The game wasn’t good, unless you’re a die-hard Falcons fan. The numbers were surprisingly good, especially if you’re an Amazon shareholder.
Amazon announced on Monday that 16.82 million, on average, watched the Thursday night cheesehead slaughterhouse on Prime Video, with the Falcons trouncing the Packers, 35-14.
It’s a two-percent increase over last year’s Week 3 Thursday night game between the Dolphins and Bills.
Meanwhile, there’s an unresolved question as to how Amazon counts its numbers. In his excellent Varsity newsletter, John Ourand of Puck included this nugget last Tuesday from an unnamed TV exec: “Please stop comparing NFL games on Amazon with NFL games anywhere else. Pull up the Amazon app on your phone to buy something during a Thursday night game. You’ll see the TNF game playing in a tiny screen, and they’ll count you as a viewer. Comical.”
On Thursday, Ourand had this quote from an unnamed streaming executive: “Last issue, you printed a . . . note alleging that people using the app to buy consumer products are counted as Thursday Night Football viewers, so long as a small video in the corner of their screen is carrying the game. Trust me when I tell you, there’s not a shred of truth to this.”
Whatever the truth, shred or otherwise, it’s a highly-competitive space. And the days have changed dramatically from three TV networks and rabbit ears on the case containing the cathode ray tube. As the streaming vs. legacy wars continue, it wouldn’t be surprising to learn that either side, or both of them, are engaged in creative accounting.
