WWE Raw Faces Its First Streaming Issues on Netflix.
Monday's episode had interruptions, as some viewers experienced a black screen.
Since its launch in January, WWE Raw on Netflix had achieved remarkable stability, but that streak was interrupted on February 3 during a live episode when many viewers began to experience technical failures.
Throughout the program, some users reported that the stream was intermittently cutting out, displaying a black screen. This issue also affected the audio, which would mute each time these outages occurred. Although the stream did not completely cut out, as had happened on previous occasions with earlier events, the situation generated frustration among fans who were eagerly awaiting the fallout from Saturday's Royal Rumble event.
WWE Raw made its debut on Netflix in early January, after being a staple of cable television for decades. The platform has allocated a $5 billion investment in a 10-year program to secure this flagship WWE show. Internationally, Netflix has become an even broader home for WWE content, which includes shows like SmackDown, NXT, and monthly premium live events. Therefore, any issues with these broadcasts are quickly noticed by fans.
The technical problems seemed to intensify during the night's main event, which pitted CM Punk against Sami Zayn. The failures likely stemmed from WWE's production, as the Netflix logo remained visible on screen during the interruptions. Attempts have been made to contact WWE for comments on the causes of these temporary disruptions.
On another note, it is worth mentioning that Netflix increased its subscription prices last month, raising its ad-supported basic plan to $7.99, the standard ad-free plan to $17.99, and the premium tier to $24.99 per month.