A tv digicam operator is dressed as Santa Claus through the Baltimore Ravens and San Diego Chargers sport on Dec. 18, 2011, at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.
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Netflix is gearing as much as stream two NFL video games this Christmas Day: the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers at 1 p.m. ET, adopted by the Baltimore Ravens vs. the Houston Texans at 4:30 p.m. ET.
These soccer video games will mark the streaming service’s newest take a look at at stay programming for occasions that may doubtless draw tens of millions of viewers.
Final yr, a median of 28.7 million viewers tuned in to one of many three NFL soccer video games on Christmas Day — the Las Vegas Raiders vs. the Chiefs; the New York Giants vs. the Philadelphia Eagles; and the Ravens vs. the San Francisco 49ers. The matchups ranked among the many high 25 most-viewed TV packages of 2023.
“We could not be extra excited to be the primary skilled sports activities league to companion with Netflix to deliver stay video games to followers all over the world,” mentioned Hans Schroeder, NFL government vice chairman of media distribution, in a statement.
Nevertheless it’s not simply the touchdowns and tackles which can be anticipated to drive viewership.
Earlier than the Ravens tackle the Texans, Grammy-winning group Pentatonix will sing the nationwide anthem. At halftime, Beyoncé will take the stage, preforming tracks from her 2024 album Cowboy Carter stay for the first time, together with particular visitor appearances.
Netflix says it discovered from Tyson-Paul boxing match glitches
Netflix’s transfer to stream NFL video games comes simply weeks after the platform’s try and broadcast stay boxing between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson was rife with technical glitches.
Many followers reported on social media experiencing lengthy buffering instances or being booted from the stream. In response to the web site Down Detector, no less than 85,000 viewers skilled streaming points. The disruptions had been so irritating to at least one Florida man that he filed a class action lawsuit towards Netflix over the “unwatchable” livestream.
At its peak, the combat reached 65 million concurrent streams globally, which was an unprecedented scale for Netflix.
A Netflix spokesperson mentioned the platform has discovered an incredible deal about streaming from the Tyson vs. Paul combat, including that Netflix has adjusted its “content material supply, encoding, and streaming protocols accordingly” to stop technical points for the soccer video games.
“We now know from expertise what are the principle strain factors in our infrastructure and are promptly addressing them forward of the NFL video games,” the spokesperson mentioned in an e mail.
So much is at stake for Netflix to get livestreams proper and glitch-free. The platform is already set to air NFL video games on Christmas Day in 2025 and 2026. Netflix may also start broadcasting WWE Uncooked, SmackDown and different WWE programming weekly beginning Jan. 6.
On Friday, Netflix secured a take care of FIFA to achieve unique streaming rights to the Girls’s World Cup in 2027 and 2031. The 2 teams mentioned it isn’t solely a rating for the streamer, however a win for FIFA, which is hoping to succeed in a wider viewers, particularly within the U.S.
“This settlement sends a powerful message about the true worth of the FIFA Girls’s World Cup and the worldwide ladies’s sport,” mentioned FIFA President Gianni Infantino in a statement.
Whether or not it is a comedy particular, a late-night speak present, or a relationship present reunion, it has been hit and miss as as to whether Netflix’s broadcasts will run easily.
Nevertheless it’s clear that stay programming is right here to remain on Netflix. Lately, the streamer has been experimenting extra with stay programming — an space largely dominated by conventional TV platforms. It is a sharp pivot from the binge-watching pattern that helped Netflix rise to recognition.
Netflix has the most important subscriber base of any streaming service worldwide. However mastering stay streaming shall be essential for its future as considerations about stagnation and subscriber progress proceed to loom.
