Amazon Prime Video Responds To Complaints About “Jittery” 49ers-Cardinals Stream, Points To “Isolated Local Connectivity & Broadband Issues” – Update
UPDATE 9 PM: Amazon’s Prime Video has responded to complaints on social media about technical difficulties while streaming today’s NFL game between the San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals.
“Our data shows that millions of Prime Video customers enjoyed a high quality and reliable streaming experience for the 49ers-Cardinals game,” a Prime Video spokesperson said in a statement. “There were reports of isolated local connectivity and broadband issues, which were unrelated to the Prime Video broadcast.”
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Some of the frustration expressed by football fans online stemmed from the fact that the game was not available on TV. This marked the second time ever that the NFL gave a game’s exclusive rights to a streamer.
Deadline co-editor in chief Mike Fleming was one of those unable to watch the game. Fleming said he viewed the earlier Bucs-Lions game and late Dolphins-Raiders game, each with a pristine signal. In between, the imagery of the Cards-49ers game on and Amazon app was often indecipherable, like watching a UHF station in the ’70s. Others on Twitter shared a similar experience, with screenshots of what their signals looked like. Whatever the reason, Fleming said he punted and stopped watching the game. No other channel on his DirecTV signal had anything other than a crystal clear signal.
PREVIOUS 4:30 PM: The San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals kicked off one of the last NFL games for 2020 on Saturday, but Amazon Prime Video couldn’t quite score with all its viewers as a handful of football fans complained of the streamer’s botched game broadcast.
“Hate the Amazon Prime broadcast BTW,” Twitter user @richardkhal wrote. “Looks, sounds feels odd. Blech.”
A number of additional social media users expressed their dismay with the game broadcast, which also streamed on Twitch, and aired on NBC affiliate KNTV in San Francisco and FOX’s KSAZ in Arizona. Some football fans urged the NFL to reconsider its programming plans for a week-long “NFL Holiday Blitz.”
Other viewers experienced choppy video during the game, causing some confusion.
“Is it just my wifi connection or is the Amazon prime stream look jittery, not smooth?” Twitter user @SEAsports253 wrote.
The Amazon Prime Video stream was called “trash,” “garbage” and other viewers noted that “everything about this broadcast sucks.” While some were able to catch parts of the game, though with choppy images, other fans could not watch the stream at all.
“Why in the world would they put a game only on Prime?!,” another frustrated Twitter user said.
Additional complaints about the 49ers-Cardinals game on Amazon Prime Video included those about wide accessibility, the amount of anchors speaking at a given time and buffering.
Not all viewers, however, experienced interruptions with their broadcasts. A majority of other NFL were able to catch the game without any issues.
See some social media reactions to the broadcast issues below.
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