• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, April 19, 2023

Live programming may be a trip-up that any streamer/connected TV platform may have an issue with. But the benefits? A marriage made in heaven -- for some.

Amazon had an initial issue or two with “Thursday Night Football” -- and now Netflix with live reunion reality/dating show "Love Is Blind" had its date go wrong.

Netflix tried to start -- and restart -- “Love Is Blind” on Sunday night. It had to eventually pull the live event -- and go taped, offering it on Monday.

Maybe this is why Netflix hasn’t really delved into bidding for live programming much -- especially sports, when it came seeking say NFL Football or even Major League baseball. (Apple TV+ got the “Friday Night Baseball” package).

For its part, Netflix says otherwise -- that live sports is incredibly pricey. To give Netflix some hope around this, its earlier attempt this year with a live comedy event -- “Chris Rock: “Selective Outrage” -- came off without a hitch.

Still, guess we might be taking it for granted that live airings of anything on the TV screen would be exactly like that on streaming. It can. But apparently there can be issues as well.

We know live TV programming is a very important thing in the eyes of marketers. There is little TV commercial avoidance -- at least on a brand-top-of-the-funnel advertising perspective.

Yes, targeting with live programming has been a tricky thing. But most live content is sports content which steers dominantly to men. So that amounts to very general, old-school targeting. We then wonder why Netflix just wanted to take a chance -- in a small way -- with a non-scripted programming that primarily targets women.

No doubt some internal data prompted Netflix to believe it could be a big deal.

Maybe the “Love is Blind” show itself offered a clue. The reality dating show is where couples propose to each other before actually seeing each other for the first time. 

No surprise here: You don't know exactly what you get.