Video Streaming Let’s Down Inauguration Viewers

For many technologies, the Presidential Inauguration was a showcase opportunity. For many that wanted to watch the event, the only option was online, from their office (I got laid off so I was at home, with the TV on, streaming video and Twitter on my iPhone). In many instances streaming video services let them down.

CNN reported a record 21.3 million streams, 1.3 million of which were simultaneous. Akamai reported 5.4 million simultaneous visits and 7 million simultaneous streams to the networks it supports. So many viewers taxed the system. CNN kicked users out to virtual waiting rooms, offered frozen video or missing audio. Hulu, Ustream and Fox all suffered similar issues.

While the Inauguration of President Obama is being called the Most Watched Show of All Time (although early numbers for online viewership indicated that it is only 5th after Election Night, college basketball and the World Cup) and is certainly a rare glimpse at how far streaming video can be pushed, it is at least a warning to distributors of online video that the infrastructure is shakey. As more users begin to consume video online rather than through their televisions, the insfrastructure is going to need to expand to accomodate the burden. This is timely considering Obama’s pledge to build “the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together“.

On a related subject, it appears that major web sites saw a 60% decrease in speed. On a personal note, I followed all day on Twitter and never noticed any decrease in service.

See Techcrunch’s article with more detailed numbers here.