Netflix to air NFL for Christmas just weeks after live fight fumble: NPR

Netflix is ​​set to stream two NFL games this Christmas Day: Kansas City Chiefs vs. Pittsburgh Steelers at 1 p.m. ET, followed by Baltimore Ravens vs. Houston Texans at 4:30 p.m. ET.

These soccer matches will mark the streaming service’s latest test of live programming for events likely to attract millions of viewers.

Last year was an average of 28.7 million viewers tuned in to one of the three NFL football games on Christmas Day – Las Vegas Raiders vs. Chiefs; New York Giants vs. Philadelphia Eagles; and Ravens vs. San Francisco 49ers. Matchups ranked among the 25 most watched television programs of 2023.

“We couldn’t be more excited to be the first professional sports league to partner with Netflix to bring live games to fans around the world,” said Hans Schroeder, the NFL’s executive vice president of media distribution, in a declaration.

But it’s not just touchdowns and tackles that are expected to drive viewership.

Before the Ravens take on the Texans, Grammy-winning group Pentatonix will sing the national anthem. At halftime, Beyoncé will take the stage and preform tracks from her 2024 album Cowboy Carter live for the first timealong with special guest appearances.

Netflix says it learned from Tyson-Paul boxing match mistake

Netflix’s move to stream NFL games comes just weeks after the platform’s attempt to broadcast live boxing between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson was riddled with technical glitches.

Many fans reported on social media that they experienced long buffer times or were booted from the stream. At least according to the website Down Detector 85,000 viewers experienced problems with streaming. The disruptions were so frustrating for a Florida man that he filed a complaint a class action against Netflix over the “unwatchable” live stream.

By his peakthe match reached 65 million simultaneous streams globally, which was an unprecedented scale for Netflix.

A Netflix spokesperson said the platform learned a lot about streaming from Tyson vs. Paul game, adding that Netflix has adjusted its “content delivery, encoding and streaming protocols accordingly” to prevent technical issues for the football games.

“We now know from experience what the key pressure points are in our infrastructure and we are immediately addressing them ahead of NFL games,” the spokesman said in an email.

There is a lot at stake for Netflix to get live streams right and error-free. The platform is already set to broadcast NFL games on Christmas Day in 2025 and 2026. Netflix will also begin broadcasting WWE Raw, SmackDown and other WWE programming weekly starts on January 6th.

On Friday, Netflix secured a deal with FIFA to get exclusive streaming rights to the Women’s World Cup in 2027 and 2031. The two groups said it’s not just a score for the streamer, but a victory for FIFA, which hopes to reach a wider audience, especially in the United States

“This agreement sends a strong message about the real value of the FIFA Women’s World Cup and the global women’s game,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino said in a declaration.

Whether it’s a comedy special, a late-night talk show, or a dating show reunion, it’s been determined whether or not Netflix’s shows will run smoothly.

But it’s clear that live programming is here to stay on Netflix. In recent years, the streamer has experimented more with live programming — an area largely dominated by traditional TV platforms. It’s a sharp departure from the binge-watching trend that helped Netflix rise to popularity.

Netflix has the largest subscriber base of any streaming service worldwide. But mastering live streaming will be critical for the future as concerns about stagnation and subscriber growth continue to loom large.