Beyoncé, who headlined the Super Bowl halftime show in 2013, released the country album “Cowboy Carter” in March.
Credit...Allison Dinner/EPA, via Shutterstock

Beyoncé Halftime Performance Gives Netflix Some Pizazz on Christmas

As part of its push into live programming, the streaming service is hosting two N.F.L. games and a big musical performance on Christmas.

by · NY Times

Just as families are cleaning up the wrapping paper on Christmas afternoon, Netflix is going to bring out two more presents: an N.F.L. doubleheader and a Beyoncé halftime show.

The holiday entertainment on Wednesday will be a high-profile test for the streaming service six weeks after its live broadcast of the boxing match between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson was littered with technical difficulties. Netflix has not previously aired N.F.L. games.

Beyoncé, who headlined the Super Bowl halftime show in 2013, will perform around 6 p.m. Eastern, at halftime of the 4:30 p.m. game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Houston Texans. She will be singing at NRG Stadium in Houston, her hometown.

“I think her appeal, the interest she will have and she will bring from a broader perspective even with our fan base, will be awesome,” Hans Schroeder, the N.F.L.’s executive vice president of media distribution, said at a news conference this month at the annual owners meeting near Dallas. “It will be awesome to see that come to life and we think that’s a great way to add to the day.”

The 1 p.m. game, when the Pittsburgh Steelers host the Kansas City Chiefs (and potentially Taylor Swift), will open with a taped performance by Mariah Carey, who calls herself the Queen of Christmas.

In May, the N.F.L. and Netflix announced a three-year deal to broadcast the league’s games on Christmas Day. The games give Netflix, which has experimented with live events through comedy specials and reality shows, a valuable entertainment commodity.

N.F.L. games are consistently among the most-watched television programs in the United States, and the league’s three Christmas Day games last year averaged more than 28 million viewers. Netflix’s pool of 283 million global subscribers was appealing for the N.F.L., which is expanding its international footprint and working more closely with streaming services on documentary filmmaking.

Schroeder said Netflix approached the N.F.L. about adding a star musical component on Christmas to widen interest beyond sports fans. Netflix then secured Beyoncé, who has won a record 32 Grammys and released the country album “Cowboy Carter” in March.

The games and halftime show will bring heightened pressure to Netflix’s technological capabilities. The Paul-Tyson fight, which Netflix said peaked at 65 million streams, was plagued with buffering issues and poor audio quality.

“I think there were some bumps, certainly, with Netflix,” Schroeder said, “but everything we’ve seen, we think their plan, the work we’re doing alongside them, we’re incredibly confident in.”

Netflix is having CBS, one of the N.F.L.’s longtime television partners, produce both of the football games on Wednesday. The streaming service has assembled a roster of on-air talent borrowed from other networks, including NBC and ESPN.

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