Is Apple’s new TV show, WeCrashed, actually a documentary on the company’s first broadcast of a Major League Baseball game?

You could excuse some fans from thinking that this morning after Apple TV+’s debut stream of an MLB game last night crashed repeatedly in the third and fourth innings of the New York Mets-Washington Nationals game. The screen suddenly shifted back and forth from the action to an error message that said, “Video Not Available.”

Considering that Apple TV+ was showing the game exclusively as part of a new Friday night doubleheader deal with Major League Baseball, the technical glitch, which is still common for high-profile live streaming events, was met with great derision on social media sites. Fans had no other way to watch the game which featured the Mets’ Max Scherzer’s return to Nationals Park after pitching for the Nationals for nearly seven years.

As Julia Alexander suggested, live streaming continues to experience technical headaches with viewers often complaining of buffering and/or crashing while watching during highly viewed events such as the World Series, Super Bowl and season-ending episodes. As sports leagues issue more exclusive contracts to streamers, the problem could actually get worse before it gets better. More viewers means more strain on servers which can trigger meltdowns.

But Apple TV+’s stream did seem to stabilize after the fourth inning although the Nationals’ pitching did not, allowing the Mets to win going away, 7-3. But the two-inning snafu did indeed overshadow a broadcast that otherwise would have been known as one that delivered an exceptional picture.

Apple has not commented on whether the game was streamed in 4K, (I asked multiple times), but many fans remarked on Twitter and elsewhere that the picture was very detailed and crisp, far more so than your typical HD presentation. It appeared from this veteran eye that the stream was 1080p (the highest level HD), a conclusion held by some other industry watchers. But some people seemed ready to swear on Bibles that it was 4K. That’s how good the picture was.

What did you think of the Apple TV+ picture? Comment below.

Editor’s Note: WeCrashed is actually an Apple TV+ series starring Jared Leto and Anne Hathaway as high-flying entrepreneurs whose company collapses due to hubris. In case you were wondering.

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— Phillip Swann
@tvanswerman