Why are there no commercials in the fourth quarter of the Bills - Chargers game on Peacock?

NFL games over Christmas is nothing new, with an increasing number of matchups even scheduled on Christmas Day in recent years. Matchday 16 of the 2023 season takes place between 21 and 25 December, with three matches falling on the big day itself for the second year in succession, when the Kansas City Chiefs, Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers will all be in action.

Cowboys and Dolphins headline NFL feast on Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve also promises to be a feast for armchair fans in particular, with no fewer than 10 games scheduled for Sunday. The Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings, two potential playoff teams, face off at U.S. Bank Stadium, although most eyes are likely to be on Hard Rock Stadium, where the Miami Dolphins take on the Dallas Cowboys in what some see as a Super Bowl dress rehearsal.

While regular-season Christmas football is now the norm, there will be two separate novelties in one of Saturday’s (23 December) NFL clashes. For the first time ever, an NFL game will be streamed exclusively live on Peacock as the Buffalo Bills play the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.

“Time to tell the story of the game”

And not only that, NBC, who subsidise Peacock, and the NFL have announced there will be no commercials in the fourth quarter, the first time this will happen in a televised game. According to NBCUniversal, there will be a 40% reduction in ad time which will result in 12 additional minutes of content related to the game.

Sunday Night Football producer Rob Hyland said that “limited stoppages are exciting for me as someone that wants to tell the story of the Game and have the time to do it.”

What will take the place of commercials in the fourth quarter?

Instead of commercials in the final 15 minutes, the announce team of Mike Tirico, Cris Collinsworth and Melissa Stark will provide more analysis of the game in the first of the two breaks of two minutes, 20 seconds. The “Football Night in America” studio will take over during the second pause, giving their thoughts on the action and discussing matchday 16 in general.

Will the lack of ads during the fourth quarter have any impact on viewing figures? Could it even become the future of NFL broadcasting? We’ll find out soon enough.