Despite Netflix’s pursuit of the ultimate Christmas Day NFL broadcast, the streaming giant experienced a share of technical issues before the games even kicked off.
Netflix paid $150 million for the right to air a pair of marquee AFC matchups: Kansas City Chiefs vs. Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens vs. Houston Texans. And on the day, as cameras panned to host Kay Adams for her introduction to the broadcast on late Wednesday morning, Netflix microphones played welcome music instead of Adams’s opening monologue.
The star of Fanduel TV’s ‘Up & Adams’ show was left to describe Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce entering Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh with just hand gestures.
Some of the challenges continued even after 1 pm. As the game kicked off, the Netflix score bug showed the Steelers with only two timeouts. Subscribers then reported streaming issues, mocking the media giant to reach out to Amazon whose Prime Video platform is the home of Thursday Night Football for help.
Netflix also faced a host of both audio and latency issues during its blockbuster broadcast of Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson in November. Former boxer Evander Holyfield’s conversation with host Kate Scott had to be nixed prematurely when the former undisputed heavyweight champion couldn’t hear her questions.
Scott was forced to issue an apology. “Evander, I apologize. I’m so sorry about the sound,” she said. “Lennox, thank you for helping us out with the interview. We appreciate you. Good to see you tonight. Good to see both of you champions with us tonight.”
Adams’s mic snafu was not the only audio gaff during the opening stages of Netflix’s broadcast. Analyst Mina Kimes’s microphone was snipped mid-segment as Netflix cut to a ‘Squid Games 2’ promo, per the New York Post.
Ahead of the NFL doubleheader, Netflix warned viewers that getting assistance from its team could take time with a message that read, Due to todays live stream, wait time for live help may be longer than usual. Were getting more customer requests than normal right now. Search our Help Center for answers or check back later.
Netflix stacked the broadcast with an array of star power. In the studio, the streaming giant unveiled a crew featuring Adams, Kimes, former NFL MVP Drew Brees, former Heisman Winner Robert Griffin III, and Notre Dame star Manti Te’o.
In the booth, Netflix opted to combine announcers from various networks to pursue an all-star cast. For Chiefs-Steelers, the network will turn to CBS play-by-play man Ian Eagle and CBS studio analysts Nate Burleson and J.J. Watt. While Eagle has plenty of game experience, Burleson and Watt do not.
For Ravens-Texans, Netflix opted for NBC announcer Noah Eagle (Ian’s son) and FOX’s lead color commentator Greg Olsen.
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