Netflix is planning to give away a ton of goodies for viewers of its two Christmas Day games, including opening with a taped performance of “All I Want for Christmas Is You” by Mariah Carey.
Still, Netflix executive Brandon Reeg realizes that all this is like a lump of coal if streaming is a problem.
Reeg, vice president of nonfiction series and sports, had to answer a number of questions about the streaming giant’s readiness for an influx of viewers that could be its biggest ever, especially after streaming problems during November. 14 Fight between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson.
“The number of people who came to watch was incredible. And given all the testing the engineering team had done before that, and I think they’re the best in the business, this is the only way to do testing of that magnitude,” Riegg said. ‘We never want to have technical problems or frustrating experiences for our members. There were a group of people who were struggling with this and we accept that.'” Stress-tested the system to such an extent that they realized that There are a lot of improvements and fixes that they can make, and they All those things are implemented.
Netflix has two games on Wednesday, starting with a two-hour pregame at 11 a.m. EST before the Pittsburgh Steelers host the Kansas City Chiefs. The second game between the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans will start at 4:30 PM EST.
The games will be available to Netflix’s 282.3 million subscribers in more than 190 countries, marking the first time an outlet has distributed an NFL game globally.
Many observers did not expect that Netflix would feature games for any of the four major sports leagues.
However, NFL games are part of an apparent effort by Netflix to become a destination for all sports fans. On Friday, it secured US rights to the 2027 and 2031 FIFA Women’s World Cups.
Netflix’s worldwide partnership with World Wrestling Entertainment will begin on January 6 when “Monday Night Raw” moves to the streaming service.
Netflix said the Tyson-Paul fight was watched by 60 million viewers worldwide and reached 65 million concurrent streams, including 38 million concurrent streams in the United States.
According to website Down Detector, approximately 85,000 viewers reported outages or streaming issues due to the fight.
By comparison, the largest audience for a stream-exclusive NFL game was 23 million on Peacock for last season’s AFC Wild Card game between the Miami Dolphins and Chiefs. For a regular season game, it was 17.3 million on Amazon Prime Video on December 5, when the Detroit Lions rallied to defeat the Green Bay Packers.
Nielsen will measure ratings for the Christmas Day games, with preliminary figures expected the afternoon of Dec. 26.
The games will air on CBS affiliates in Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Houston as part of a long-standing league policy where games being broadcast on cable or streamed will also be broadcast on over-the-air stations in the markets. Should be done. Competing teams.
The heaviest demand is likely to come around 6 p.m. EST, which will be halftime of the Ravens-Texans game and when Beyoncé will be performing.
The game is the first in a three-year deal for Netflix, which also includes one game each in 2025 and ’26. Netflix is paying $150 million for this year’s package.
Although getting a season-long package of games isn’t in line with Netflix’s philosophy, doing games on Christmas Day makes sense.
Mike North, the NFL’s vice president of broadcast planning, said when the schedule was announced in May that the league was not looking to hold a game on Christmas this year because it falls on a Wednesday. However, the increased ratings made it impossible to pass.
Last year’s three Christmas games averaged 28.68 million viewers. The early afternoon contest between the Las Vegas Raiders and Chiefs averaged 29.48 million.
NFL owners approved holding two games on Christmas during their spring meetings in March. Shortly after, Netflix expressed their interest.
Netflix already had a relationship with the league through the series “Quarterback” and “Receivers”.
“It is a kind of incident. This isn’t just a random Week 17 game,” Reeg said. “My north star for everybody has been that they need to feel warm, festive, family-oriented and having fun. We really want to elevate it and “Going to try to create something that feels like the holidays.”
Netflix is also trying to make it a family affair with its announcers. The father and son duo of Ian and Noah Eagle will be the play-by-play announcers, with JJ Watt being the Chiefs-Steelers analyst as his brother, linebacker TJ Watt, tries to limit Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes.
Brothers Jason and Devin McCourty will be part of Pittsburgh’s pregame crew, with Laura Rutledge serving as host.
Ian Eagle will call games in Pittsburgh with Watt and Nate Burleson as analysts. Melanie Collins and Stacey Dales will be the sideline reporters.
Noah Eagle and Greg Olsen cover the action in Houston, with Jamie Erdahl and Steve Wyche reporting from the sidelines.
There will also be a crew anchoring pregame, halftime and postgame coverage throughout the day from NFL Network’s studios in Inglewood, California. Kay Adams will host with analysis from Drew Brees, Robert Griffin III, Mina Kimes and Manti Te’o.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and CBS Sports rules analyst Gene Steratore will also be part of the coverage.
CBS Sports will produce the games, while NFL Media Studios will produce the programming. EverWonder Studios will executive produce NFL Christmas GameDay.
NFL media executive vice president Hans Schroeder said he was impressed by Netflix’s efforts and planning.
“It will feel like a high-quality football experience as well as a global event. I think he’s done an incredible job of delivering on that vision,” Schroeder said.
published – December 23, 2024 12:16 PM IST
