ExtremeRavens Posted December 23, 2024 Posted December 23, 2024 All Netflix wants for Christmas is to avoid another sports livestream disaster. The Ravens are slotted in the second game of the popular streaming platform’s Christmas Day doubleheader, playing the Texans in Houston at 4:30 p.m. after the Kansas City Chiefs take on the Pittsburgh Steelers at 1 p.m. Both games mark the first of a three-year agreement to broadcast Christmas Day games on Netflix. The primary way to watch the Ravens’ penultimate regular-season game, which will help decide their playoff standing, requires a Netflix subscription. All account plans include access to the games, which will appear on the site’s homepage. But fear not, Baltimoreans. Both games will also be broadcast locally on CBS in each team’s market. Netflix has made more of a push toward streaming live events in recent years to expand its reach. It hasn’t gone especially well. Some might remember “The Roast of Tom Brady” in May, which went off without a hitch. The Netflix Cup, a Formula 1 and golf crossover event, yielded modest results. Netflix is in line to broadcast the next two FIFA Women’s World Cups, in 2027 and 2031. But recency bias might make viewers cringe at the thought of Netflix hosting two high-profile Christmas Day NFL games, which draw massive audiences. That’s because of how difficult it was to watch the boxing match between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul on Nov. 15. Not for the faux spectacle, but for the technical breakdown caked with glitches and buffers trying to keep up with 38 million concurrent streams in the United States. Netflix was pelted with similar backlash last year during the live “Love Is Blind” season 4 reunion special that was delayed more than an hour because of engineering issues. Vice President of Nonfiction Series and Sports Brandon Riegg spoke with the Associated Press about Netflix’s recent live-show issues ahead of Wednesday’s games. “The only way to test something of that magnitude is to have something of that magnitude,” Neftlix’s Vice President of Nonfiction Series and Sports Brandon Riegg told the Associated Press. “The good news is they stress-tested the system to such a degree that there’s a lot of these fixes and improvements that they realized that they could make, and they’re applying all that stuff.” Netflix is pushing its chips in on the holiday festivities. They’ll have a prerecorded Mariah Carey performance of “All I Want For Christmas Is You” before the Chiefs vs. Steelers. Then at halftime of Ravens vs. Texans, Houston native and the most-decorated artist in Grammys history, Beyoncé, will perform live. Netflix brought in an all-star coverage cast as well. NBC Sports’ Noah Eagle has play-by-play duties at NRG Stadium with Kirk Olsen, from Fox Sports, as his color commentator. The sideline reporters will be NFL Network’s Jamie Erdahl and Sam Wyche. The 11 a.m. pregame show will feature former NFL quarterbacks Drew Brees and Robert Griffin III; Mina Kimes and Laura Rutledge, from ESPN; and Kay Adams, anchor and host of Up & Adams, among others. Bert Kreischer will act as tailgate correspondent and fellow comedian Nate Bargatze will have additional guest commentary. Global interest in the NFL has grown tremendously in recent years as the league continues to schedule games on foreign soil. This season, teams played in London and São Paulo. For Wednesday’s game, Netflix is making streams available worldwide, according to a release, available in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and German. Brees and NFL Redzone host Scott Hanson will handle additional commentary outside the U.S., according to Netflix. Baltimore’s Week 16 game is vital in its chase for the AFC North division title. Netflix’s reputation for livestreaming such events will be on the line, too. Have a news tip? Contact Sam Cohn at scohn@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/samdcohn. View the full article Quote
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