Simply as households are cleansing up the wrapping paper on Christmas afternoon, Netflix goes to deliver out two extra presents: an NFL doubleheader and a Beyoncé halftime present.
The vacation leisure Wednesday shall be a high-profile check for the streaming service six weeks after its reside broadcast of the boxing match between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson was plagued by technical difficulties. Netflix has not beforehand aired NFL video games.
Beyoncé, who headlined the Tremendous Bowl halftime present in 2013, will carry out round 6 p.m. ET, at halftime of the 4:30 p.m. sport between the Baltimore Ravens and the Houston Texans. She shall be singing at NRG Stadium in Houston, her hometown.
“I feel her attraction, the curiosity she could have and she’s going to deliver from a broader perspective even with our fan base, shall be superior,” Hans Schroeder, the NFL’s government vice chairman of media distribution, mentioned at a information convention this month on the annual homeowners assembly close to Dallas. “It is going to be superior to see that come to life and we expect that’s an effective way so as to add to the day.”
The 1 p.m. sport, when the Pittsburgh Steelers host the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs (and probably Taylor Swift), will open with a taped efficiency by Mariah Carey, who calls herself the Queen of Christmas.
In Could, the NFL and Netflix introduced a three-year deal to broadcast the league’s video games on Christmas Day. The video games give Netflix, which has experimented with reside occasions by comedy specials and actuality reveals, a beneficial leisure commodity.
NFL video games are constantly among the many most-watched tv applications in the USA, and the league’s three Christmas Day video games final 12 months averaged greater than 28 million viewers. Netflix’s pool of 283 million international subscribers was interesting for the NFL, which is increasing its worldwide footprint and dealing extra intently with streaming companies on documentary filmmaking.
Schroeder mentioned Netflix approached the NFL about including a star musical part on Christmas to widen curiosity past sports activities followers. Netflix then secured Beyoncé, who has received a file 32 Grammys and launched the nation album “Cowboy Carter” in March.
The video games and halftime present will deliver heightened strain to Netflix’s technological capabilities. The Paul-Tyson struggle, which Netflix mentioned peaked at 65 million streams, was plagued with buffering points and poor audio high quality.
“I feel there have been some bumps, actually, with Netflix,” Schroeder mentioned, “however every part we’ve seen, we expect their plan, the work we’re doing alongside them, we’re extremely assured in.”
Netflix is having CBS, one of many NFL’s longtime tv companions, produce each soccer video games Wednesday. The streaming service has assembled a roster of on-air expertise borrowed from different networks, together with NBC and ESPN.
This text initially appeared in The New York Instances.
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