Did YouTube perform well in its first NFL stream?
Did YouTube perform well in its first NFL stream?
Other streaming services have seen massive tech issues while streaming major live events. Did YouTube have that problem?
YouTube entered a new phase of its history on Friday when it exclusively streamed a live NFL game for the first time. Audiences in the United States flipped to YouTube to see the Los Angeles Chargers beat the Kansas City Chiefs completely free, without having to sign up for YouTube TV or NFL Sunday Ticket. The game on the field was just about everything the league could have asked for, with plenty of excitement and big plays. But how did fans feel about the presentation from a technical aspect?
Key Details:
- No major outages: YouTube didn’t suffer any widespread outages during its stream to the game.
- Generational divide: Some older viewers didn’t have as much appreciation for the creators and other trappings of the game.
- Not sharing: Nielsen will not share ratings data for the game with its other clients..
USA Today reported that the stream did not encounter any significant issues or disruptions. There were no widespread outages on YouTube during the stream, a triumph for the platform as other streaming services like Netflix have recently struggled to reliably offer live streams.
That is good news for the service, which reported that it averaged more than 17.3 million average-minute-audience (AMA) around the world. AMA denotes the average number of viewers for each minute of a broadcast. Nielsen reports that 16.2 million of those viewers were domestic, while YouTube says that 1.1M AMA were outside the United States. In total, football fans from over 230 countries and territories world wide tuned in for the Charges and Chiefs.
I watched the game as well, and for the most part, I felt it was more or less the same experience I’ve come to expect on a Sunday. Rich Eisen and Kurt Warner did a great job calling the game, and aside from a few YouTube-specific trappings, I didn’t have much of an issue with the game itself.
Personally, I didn’t really need contributions from YouTube creators Deestroying or MrBeast over the course of the game, but all in all, these segments weren’t that obtrusive on the game itself. All in all, YouTube can be proud of the broadcast it made available on Friday evening in my eyes. I think it’s fair to say that the NFL will remain in business with YouTube moving, especially considering the relationship already involves the league’s out-of-market streaming platform NFL Sunday Ticket.
The Athletic’s Sam Settleman also thought that the broadcast went well, giving high marks for the game. Most of all, Settleman points to the normal NFL-watching experience the game provided, and also says the game worked well for him from a technical standpoint while streaming on a Roku device.
Did you watch the Chargers vs. Chiefs game on YouTube on Friday evening? Was it a good experience for you, or do you think YouTube could have done a better job? Let us know how you feel in the comments section!
YouTube TV
YouTube TV is a live TV streaming service with more than 60 channels for $82.99/month. This plan includes local channels 32 of the top 35 cable channels, and regional sports networks (RSNs) in select markets. The base plan includes more than 100 live channels, including major broadcast networks like ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC, as well as popular cable channels such as ESPN, CNN, FX, USA Network, and TNT. Local channels are included in most markets, making YouTube TV a full replacement for traditional cable for many viewers.