With lockdown in action as a means to prevent the novel Coronavirus from spreading, there has been a sharp increase in the number of people searching for ways to keep themselves entertained.

While some have embraced their inner chefs, some are busy in unleashing their inner artist and some are using this quarantine to catch up on their favorite TV shows and movies. Tables have turned and those who were once deemed outgoing and productive are being forced to live the life of a couch potato.

Ever since self-quarantining has begun, people have been grappling with the idea of what they can do to survive this? Luckily, to help them get along with these times, cable TV and the internet have come forth as knights in shining armors.

There was a time when people were busy speculating about the future of cable TV. While its counterpart, the internet is doing much great, cable TV, on the other hand, was experiencing a major dropdown. So much so that its users were even considering cutting their cords and moving permanently towards online content streaming platforms.

Only a few tough ones managed to survive the rough patch of the cable TV industry. Among those, Charter Spectrum stood firm and unbeatable. It did so with its amazing packages such as Spectrum Gold Packages that let customers choose between Triple Play and Double Play variants, to meet with their daily internet, cable TV, and home phone-related needs.

The real question, however, how are these top cable TV and internet service providers are keeping their calm amid the chaos?

Covid-19 and The Internet

January and March saw a hike in internet traffic. Applications that were doing just okay before the Pandemic, are now standing among the highest-grossing ones. To abide by the new rules of social distancing, people across the world are using Zoom to make video calls to cater to their educational and work-related needs. In case you didn’t know, the rise in demand that Zoom has experienced in the last couple of months surpasses the demand it saw in all of 2019.

Another chunk of internet traffic is coming from gamers. Ever heard of the gaming PC gaming store, Steam? Well, that gaming platform saw a spike in its demand, as there were more than 20 million players logged in, all at the same time. Undoubtedly, there is a massive hike in the global internet demand and it’s all due to the Pandemic. There was a time when internet peak hours were mostly post-work hours, i.e. around 7:30 PM. Now, peak hours show different shifts.

Sometimes, there is a surge in internet usage around early morning hours because that’s when most teachers and students are online. While sometimes, peak hour shifts around lunch when most office meetings take place over Zoom. Of course, the burden on the internet is heavy during these times, let’s see if it manages to stay strong or will it end up collapsing badly.

COVID-19 and Cable TV

Similarly, cable TV is going through an uncertain time. While its users are reconsidering cutting their cords, things are quite awry actually. Due to the novel COVID-19, the uncertainty of when things will start getting better has delayed the production of new TV shows.

However, that’s just one side of the picture. According to Nielsen’s latest prediction, due to the recent quarantine circumstances, there could be a 60% rise in TV watching. The credit goes to the news channels since people want to stay updated 24/7. This is particularly why cable TV will continue to have an edge over online video streaming platforms.

All in All

The novel Pandemic has impacted the internet and cable TV industry. While the internet is dealing with ways to tackle the sudden boost in global traffic, cable TV was dealing with the horror of cord-cutting. Since live news is only broadcasted on cable TV that gave the dying cable TV a much-needed chance of survival.

We can’t say that the internet will continue to deal with this overwhelming traffic increase, along with cable TV, that’s experiencing a second chance of survival. Things might change, once the situation starts to fall back into its place. All we can do right now is wash our hands, maintain a lot of social-distance and wait.