Andrea Kremer (left) and Hannah Storm pose for a portrait at Pier 59 studios on Sept. 21, 2018, in New York City. (Courtesy of Amazon)
Amazon has assembled the first all-female NFL broadcast duo for its Thursday Night Football package. Veteran TV journalists Hannah Storm and Andrea Kremer will be one of four commentary teams available on Amazon Prime Video’s 11-game slate that starts Thursday, Sept. 27 with the Vikings at the Rams.
Users can select the national Fox team of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, Spanish-language announcers, a U.K. English-language team geared toward international fans, and the pair of Storm and Kremer.
Kremer is a mainstay of NFL media, having worked at ESPN for nearly two decades before stints with NBC’s Sunday Night Football, HBO, and the NFL Network. She recently received the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s prestigious Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award for her career contributions. Storm is currently an anchor for ESPN’s flagship program, SportsCenter, and has also worked at CNN and CBS.
“Teaming up with Hannah and Amazon for this is truly special,” Kremer said in a news release. “Hannah is a brilliant journalist and she has been a friend for many years. With decades of experience as storytellers, we will be bringing a different voice and viewpoint to covering the game of football.”
Thursday Night Football is part of a tri-cast model with broadcast (Fox), cable (NFL Network), and streaming (Amazon) all showing the games. Amazon first carried NFL games last year and renewed for the 2018 and 2019 seasons.
SportTechie Takeaway
This all-female broadcast debut comes only a year removed from the NFL having the first woman (ESPN’s Beth Mowins) serve as analyst for a regular season game. This is groundbreaking, and that’s the top-line takeaway. For Amazon, however, this is also a good example of the creativity an OTT platform can offer when freed from the constraints of a linear broadcast. Anyone watching a traditional broadcast wouldn’t have the option of multiple audio feeds. Diversifying Amazon’s commentary options looks certain to help the league bring in new fans.
