Nothing is worse than watching a big game and having a messed up touchdown, because your friend is watching on cable, while you are broadcasting the game. This is too common an event for streamers.
While CBS All Access had its share of struggles during Super Bowl LV, the CBS Sports app was a huge win for streamers.
The CBS Sports app, which offered the CBS TV broadcast of the Bucs vs. the Chiefs for free, has removed almost all of the lag (or latency) to cable that streamers are used to when watching live sports.
The Streamable tested the delay between the stream on cable and a number of streaming services – and the CBS Sports app won a jackpot. Compared to cable, it was only 2 seconds behind the live feed. CBS Sports said prior to the broadcast that while they don’t offer 4K streams like Fox did last year, they instead focus on reliability and low latency – so your stream won’t be. not so far behind live TV.
In comparison, the next shortest release time was Yahoo! Sports App at 13 seconds, while the NFL app was 35 seconds behind on the cable feed. YouTube TV at 18 seconds, then fuboTV at 34 seconds, AT&T TV at 35 seconds, CBS All Access at 37 seconds, and Hulu Live TV at 39 seconds were the top performing live TV broadcast services. Sling TV didn’t broadcast the Super Bowl because they don’t offer CBS. Results vary slightly depending on device and location.
The only major difference between the CBS Sports app and live TV streaming services is that it broadcast a single national stream, instead of offering a local affiliate in many different markets.
Did you hear your neighbor scream before you saw Gronk score one of his TDs in #Super Bowl?
The CBS Sports app has the shortest lag compared to cable.
CABLE RETURN TIME@CBSSports Application: 2 seconds@YahooSports: 13s@YouTubeTV: 18s@fuboTV: 34s@NFL Application: 35 s
CBS AA /@ParamountPlus: 37s@hulu: 39s– The Streamable: news in streaming and cut-wire (@TheStreamable) February 8, 2021
One of the annoying aspects of video streaming, especially for live events, is that it historically lags behind cable and satellite TV. Many sports fans in the apartments would hear their neighbors yelling over the cable, before a touchdown appeared on their stream. In addition, the game is ruined if you follow on Twitter or receive texts from friends.
But, reducing latency to next to nothing for Super Bowl LV, CBS has shown that it’s possible to stream a massive event online in near real time.