☀️ ‘Nosferatu’ Shines on Christmas But ‘Mufasa’ Takes 👑
Dylan pic launches strong, ‘Babygirl’ not so much / NETFLIX NFL delivers on Christmas
Mornin! This is Sean McNulty (connect with me on LinkedIn here if ya like), and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on THURSDAY, December 26, 2024.
Where if only one could control NFL game quality as much as streaming video quality — welcome to the NFL, NETFLIX! But at least the 146 pieces written about the enthralling subject of buffering and video streaming tech in the week before the game will, let’s just say . . . go on a heap. 😏
Basically, if you posted that you had issues with the game quality, you were advertising to the world that your broadband service sucks — time to upgrade, Joey . . . or tell the kids to get off TIKTOK when dad’s trying to stream live football.
But NETFLIX learned very quickly (just like every other NFL media partner in the history of time) that no matter what you do around them — in the end, it’s all about the games . . . and with a 29-10 game to start (that wasn’t even that close) . . . followed by a 31-2 blowout to finish, even AMAZON’s first season of Thursday Night Football was like “Tough break, bro.” 😂
The studio show was well done (RGIII showed ESPN may have made a mistake there letting him go), and CBS’ team handled the production in A+ fashion as usual (and got some pretty nice promo slots for Dexter and PAR movies in return), so it all basically felt like . . . well, 2 afternoon NFL games:
Football of varying quality, loaded with commercials for insurance, movies & TV shows, cars, beer and other staples — with the addition of a big 15 minutes with Bey, Jay, Postie, Shaboozey and Blue at the half of one game (NETFLIX will be adding it as a separate tile on the service here).
And yes, one could argue this is how one could describe the Super Bowl as well, but having nowhere near similar stakes present in the game(s).
Sadly, a Taylor bonus in Pitt was not in the cards (she was at last year’s Christmas game, but that was at KC where she’s a bit more familiar with the security).
However, even though the games were a bit of a snooze (although Travis did break a CHIEFS TD record for the tight end position) . . . the presentation was grade A, and if there were any doubts that NETFLIX could handle streaming real pro sports — those have been put to bed. Ya know, just like NETFLIX’s interest in getting into live sports.
BTW how many 0s do you think Travis’ check 💰 will need for him to show up at a live roast in about 5 months?
NOW: We wait for the numbers. NIELSEN ratings and NETFLIX global data will drop late today. Last Christmas:
The NFL got 29M, 29M and 27M for last year’s 3 games on broadcast TV — obviously U.S. numbers only.
NEXT YEAR: NETFLIX gets at least one NFL game, AMAZON will likely have the other (Christmas is on a Thursday).
December 25, 2026 — NETFLIX will get at least one game (Christmas falls on a Friday).
Summer 2027 — NETFLIX gets the Women’s World Cup ⚽️.
AND: With Beyoncé, NETFLIX has certainly set a standard for Christmas Day NFL entertainment going forward. #BANG
OH RIGHT!: The NBA at least delivered 5 games yesterday on ABC that were all close, tipping off with 2 players scoring over 40 points in the SPURS vs. KNICKS opener at MSG.
The NBA averaged 2.9M viewers last year when 3 of the 5 games aired on ESPN, so the total numbers this year should likely be up.
Games this year also aired on ESPN, DIS+ and ESPN+, and this was only the 2nd time all games have aired on ABC.
In 2022, all 5 games aired on ABC & ESPN and averaged 4.3M — anywhere near this would be a win.
OTHERWISE: I hope your gifts were more, uh, practical than this 👇 yesterday . . . and that you all had a (eventually) relaxing day with loved ones.
📽 THE SILVER SCREEN
Christmas BOX OFFICE
Okay, now let’s get back to what really matters. All totals here are just for Christmas Day, although new pics include Christmas Eve evening “previews" of course.