Bills-Chargers: How to watch the first NFL game streaming exclusively on NBC’s Peacock

Looking to watch Saturday’s game between the Buffalo Bills (8-6) and Los Angeles Chargers (5-9)? Good luck finding it on TV.

The Week 16 matchup — hugely important for the Bills and their playoff chances — won’t be airing on NBC or any other channel. Instead, it will be the first NFL game to stream exclusively on Peacock, the network’s streaming service.

With its success on Thursday Night Football on Prime Video, Amazon has shown it’s possible to reach a large audience without airing on broadcast or cable TV. Now it’s NBC’s turn, using the game as a dry run as it prepares to stream a playoff game for the first time, which will happen on Peacock Jan. 13 during wild-card weekend.

Or course, it means football fans have to sign up for yet another streaming service, a trend that shows no signs of slowing. Peacock’s premium tier, which you’ll need to watch the Bills-Chargers game, costs $5.99 a month.

NBC will turn to its regular Sunday Night Football crew — Mike Tirico and Cris Collinsworth — to call the game, which is scheduled to kick off at 8 p.m. Eastern. Melissa Stark, working her 100th regular-season NFL game, will report from SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.

In another NFL first, the fourth quarter will air commercial-free, a 40% reduction in the number of ads for a game. As a result, NBC said, fans will get 12 additional minutes of game coverage.

NBC will be airing an earlier game with AFC playoff implications Saturday — Cincinnati Bengals (8-6) vs. Pittsburgh Steelers (7-7). That game will be available to watch on both NBC and Peacock at 4:30 p.m., with Noah Eagle and Todd Blackledge in the booth. Kathryn Tappen will handle sideline reporting duties.

» READ MORE: Mike Tirico has a great story about eating pancakes with famed Phillies announcer Harry Kalas

Here’s everything you need to know to steam Bills-Chargers on Peacock Saturday:

No. As part of its deal with the NFL, NBC is streaming Bills-Chargers exclusively on Peacock, its subscription service. So fans in Philadelphia won’t be able to watch on TV.

But the game will air locally on broadcast television in the teams’ home markets. So fans in Buffalo can tune into WGRZ, while fans in Los Angeles can watch on KNBC.

Fans in Philadelphia can listen to the game on 1210 WPHT via Westwood One’s coverage. Calling the game will be Ryan Radtke and Hall of Famer James Lofton.

It depends.

NBC is partnering with EverPass Media to provide games to commercial businesses. So if your local bar airs games via DirectTV For Business, they would have to sign up for the Peacock Sports Pass separately.

So far, EverPass doesn’t have a tool like DirecTV’s Sports Bar Finder, an app that lets you find bars, restaurants, and other venues airing games.

If you’re looking to go to a specific bar or restaurant to watch, the best advice is to give them a call and see if they’re set up to show the game.

No.

NFL Sunday Ticket allows fans to watch all local and national regular-season games, expect for those exclusive to streaming services.

This season, two NFL games will stream exclusively on Peacock — Saturday’s Bills-Chargers game and a wild-card playoff game on Jan. 13.

After that, NBC has a deal with the NFL to stream one regular season game a year through the 2028 season. As for the playoffs, it’s just a one-year deal, but NBC will likely have an inside track on extending it.

With the Bills-Chargers game streaming exclusively on Peacock, the schedule opens up for NBC, which is looking to send viewers to new episodes of two sitcoms.

First up is Extended Family, a new comedy about conscious uncoupling starring Two and a Half Men’s Jon Cryer and Scrubs’ Donald Faison. The show, which also stars Abigail Spencer, will premiere at 8 p.m. Eastern.

Next up at 8:30 p.m. is a new, Christmas-themed episode of Night Court, a revival of the hit comedy that aired on NBC from 1984 to 1992. It’s the first new episode of the sitcom to air following the Hollywood strikes, and it guest stars NBA Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The show’s second season premieres Jan. 2.

Football fans will get special editions of NBC’s pregame show, Football Night in America, leading up to both kickoffs Saturday. But Maria Taylor won’t be in the hosting chair.

Taylor, who joined NBC in 2021 following her departure from ESPN during the Rachel Nichols controversy, is on parental leave ahead of the birth of her first child, who is due in January.

Filling in is Ahmed Fareed, who has previously filled in hosting Football Night in America and anchored B1G College Countdown, NBC’s college football pregame show that premiered this year.

Clinched the playoffs: San Francisco 49ers (11-3), Dallas Cowboys (10-4), Philadelphia Eagles (10-4).

Eliminated from playoffs: Carolina Panthers (2-12), Arizona Cardinals (3-11), Washington Commanders (4-10).

Clinched the playoffs: Baltimore Ravens (11-3).

Eliminated from playoffs: New England Patriots (3-10), New York Jets (5-9), Tennessee Titans (5-9).