The Nielsen ratings are not yet out for Amazon’s “Thursday Night Football” debut, but the company is already seeing benefits after one game.
Amazon vice president Jay Marine, the head of Prime Video, told employees in an internal memo this week that the company’s internal numbers were promising.
Last Thursday’s game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers produced more new sign-ups for Amazon Prime in one three-hour period than the company had ever seen.
It also set a company record for primetime audience in the U.S., according to Marine, though that figure was not released.
“Thursday Night Football” averaged 13.2 million viewers on Fox last year.
Amazon is the first streaming service to wrest exclusive broadcast rights for NFL games away from traditional TV networks. The company took pains to produce a TV-quality broadcast, with legendary play-by-play announcer Al Michaels teaming up with ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit on the call.
The Chiefs beat the Chargers 27-24 in Amazon’s first game. Week 3’s Thursday game will see the Pittsburgh Steelers visit the Cleveland Browns.
–Field Level Media
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