Saturday night’s game between the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Chargers already carried significance as the first NFL game to be exclusively streamed on Peacock.
The matchup will also feature another milestone as NBC and the NFL announced Thursday morning that the fourth quarter will be commercial-free for the first time.
NBCUniversal said there will be a 40 percent reduction in the standard ad time for an NFL game, which should result in at least 12 additional minutes of game-related content.
Rob Hyland, the coordinating producer for NBC’s “Sunday Night Football,” said there have been discussions since June about how to make this game unique and distinct from a regular NBC broadcast.
“The limited stoppages are exciting for me as someone that wants to tell the story of the game and have the time to do it,” he said.
During one of the two breaks of 2 minutes, 20 seconds, in the fourth quarter, the announcing team of Mike Tirico, Cris Collinsworth and Melissa Stark will delve more into some of the game’s storylines.
The other will go to the “Football Night in America” studio team for their thoughts on the game as well as the upcoming slate of games for the remainder of Week 16.
“We are proud to work with our partners at the NFL to present this first-of-its kind experience,” NBC Sports President Rick Cordella said in a statement.
Saturday night’s @peacock exclusive @BuffaloBills @chargers game will be COMMERCIAL FREE in the fourth quarter with 40% fewer ads overall and roughly 12 extra minutes of game-related content. https://t.co/uYL0NRRU2n
— NBC Sports PR (@NBCSportsPR) December 21, 2023
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Hyland is used to producing events with limited or no commercial breaks as one of the lead producers for NBC’s Olympics coverage in prime time.
Saturday’s game on Peacock will be preceded by a matchup between the Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers on NBC, which should help deliver a better lead-in audience.
That will be the same case on Jan. 13, when NBC will carry the afternoon wild-card playoff game and Peacock will have the night game.
Games on Peacock will be broadcast on the NBC affiliates in the two team markets, which is the same case for games on Amazon Prime Video.
NBC and Peacock haven’t tried to set any ratings predictions, but it is worth noting that the “Thursday Night Football” package on Amazon is averaging 12.07 million viewers this season, a 26 percent increase over last year.
The Dec. 14 game between the Chargers and Raiders, where Las Vegas had a 42-0 lead at halftime en route to a 63-21 victory, averaged 7.98 million.
The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.
