Amazon actually pulled off its first big-deal football game
It didn’t crash! That’s the most important thing you can say about the first Thursday Night Football game aired on Amazon Prime Video. Amazon didn’t crumble like HBO Max did during the House of The Dragon premiere. It didn’t crash like CBS All Access during the 2021 Super Bowl. It even streamed better than DirecTV did five days ago. There were some reports of blocky resolution and buffering, but in general, Amazon hung in there, and it aired a football game.
Watching the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers play, I got the distinct sense that “airing a football game” was Amazon’s one and only goal for the evening. There was nothing particularly innovative or new in the broadcast, from the choice of cast to the style of...