Posted on 01/16/2024 2:28:26 AM PST by Red Badger
The NFL Playoffs are finally here, and the first weekend featured less-than-stellar matchups. What looked to be good games on paper turned, for the most part, into one-sided, boring affairs. There were great individual performances, such as Jordan Love of the Packers again disappointing Dallas Cowboys fans and a great storyline with Christian quarterback C.J. Stroud becoming the youngest quarterback to win a playoff game. However, for the most part, the action on the field was sloppy and uninspiring.
The premier matchup of the weekend was the high-scoring Miami Dolphins traveling to frigid Kansas City to take on the struggling Super Bowl Champion Chiefs. Even that game was a dud, but did anyone see it? Considerably fewer people saw that game than usual due to a unique arrangement between the NFL and the NBC-owned streaming service Peacock.
For the first time ever, the league showed a playoff game on streaming only, severely limiting who could actually watch the game from the frozen tundra of Kansas City. While the game was broadcast over the air in Kansas City and Miami, the rest of the country was left to either stream or go without.
Peacock backed the truck up to the NFL and shelled out a reported $110 million dollars for exclusive rights to the game, which could be a harbinger of things to come. It is widely speculated that the league and networks plan to transition the NFL into streaming only as broadcast television continues to die. When the current television deal is up, the league could look to streaming moving forward. That prospect isn’t sitting well with many fans, including some more well-known ones.
New York sports talk legend Mike Francesa let his feelings be known on X before the game. He wrote: “Not only is the NFL’s greedy Peacock adventure a disgrace, but the quality of the telecast is equally disgraceful. Fix the technology.” There appeared to be numerous technical issues with the stream, including reduced resolution and buffering, causing a choppy picture.
Another issue with streaming is the delay. When games are streamed, if fans are listening to the radio broadcasters as many do or even following along on X, the action on the stream is considerably delayed compared to the live feed. It sounds like a small issue, but considering the popularity of social media and fantasy sports, the delay is a definite annoyance.
The cost for Peacock isn’t what was keeping most fans from signing up and watching. Francesca was harsh in his criticism of the league from a financial perspective. He said: “The Peacock Playoff exclusive. Nothing short of a complete greedy disregard for their incredible fans. The NFL banked 110 million for the game, and fans be damned.” At least one Chief agreed: defensive end Charles Omenihu purchased 90 subscriptions for fans and commented on X, “Us playing on peacock ONLY is insane I won’t lie.”
Money aside, fans seemed most upset about the 2010s quality of the stream. One fan snarkily wrote on X: “Great job, @peacock. Broadcasting an NFL playoff game in Pixelvision was a stroke of genius. Maybe add a server or two before you try to hold fans hostage with your janky service.,” while another said, “Your streaming is AWFUL! Jerky, buffers and the color washes out.”
Perhaps the narrative would be slightly different if the game had been more competitive. The Chiefs froze out the Dolphins 26-7 in a game that didn’t seem that close. However, fans are going to demand a quality stream, especially if they have to pay, and this time, Peacock fumbled the ball and $110 million dollars.
I thought it was the perfect game to stream as it meant I didn’t have to see Taylor Swift. I’m so hoping the Chiefs get clobbered in the next game. Don’t know what’s worse watching Mahomes cry to the refs for a flag after every play or seeing the insufferable Taylor Swift between every Chiefs play.
I read that they did show TS several times during the game....................
A huge number of people are not within city limits and have limited bandwidths. They are cutting those people of from the NFL. City liberals tend to think everyone has high bandwidths.
Fans lash out at Travis Kelce after 20-million-dollar deal with Pfizer
From January 2023...
Pfizer scores highest spending during NFL season among pharma advertisers — iSpot analysis
From 2022...
NFL season sees Pfizer kick off major Comirnaty COVID vaccine ad offensive for teens, boosters
BTW, if folks want to find out just how well streaming and paywalls are going over with viewers, take a look at makegoods for advertisers.
I am a life-long Miami Dolphin fan (I know, pity me) and I did not sign up for peacock to watch it. I did watch a video afterwards by a guy who showed specifically why the broadcast was so poor.
NBC typically shows one game per week. But this weekend they showed three. They don’t have three ready crews (broadcast team, cameras, etc.). So, the crew for this broadcast was a thrown-together bunch of people with little or no experience broadcasting football. And it showed.
Two examples he cited: 1. A Chief ran out of bounds near the yard marker. From the angle shown, a viewer could not tell if he made the first down. Instead of settling that, the broadcast broke for commercial. The you-tuber said there was a full 3 minutes of real time before the viewer was informed.
2. The Chiefs scored an apparent TD. The TD banner went up, the score was changed on the screen ... except there was a flag. And no flag symbol shown on the screen. But the viewer didn’t know this until they finally showed the ref telling what the penalty was and backing the Chiefs out of the end zone.
There is another major issue. For years the NFL has only allowed fans in their local city to only see their local team on Sunday. They cannot see the other teams even if the game is better or more important. But the promise was, hey, during the playoffs, you will be able to see all these other teams and players you’ve heard about all season. Until now.
No
Body
Cares........about Fans..............
Now I didnt buy.
I have no streaming platrform except a small desktop.
But I gather people who did pay have Smart TVs.
And don’t you have to install an app to use the peacock codes ??
To me, any app is you granting a stranger a backdoor into your device and personal info.
Even if you remove it, the app can leave code behind that does who knows what.
Ever so likely peacock has a backroom deal with Nielsen ratings. So your device will be forever infected with a Nielsen ratings box in the hidden code.
My hotspot, OTOH, is limited to 50 gig a month (of high speed) and I need that for FR!! So I watch streaming TV on my TV set attached to an old laptop, when I have to. Otherwise, it's over-the-air TV for me.
RE: post 23 - Not just the NFL. Too many video games are on-line only, and the others require a huge amount of BW to update before you can even play the game and during the lifespan of it...
Generally speaking, if a game is one I will watch. At least some of it. But I will not sign up for a subscription to watch a single playoff game. This was a scheme by Peacock to boost subscriptions, and the NFL was more than happy to take Peacock’s money, damn the fans.
I just watch the highlights on YouTube now. It’s excruciating to sit through an entire game.
I know. I watched most of the Buffalo - Pitt game yesterday evening, but I was footballed-out after that and only checked in occasionally on the Eagles - Bucs score. I was in bed when the second half started.
“Did they get millions of new subscribers to sign up for their crappy streaming service? I doubt it.”
23 million viewers, most for a streamed event in US history (whatever that means): https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10105095-dolphins-chiefs-nfl-playoff-game-draws-23m-viewers-most-streamed-event-in-us-history
My questions are (1) how does that compare to viewership for the other NFL playoff games on broadcast TV; and (2) how many of the 23 million viewers paid the $5.99 for a one month subscription to Peacock, but will not renew (and never intended to renew)?
The Eagles didn’t even want to be there.
“It’s a shame people don’t get as worked up about the invasion at our southern border.”
Well, yeah. But in empires it’s important for the people to argue over everything pertaining to the Circus. In ancient Constantinople (Byzantine Empire; Eastern Roman Empire) you had chariot teams based on colors: Reds versus Greens, and then also the Whites and the Blues. (In order, the Russata, the Prasina, the Ablata, and the Veneta). Each team had avid, zealous fans. Go Russata!
The races would be held in the Circus Maximus (hence the “circuses” part of “Bread and Circuses”).
Everyone here remembers charioteer Gaius Appuleius Diocles, right? He raced for the Reds, but also for the Greens. His career spanned more than 2 decades, and he made huge sums of money. It’s from his races that I became a Reds fan. Go Reds! Team Russata!
The ruling elite loved the games, too. They had the best seats. But at the very top they, the emperors and top senators, were happy to see the people argue over the chariot teams, because it meant that no one was paying attention to the invasions of the empire from all those Visigoths and Ostrogoths and putting that same energy into demanding the empire do something about that or anything else in terms of imperial policy.
The Circus Maximus could hold 200,000 racing fans, so we’re not talking chump change. None of the broadcast rights were ever sold to NBC, however. ;-)
Most of them signed up to see Taylor Swift.
Have heard from other FReepers that the video was crappy, jerky and the camera work was amateurish and production was horrible.................
Coming soon, pay per view for the Super Bowl. The greedy bastards will never stop.
I fully expect that to happen next year.............
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