Did you stream video on Nov. 8 related to the presidential race? If you did, you are probably part of a very big club, according to stats released by Akamai this week.
Live video streaming traffic specific to the U.S. presidential election on Tuesday peaked at 7.5 Tbps on the Akamai Platform shortly before midnight E.T. on Tuesday, according to a statement put out by the content delivery network services company. This blasted past previous news events, and placed it among the highest video traffic peaks for any individual event delivered by the company.
“In what has already been a record-setting year for live streaming with the European soccer finals, Rio, and the recent presidential debates, Akamai has again helped our customers deliver unprecedented levels of online video with last night’s election coverage,” Akamai EVP and GM of Media Bill Wheaton says. “Not only are more people watching online in general, they’re watching at higher quality, which contributes to the increasingly higher peaks in traffic that we’re observing.”
The company also notes that the event marked the inauguration of Akamai’s Broadcast Operations Control Center in a presidential election. Akamai reports that numerous customers utilized the dedicated facility, technical staff, and services for real-time support and operational insight.
How does the data released compare to past U.S. election and other political events? Election Day 2004 traffic on Akamai reportedly peaked at 21 Gbps, and the 2009 Obama inauguration reached 1.1 Tbps. In September, the first 2016 presidential debate peaked at 4.4 Tbps in September, according to the company.