Live Sports Find Their Champion in 'Buffer-Free' Over-the-Air Broadcast Television, Says NAB

In a significant move, the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson boxing match was streamed on Netflix, marking the platform's foray into live global events. However, the streaming coverage was marred by glitches and buffering, raising concerns about Netflix's ability to handle its upcoming NFL games on Christmas Day.

Analyst Richard Greenfield believes that Netflix gained valuable knowledge about scaling global live events during the Tyson-Paul fight, an experience that is not easily replicable in a lab. Despite the technical struggles, Greenfield emphasizes the platform's impressive ability to reach a large number of households, with an estimated 60 million households tuning in globally for the main event, representing only 21% of Netflix's subscriber base.

Greenfield notes that 34% of Netflix's subscribers are in Europe and would have been asleep during the fight, implying that 32% of its non-European subscriber base watched the fight live. This suggests a strong interest in live events among Netflix's global audience.

The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) weighed in on the debate, with Senior Vice President of Communications Alex Siciliano criticizing the streaming coverage. Siciliano highlighted the robust one-to-many architecture of broadcast TV as an advantage for live sports, praising its ability to deliver content to a large number of viewers without buffering.

NAB also expressed concern about Netflix's ability to overcome the problems encountered during the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson boxing match when streaming its NFL games on Christmas Day. However, the company that expressed this concern is not explicitly named in the available search results.

Greenfield, on the other hand, remains optimistic. He argues that the shift of rights to streaming services, such as Netflix, is likely to accelerate due to their global reach and ability to finance premium sports rights. He even suggests that every sports executive should consider a Netflix strategy due to the platform's impressive global reach.

In response to the technical difficulties, NAB believes investments in NextGen TV will improve broadcast television experiences. A YouTube engineer described the difficulties of planning for a large streaming event, according to Greenfield, further emphasizing the complexities involved in live streaming.

Despite the challenges, the Tyson-Paul fight marked a significant step for Netflix in the world of live events. As the platform continues to invest in live content, it will be interesting to see how it addresses the technical issues and delivers a smoother viewing experience for its global audience.

Live Sports Find Their Champion in 'Buffer-Free' Over-the-Air Broadcast Television, Says NAB