Advanced Television

Online viewing spikes during Royal Wedding in UK and US

May 22, 2018

While traditional TV was still the frontrunner for watching the royal wedding, live-streaming of the event from the major broadcasters saw a noticeable uptake too, putting additional pressure on streaming services, and demanding high performance and delivery of these live-streams.

Limelight Networks, a content delivery network (CDN) provider to broadcasters, monitored the spikes in traffic experienced by its customers that include BBC, Sky and Channel 4 in comparison with the previous day, and saw an average increase of 225 per cent in viewership during the wedding. The three biggest peaks in traffic included (in order of total viewership):

  • First appearance of the bride
  • Bride/Groom’s first kiss
  • Beginning of the formal procession

As with traditional TV, there was one clear winner in the streaming ratings battle across Limelight’s network, with the UK seeing a 119 per cent increase in viewers and the US a huge 343 per cent increase.

Jon Smith, MD of EMEA at Limelight Networks says, “The Royal Wedding demonstrates the growing pressures high-profile events can put on a broadcaster’s network, and without the right CDN in place these additional requests from viewers just cannot be met, resulting in the loss of customers and the loss of revenue. Consumers have very high expectations when it comes to the content they consume, especially video. Regardless of when, where or how they watch it, there should be no delay in delivery, and no loss of quality – essentially, it should always feel like a traditional broadcast. The only way that broadcasters can guarantee this is by investing in a reliable private network (or CDN) that mitigates the crowded public internet and allows the fast delivery of content around the world, seamlessly.”

Categories: Articles, CDNs, Consumer Behaviour, OTT, Research