The NFL On Christmas: How Did Netflix’s Picture Look? Did It Buffer?

TV Answer Man, I watched the games yesterday on Netflix and the picture seemed okay despite all the worries. I’m curious what you thought and whether most people had a bunch of buffering or not? — Davey, Wichita Falls, Texas.

Davey, Netflix yesterday streamed its first live NFL games ever and, despite pre-game concerns about the potential for widespread technical glitches, most fans seemed pleased with both the stream’s reliability and picture quality, according to social media posts.

Downdetector.com, which tracks online outages, found relatively few people were complaining about buffering or any other picture snafus during the two games. That doesn’t mean that no one complained. There are few live streaming events – if any — where everyone is happy. It’s the nature of live streaming.  Due to faulty home Internet service and/or server issues on the streamer’s end, some people will always lose their picture. But the live streamer has to strive to keep that number small, something Netflix was unable to do for the Tyson-Paul fight in November.

I watched nearly every play 0f the two games (Chiefs-Steelers at 1 p.m. ET; Ravens-Texans at 4:30 p.m. ET) and found that the picture was solid for the most part. Late in the second quarter of the Ravens-Texans game, my stream did buffer several times (the dreaded spinning wheel) and pixelated a few times. But the image soon stabilized and I didn’t experience any other issues.

As for the picture quality, it wasn’t 4K and I don’t think it was 1080p HD, either. It seemed to be 1080i, which CBS uses for its productions. That would make sense because CBS produced the games for Netflix. The picture was sharp and colorful, but not as realistic or vivid as a good 1080p HD production.

Bottom Line: Netflix passed the test yesterday and left no doubt that it will continue to pursue live sports.  (The company just won the U.S. TV rights to the Women’s World Cup soccer tournaments in 2027 and 2031.)

Davey, hope that helps. Happy viewing and stay safe!

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The TV Answer Man is veteran journalist Phillip Swann who has covered television for more than three decades. He will report on the latest news and answer your questions regarding new devices and services that are changing the way you watch TV. See the bio for Phillip Swann here.