Coronavirus impact: Youtube, Netflix cut stream quality in Europe to ease networks

Netflix Inc and Google’s YouTube agreed to reduce the quality of their video streaming in Europe to relieve networks strained by the coronavirus pandemic.

The moves follow separate discussions between European Industry Commissioner Thierry Breton and Netflix Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Reed Hastings, and with Google CEO Sundar Pichai and YouTube’s CEO Susan Wojcicki.

YouTube said Friday it would temporarily switch all traffic in Europe to standard definition by default for 30 days.

We will continue working with member state governments and network operators to minimise stress on the system, while also delivering a good user experience, YouTube said in a statement, adding it has so far only seen a few usage peaks.