One month ago, Netflix streamed its biggest live event to date; a boxing match between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson that was watched by 60 million households, according to the streaming giant. But reported streaming disruptions raised questions over the stability of ads around this type of content – especially with ad-supported NFL games coming to Netflix on Christmas day, and WWE Raw in January.
VideoWeek asked four Heads of AV/Broadcast from leading media agencies whether these technical challenges made them concerned about investing in live-streamed content.
Joseph Cinko, Head of AV, Bountiful Cow
In short, no. Live sport across streaming services, whether direct buys or the beginnings of programmatic, is the journey brands and agencies are on. Like any journey there will be bumps in the road, but we don’t stop walking for fear of tripping. Advertisers should always have expectations managed, and consequences should be mitigated by the buyer and supplier for any eventuality.
Would we ask the question, what if the TV spot doesn’t play out, or the Digital OOH panels go down? We don’t, because we know that when at their best, they are essential to our capturing an audience. We also know there are solutions to issues, rather than simply avoiding them for fear of the ‘what if?’ We as buyers expect that from each issue there is a learning and a reaction to improve services, and I expect the same across live streaming of sport.
Ultimately, we want brands to have access to huge moments in culture, that capture millions of people in a single moment. Turning our back on that moment, like that of a boxing match streamed worldwide, out of fear, is not the behaviour we would expect from brands or agencies. The new soon becomes the established by overcoming, and once trusted, we look back and wonder why we doubted at all.
Michael Williamson, Head of AV Planning, Manning Gottlieb OMD
Netflix set a streaming record with the Paul vs Tyson & Serrano vs Taylor fight night, achieving 65 million concurrent streams and over 100 million unique viewers. These major events are highly appealing to advertisers globally and locally.
I’m not surprised there were some technical issues streaming this event at this scale. It’s a learning curve for the platforms, which they will be aiming to rectify for their upcoming NFL Christmas Day global coverage.
In the UK, Amazon Prime Video has created a smooth viewing experience for Premier League and Champions League games, adding extra features for mobile users. Clients don’t question the technical viewer experience when investing in Amazon’s coverage – albeit this is at a local not global level.
Retaining viewers is the number one aim for any platform. With this in mind, we expect them to take the cautious approach for introducing advertising. We’ve seen them take the traditional linear TV approach as stage one (your ad spot is viewed by all viewers), then moving into a fully addressable approach at a later stage.
Harry Packshaw, Head of AV, Havas Media Network
The technical glitches we’ve seen during live-streamed sports and events are best viewed as temporary setbacks rather than systemic issues. Both Amazon and Netflix have faced similar challenges in delivering live broadcasts, and while these disruptions have understandably frustrated audiences, they haven’t diminished advertiser enthusiasm for these opportunities.
This likely stems from the unique value live-streamed events bring to the streaming ecosystem; they are one of the few content formats capable of delivering significant audience scale. This remains a key strength of linear TV, and live events allow streaming platforms to tap into similar advantages.
Kieren Mills, Head of Broadcast, Total Media
Live events offer immense opportunities for advertisers, delivering positive sentiment, mass reach, and access to light viewers (those who only tune in to big events). However, when technical issues arise, the consequences are immediate and damaging; negative sentiment spreads across social media, engagement drops, and reach becomes uncertain due to streaming disruptions. These risks put pressure on platforms to address bandwidth challenges and ensure reliable delivery.
Advertisers are drawn to the potential of live events, but recurring issues could lead to a greater insistence on force majeure clauses to protect investments. Reliability is key to maintaining trust in this lucrative medium.
