The viewing experience for Bears-Saints on Nickelodeon was "unlike any in the history of the NFL, and perhaps American sports," and it "offered a glimpse into the fractured and frenzied future of sports consumption," according to Ben Strauss of the WASHINGTON POST. As sports leagues "struggle to hook Gen Z," the NFL has "turned to Snapchat and enlisted streaming superstar Ninja to call games on Twitch." The Nick broadcast was the "latest gambit, pitched to the league when CBS acquired the rights to one of the two added playoff games this season." The telecast was the "buzziest," but Sunday's tripleheader was "spread across several specialized broadcasts on linear television and online." ESPN's main broadcast of Ravens-Titans was on ESPN and ABC, while on ESPN2, ex-coaches and players "broke down film." A watch party featuring celebrity interviews "aired on Freeform." Meanwhile, NBC put its Sunday night game on streaming service Peacock, and on Telemundo, "another first." NFL Media Exec VP & COO Hans Schroeder said, "Our entire model is based on reach. The positive responses have been overwhelming (for the Nickelodeon game), but what we did with CBS was a continuation of what we did across Sunday." Strauss notes there is "no better time" to boost engagement "than the playoffs." For nets currently in rights talks with the NFL, it also is a "chance to show off what they might do in the future." Schroeder said that he was "interested in having more NFL games on Nickelodeon" (WASHINGTON POST, 1/12).
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: In N.Y., Kevin Draper writes until recently, it was "hard to imagine Nickelodeon showing an entire NFL game," but the sports media landscape "has changed." ViacomCBS Kids & Family Entertainment President Brian Robbins and the "new corporate structure" brought on by a merger brings with it "different imperatives." Robbins said, "This is sort of a dream come true for kids to get their version, sports their way, on the network they like to watch it on. What changed is Viacom and CBS merged and made it a lot easier to make it happen." All of the NFL's TV contracts expire in '21 and '22. CBS "may still be thought of as the Tiffany Network at league headquarters, but in some ways it has a weaker hand to play than its rivals." ViacomCBS is "much smaller than competitors like the Walt Disney Company (ABC and ESPN), Comcast (NBC) and AT&T (DirecTV and Warner Media), and it has more than twice as much debt on its balance sheet as the similarly sized Fox." The Nickelodeon game was "one way to potentially impress the league ahead of negotiations." Viewership for the NFL "would increase, along with the opportunity to capture a new generation of football fans" (N.Y. TIMES, 1/12).
WELL PLEASED: CBS Sports Chair Sean McManus on Sunday night said of the broadcast, "I thought it was going to be cool and fun to watch, but it exceeded every expectation that I had. The graphics, the announcers, it was all amazing. They were able to gear the telecast to a younger audience while still making it really fun to watch for the traditional football fan. It was done in such a creative and fun way that was enjoyable to watch." On whether the net might repeat the process this postseason or next year, McManus said, "I don't think we've crossed that bridge yet. I think we're going to take a look at it this week and make decisions going forward. Nothing has been talked about the future yet. We'll do that in the coming weeks" (THEATHLETIC.com, 1/11).
HOLD THE SLIME: In N.Y., Andrew Marchand writes the Nick broadcast was "amazingly well-done and entertaining," and it was "pulled off to near perfection." Marchand: "It is not, however, the future of broadcasting." While alternative game presentation styles have been around for a while -- and "aren't going anywhere and could expand -- every broadcast is not going to feature networks' versions of 'slime cannons.'" The Nickelodeon broadcast "will be built on in the future." It was "too good not to be," but the reason it is "so difficult to mimic is because it was as much the execution as the idea." There will be more of these broadcasts, but "if you don't nail the people" involved, like Nickelodeon and CBS did with Nate Burleson and Noah Eagle, then the "slime cannons won't go off because there won't be many scores" (N.Y. POST, 1/12).
