A content delivery network uses distributed infrastructure to deliver resources closer to users or through suitable network locations. It can cache content and distribute demand across servers. A CDN may help a streaming service scale, but the viewer's connection, the origin, cache rules and media source still affect the result.
A practical example
A film segment requested by viewers in different regions might be served from different CDN locations. This can reduce repeated origin requests and shorten some delivery paths, while each household still depends on its own internet and local network.
A common misunderstanding
A CDN name does not establish that every resource is cached or every region has identical performance. Live media, private URLs and cache rules can produce different delivery behaviour.
Related terms
Stable technical definition. Editorial approach