A streaming-exclusive game was part of Amazon's renewal with the NFL signed back in April
Amazon Prime will see its first semi-exclusive NFL game on Dec. 26 when the 49ers play the Cardinals. The stream, which will also be carried on the Amazon-owned Twitch platform, was part of Amazon's renewal with the NFL signed back in April. Amazon will produce the game in conjunction with CBS. KNTV-NBC and KSAZ-Fox will carry the game in the Bay Area and Phoenix markets, respectively. Broadcast teams will be announced within the next few weeks. The Week 16 Saturday games last year were all on NFL Network -- Texans-Buccaneers (1:00pm ET) drew 5.3 million viewers, while Bills-Patriots (4:30pm) averaged 9.6 million and Rams-49ers in primetime averaged 8.5 million. It will be hard for Amazon to attract those kinds of numbers domestically this year (John Ourand, SBJ Media). Meanwhile, THE ATHLETIC's Daniel Kaplan noted 49ers-Cardinals is a "test run" for a digital-only package. One issue that league officials "always emphasized when the streaming of games began if the question arose about exclusives, was the capacity of the internet to handle the interest" (THEATHLETIC.com, 11/30).
LOCAL RATINGS: In Nashville, Mike Organ notes the Titans' 45-26 win over the Colts earned the "highest television rating in nine years" in that market. The game drew a 29.9 local rating on WTVF-CBS, equating to "329,588 households in the Nashville market." That is the "highest television rating for a Titans game since Tennessee played Baltimore on Sept. 18, 2011 in a game that earned a 30.6 rating" (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 12/1)....In Chicago, Phil Rosenthal reports the Bears' “SNF” loss to the Packers on NBC averaged a 23.7 household rating in the Chicago TV market, which "translates to nearly 823,000 households." The numbers are "nothing special by Bears standards," as only their "victory over the Giants in Week 2 and their loss to the Titans in Week 9 fared worse." Both of those games were noon CT starts (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 12/1).
