Beyoncé’s halftime show and 2 NFL games were a hit for Netflix : NPR

Sports activities followers who tuned into Netflix’s landmark streaming Wednesday of two NFL video games might have felt a little bit of troubling déjà vu – at first.

That is as a result of this significant occasion – signaling the entry of the business’s largest streaming service into the blockbuster enterprise {of professional} soccer – kicked off with audio issues within the early moments of host Kay Adams’ opening presentation.

It was a worrying callback to issues Netflix had with its final massive stay occasion, the boxing match in November between YouTube star Jake Paul and former champ Mike Tyson when viewers struggled with blurry audio and obtained repeatedly kicked off the stay stream.

Luckily, Adams’ sound issues have been shortly fastened, permitting Netflix to step up with a two-game programming occasion that felt just like the streaming service’s model of the Tremendous Bowl – full with a lushly-produced halftime present for its second recreation that includes pop celebrity Beyoncé that would stand as much as any Massive Recreation presentation.

The truth is, the precise soccer video games might have been the least spectacular a part of Netflix’s massive day, as Tremendous Bowl champions the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs ran over the Pittsburgh Steelers within the first recreation, 29-10 and the Baltimore Ravens dominated the Houston Texans on their house turf for the second contest, 31-2.

Netflix’s broadcast on Wednesday obtained off to a rocky begin with audio issues from host Kay Adams.

Netflix

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Netflix

Stacking its groups of hosts and commentators with skilled broadcasters, Netflix delivered a largely clean visible presentation with a lot of glitzy graphics and all the data followers wanted to observe the sport. The connection points that plagued the Tyson/Paul struggle appeared largely absent, at the very least for this viewer, significantly whereas watching the video games in barely delayed playback.

Based on Netflix, greater than 200 nations tuned in sooner or later in the course of the Chiefs vs. Steelers contest, making it the second hottest stay title on the streaming service.

So, it is smart the streamer would reap the benefits of the event to shoehorn in a lot of references to different Netflix merchandise, together with a pregame interview with WWE wrestler Liv Morgan to immediate the debut of WWE Uncooked stay occasions subsequent month and realistic-looking football-shaped muffins tying into the streamer’s recreation present Is It Cake?

There have been additionally a great deal of commercials, which appeared to play even for subscribers with ad-free plans, although when you watched the video games through replay, you might skip previous them.

However the full video games expired from Netflix three hours after the occasion; two applications providing highlights from every recreation’s performs can be found to observe on demand, and the streamer says Beyoncé’s halftime present can even be supplied as a standalone program to rewatch.

Queen Bey, a Houston native, definitely introduced the hearth to her hometown for what the streamer dubbed the “Beyoncé Bowl” halftime present. Performing songs from her album Cowboy Carter for the primary time – together with her reboots of “Jolene” and “Blackbird” – she was a imaginative and prescient in white and sequins backed by a cavalcade of dancers decked out in white cowboy hats and ace collaborators like Publish Malone and Shaboozey. Her daughter, Blue Ivy, even made an look.

Beyoncé’s epic stay efficiency lasted greater than 13 minutes – handily overshadowing Mariah Carey’s pre-taped appearances earlier than every recreation – additionally proving that Netflix may muster the manufacturing worth and imagery to match any Tremendous Bowl-level performer.

Which was, in the end, crucial level of your entire day – proving that the streaming service is able to compete with the massive canine of broadcasting by providing glitch-free NFL video games stay to a subscriber base of greater than 282 million accounts.

Netflix is not the one streamer providing stay NFL video games. Amazon’s Prime Video has Thursday Evening Soccer and Peacock additionally presents stay protection of some NFL video games. However Netflix, as the most important and most worthwhile streaming service, has a symbolic and substantial affect in the case of a sure form of programming.

With its plans to stream WWE Uncooked stay occasions starting next month and a new deal to current the FIFA Ladies’s World Cup, Netflix is popping towards one space of tv streaming providers have not but dominated: stay sports activities.

What that in the end means for the way forward for tv – and the way forward for sports activities media – we may be beginning to be taught.