Shift of Sports to Streaming Will Test Broadband Networks: Comcast

By Jon Lafayette
published

Peak usage now comes Thursdays with Prime Video streaming ‘Thursday Night Football’

Amazon Thursday Night Football sign at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City
‘Thursday Night Football’ signage at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City earlier this season. (Image credit: Perry Knotts/Getty Images)

The shift of sports to streaming is having an effect on broadband networks.

Speaking on the company’s third-quarter earnings call Thursday, Comcast president Michael Cavanagh said that peak broadband network traffic has shifted from Sunday nights to Thursdays now that Thursday Night Football streams exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.

People streaming the NFL game represent 25% of all internet traffic on Thursday nights, Cavanagh said.

Also Read: Comcast Stock Drops as Cable Company Loses More Ground on Home Broadband in Q3, Sees Slowing Mobile Growth

Broadband networks “will be put to the test as this transition of sports to streaming continues,” he said.

Cavanagh said a big challenge for the industry will come in January when Comcast’s Peacock exclusively streams an NFL playoff game.

Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts said the shift will be good for the company's broadband business.

Roberts said he believes that over time all sports will find their way to streaming. 

"That's going to require more bandwidth and create an opportunity  for us to have a superior product in the market," Roberts said.

Peacock, which claims to have the most live-streaming sports among direct-to-consumer services, has been adding to its sports portfolio. In addition to the NFL, it added Big Ten college sports and has English Premier League soccer.

Jon Lafayette
Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.