Netflix makes Live VBR the default—then rewires capacity planning

Netflix reports that as of Jan. 26, 2026 it has switched all Netflix Live event encodes from CBR to capped VBR (using AWS Elemental MediaLive QVBR), requiring updates to capacity planning and traffic-steering to account for bitrate variability. Netflix says A/B tests across multiple live events showed roughly 15% fewer bytes transferred on average, about 10% lower peak-minute traffic, and about 5% fewer rebuffers per hour after adjusting server admission control to reserve capacity based on nominal bitrates and tuning the VBR bitrate ladder to match CBR quality using VMAF. The company also outlines next steps including incorporating upcoming segment sizes into client ABR logic and refining capacity reservation with variability-informed discounts.