and Vanessa Lachey, the silly and snarky social media posts piled up.
Angry fans included New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who Netflix retweeted.
Blockbuster, the bankrupt former video store, tweeted: “Think of renting vhs from us. You could easily start on time with it… That’s what we get.”
In the series “Love is Blind”, couples propose marriage before they see each other. It has helped the company solidify his reality TV skills when it first started streaming three years ago, at a time when traditional network and broadcast television were essentially the only places to get a glimpse of reality.