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Netflix is lowering video quality for its subscribers in Canada as it attempts to reduce soaring demands on internet bandwidth in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The streaming giant says it introduced changes on Thursday that are designed to slash its data traffic by 25 per cent, as internet service providers deal with a surge in user activity. The lower bandwidth streams of Netflix programs should still deliver the usual quality of each plan, the company said, whether it's ultra-high definition 4K, high-definition or standard definition. "If you are particularly tuned into video quality, you may notice a very slight decrease in quality within each resolution. But you will still get the video quality you paid for," Florance wrote at the time.

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TORONTO -- Netflix is lowering video quality for its subscribers in Canada as it attempts to reduce soaring demands on internet bandwidth in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The streaming giant says it introduced changes on Thursday that are designed to slash its data traffic by 25 per cent as internet service providers deal with a surge in user activity. The lower bandwidth streams of Netflix programs should still deliver the usual quality of each plan, the company said, whether it's ultra-high definition 4K, high-definition or standard definition. The move comes as telecom companies see a rise in bandwidth usage while Canadians self-isolate at home and use video streaming services more frequently than usual.

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The current COVID-19 pandemic continues to damage companies from different industries as the virus keeps spreading and the hits keep coming. While many industries are facing existential issues, the streaming industry is a rare one that is performing relatively well. Social distancing and stay-at-home mandates have predictably increased the consumption of streaming content, resulting in governments in some countries in Europe, Latin America and Asia to ask streaming providers to reduce the quality of their image in order to improve bandwidth capacity for internet service providers. Netflix has an income approximately 20-times bigger than Roku, thanks in part to its international growth, and it is far more recognizable among consumers. But in terms of debt, Roku is far less reliant than Netflix, with $100 million in debt and $500 million in cash compared to Netflix's $15 billion in debt and $5 billion cash reserve. Unlike Netflix, Roku can benefit from an increase in viewing hours because their model includes ad sales. Walt Disney Co (NYSE: DIS) has Disney+, Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) has Apple TV+, Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) has Prime Video, and Dish Network (NASDAQ: DISH) has Sling TV. As the streaming pie increases, all those platforms will likely drive growth for their respective companies. But in the near-term, I like Roku to benefit the most.

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Mar 25 2020, 6:20pmShareTweetSnap. As millions of Americans hunker down to slow the spread of COVID-19, gaming, teleconferencing, and video streaming are putting added stress on the internet. And while telecom executives tell Motherboard the U.S. internet will likely weather the storm, many content providers are taking extra precautions to make sure that’s true. Responding to demands from European regulators, Netflix late last week announced that it would be slowing down customer bit rates to reduce overall network traffic by 25 percent to help avoid any potential congestion. In a blog post, content delivery network (CDN) Akamai said the company was working with both Sony and Microsoft to slow game downloads during peak usage hours to help manage any additional demand. U.S. telecom provider Centurylink, which acquired tier 1 network operator Level 3 in 2017, told Motherboard it has seen a 35 percent overall increase in network traffic over the past two weeks, primarily in the areas of gaming and video.

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Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Visa V, Bank of America BAC, Citigroup C, Netflix NFLX and Duke Energy DUK. Shares of Bank of America have lost 28.3% over the past year against the Zacks Major Regional Banks’ fall of 35.1%. The Zacks analyst believes that opening branches in new regions, improved digital offerings, decent loan demand and efforts to control costs are expected to aid profitability despite near-zero interest rates.

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The proposal, drafted by Senator Ricardo Monreal of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s MORENA party, could violate the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the newly approved trade deal between the three countries, Mexico’s Internet Association wrote in a letter to senators seen by Reuters. “An initiative of this type is also especially disconcerting in an economic and commercial situation in which ... the implementation of the USMCA becomes urgent to successfully face the economic challenges stemming from Covid-19,” wrote the Internet Association, whose members include Amazon and Google. The Senate's finance committee is scheduled to vote on the proposal on Tuesday. If approved by the committee, it would then move to the full chamber and, upon approval, to the lower house. While the requirement would apply to domestic players as well, it favors Mexican companies such as Televisa and TV Azteca, which already produce much of their content in the country, said Maria Elena Estavillo, a former commissioner of Mexico’s telecom regulator, the Federal Telecommunications Institute. Such rules, which have also been adopted in the European Union, are often intended to favor independent producers, Estavillo noted. But in practice, streaming companies may end up simply licensing content from Televisa or TV Azteca to fulfill the requirement, she said.

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The proposal, drafted by Senator Ricardo Monreal of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s MORENA party, could violate the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the newly approved trade deal between the three countries, Mexico’s Internet Association wrote in a letter to senators seen by Reuters. “An initiative of this type is also especially disconcerting in an economic and commercial situation in which ... the implementation of the USMCA becomes urgent to successfully face the economic challenges stemming from Covid-19,” wrote the Internet Association, whose members include Amazon and Google. The Senate's finance committee is scheduled to vote on the proposal on Tuesday. If approved by the committee, it would then move to the full chamber and, upon approval, to the lower house. While the requirement would apply to domestic players as well, it favors Mexican companies such as Televisa and TV Azteca, which already produce much of their content in the country, said Maria Elena Estavillo, a former commissioner of Mexico’s telecom regulator, the Federal Telecommunications Institute. Such rules, which have also been adopted in the European Union, are often intended to favor independent producers, Estavillo noted. But in practice, streaming companies may end up simply licensing content from Televisa or TV Azteca to fulfill the requirement, she said.

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NEW DELHI: OTT services like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Zee5 and Voot have taken proactive measures to lower video bitrates to reduce traffic networks in the country, according to various media reports. The move comes after the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) on March 22 wrote to at least twelve major online streaming services in India requesting them to reduce their data consumption. “Given the crisis, we’ve developed a way to reduce Netflix’s traffic on telecommunications networks by 25% while also maintaining the quality of our service. So consumers should continue to get the quality that comes with their plan – whether it’s Ultra-High, High or Standard Definition. "Amazon Prime Video is working with local authorities, Mobile Service Providers and Internet Service Providers where needed to help mitigate any network congestion, including in India where we’ve already begun the effort to reduce streaming bitrates whilst maintaining a quality streaming experience for our customers," the spokesperson added.

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Roku Vs. Netflix: Needham's Laura Martin Sees A Clear Quarantine Winner. Benzinga{{monthName}} {{day}}, {{year}}, {{hour12}}:{{minuteTwoDigit}} {{dayPeriod}}. Some so-called “stay-at-home” stocks have performed relatively well in recent weeks during the broad market downturn. On Monday, one analyst discussed a stay-at-home battle playing out between Netflix Inc (NASDAQ: NFLX) and Roku Inc (NASDAQ: ROKU). “Although hours streamed are growing during COVID-19, we prefer Roku, which has a volume-based revenue model (ie, advertising CPMs) based on viewing time rather than NFLX, which charges the same price regardless of hours viewed,” Martin wrote in a note. For Netflix to benefit from the quarantine, it would need the outbreak to drive subscription growth rather than additional viewing hours from existing subscribers.

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HONG KONG/LONDON/DALLAS (Reuters Breakingviews) - Breakingviews has launched a daily column covering pandemic-related insights that you might have missed. Throughout the day, we’ll bring you shorter-than-usual views from columnists around the world with the same financial savvy on companies, economies and capital markets during this important unfolding story. Nigeria, Africa’s biggest economy and top oil producer, chose the financial market equivalent of the dead of night – after-hours on a Friday – to devalue its currency. Breakingviews predicted on March 10 that a plunge in oil prices triggered by coronavirus and a price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia put African producers like Nigeria on course for devaluation.

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