CBS All Access crashed just ahead of Super Bowl LV kickoff
- Sara Fischer, author of Axios Media Trends
Ryan Succop #3 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers kicks during the first quarter against the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LV at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, on Sunday. Photo: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images
CBS All Access, the streaming service from ViacomCBS, did not work for some customers Sunday night as they tried to access the service just ahead of the Super Bowl LV kickoff.
Why it matters: The incident represents a weak spot for streaming services vying to win rights to air big games from major sports leagues. Streaming TV technology still isn't as reliable as traditional broadcast or cable during highly-trafficked events.
Details: Roku and desktop users were the ones experiencing technical difficulties, Variety reports. This issue was shortly resolved by the time the game got underway.
- Users took to social media to complain about the outage. Most were able to access the game shortly after rebooting.
- CBS All Access did not immediately return a request for comment.
The big picture: The incident joins a long list of crucial sports moments streamers have struggled to seamlessly deliver for big games.
- AT&T had to make a pay-per-view golf match between Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods free to watch in 2018 following a payments glitch.
- Earlier that year, Amazon had problems live streaming the U.S. Open for U.K. viewers, and YouTube’s TV service crashed during the World Cup semifinals.
- Hulu had some hiccups streaming during the final moments of Super Bowl LII.
Bottom line: These issues present a big challenge for streaming companies looking to upend the cable bundle. Most analysts agree that cable won't completely collapse until sports rights are mostly moved over to streaming.
Go deeper: In photos: Scenes from first Super Bowl with socially distanced fans