Netflix has begun the process of reducing the video quality of its content in order to cope with increased demand due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Countries in all corners of the globe are in the process of entering lockdown in an effort to combat the killer disease, resulting in millions of people turning to home entertainment devices during isolation.

European officials lodged a request with the service to reduce the bandwidth of their content for the next 30 days to help internet providers across the continent to deal with the additional load.

A Netflix spokesman confirmed: "Given the extraordinary challenges raised by the coronavirus – Netflix has decided to begin reducing bit rates across all our streams in Europe for 30 days.

"We estimate that this will reduce Netflix traffic on European networks by around 25% while also ensuring a good quality service for our members."

Elsewhere, the BBC has announced that it will increase the number of boxsets available on iPlayer, while the hotly-anticipated Disney+ streaming service will launch in the UK next week.