YouTube TV's coverage of the NBA Eastern Conference finals clash between the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat on Wednesday was overshadowed by a technical glitch on YouTube's part.
With only four minutes left on the clock in the game, a commercial for Disney's live-action reboot of The Little Mermaid was aired, causing the fans to miss the conclusion of a thrilling game. This caused the fans to miss the conclusion of the game which was bagged by Heats in the end, with Jimmy Butler helping his side clinch a hard-earned victory. YouTube TV apologized to the fans in a statement that said:
"If you have an issue watching the Miami Heat vs. Boston Celtics game on TNT, we’re aware of it & our team is working on a fix — thx (sic) so much for your patience!”
Several NBA fans voiced their displeasure with YouTube and one of them took his dissatisfaction to Twitter in a tweet that read:
"I'm a Celtics fan, I missed the last four minutes of the game. I only pay for YouTube TV because I want to be able to watch live sports. I need a refund for the entire month and for the next month as a sign of goodwill or I'm cancelling the subscription and going back to cable."
With the fans missing the action-packed ending to the game, it has caused unrest among a section of the NFL fans, who are not entirely confident in YouTube TV's streaming capabilities with the Video Sharing Company set to be the exclusive home to the Sunday Ticket for 2023.
The National Football League (NFL) is keen on moving on to the streaming service to reach a wider audience and YouTube TV will allow them to do that. DirecTV has been the original operator for the NFL since its inception in 1994 but the League's broadcasting deals with Amazon Prime, NBC's Peacock, and its NFL+ service do suggest that they are looking to move on to other options in the near future though it is not entirely clear if they still have the option of retaining their cable providers in the long-run.
YouTube TV's latest blunder could potentially hurt their reputation among the fans but that is only secondary. Following such an error at such a vital juncture in the game, most fans are not confident about YouTube's ability to provide them with an uninterrupted stream.
The Sunday Ticket packages cost around $249-498 and with the amount of money that the fans would have to pay for the package, they will be hoping that their experience will be glitch-free for the entirety of the NFL season which begins in September.
