(Bloomberg) -- Netflix Inc. apologized Sunday after its service buckled under the strain of the popularity of a live streamed reunion episode of dating reality show
Thousands of users reported Netflix streaming was unavailable Sunday, according to monitoring website Downdetector. #LoveIsBlindLIVE was the top global trending topic on Twitter, with Netflix building up anticipation with tweets counting down to the livestream's commencement. The company also promised that the live reunion would be the first time that viewers would be able to help pick out the questions asked of participants.
But after the widespread outages, Netflix apologized and said it would film the episode and upload it for viewers to see as soon as possible. It wasn't immediately clear when that would happen.
“We're filming it now and we'll have it on Netflix as soon as humanly possible,” the streaming site said in a tweet more than an hour after the live show was initially scheduled.
, a reality show where couples pair up and get engaged before meeting in person, is one of Netflix's biggest unscripted hits. The series helped fuel subscriptions during pandemic lockdowns in 2020 and has remained popular for the streaming service. It's produced by Kinetic Content, which was acquired by media mogul Peter Chernin's North Road Co. last year.
Netflix has begun to experiment with live programming, starting with a comedy special from Chris Rock earlier this year. The reunion episode for its dating show was set to be the biggest test for Netflix's ability to expand beyond its on-demand video roots.
--With assistance from Lucas Shaw, Nick Turner and Vlad Savov.
(Updates with details from Netflix)
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