Here's another look.Earlier this year, LEGO announced it was extending its Nintendo range with the addition of a new Mario Kart line and more Animal Crossing sets. Nintendo's Japanese website has now issued a reminder that three new Animal Crossing sets and six new Mario Kart sets will be launching on 1st January 2025.Read the full article on nintendolife.com

When you really probe venture capitalists about investing in AI startups, theyll tell you that businesses are experimenting wildly but are very slow to add AI solutions into their ongoing business processes.But there are some exceptions. And one of them appears to be an area known as AI sales development representatives, or AI SDRs. These use large language models (LLMs) and voice technology to craft personalized outreach emails and place automated calls to potential customers.In some markets, were seeing five to 10 companies all have success in a pretty short period of time, Shardul Shah, a partner at Index Ventures, said of the AI SDR boom.While its certainly not uncommon for multiple startups to target the same problem, its rare to see all of them experience rapid growth. But thats apparently the case for startups that automate content creation for sales teams, investors say.When one studies any of [these startups] individually, its like wow, thats stunning product market fit, Shah said. When all 10 of them have stunning product market fit, its hard to answer How is that going to play out?Index has yet to invest in any of these companies, many of which are less than a year old. Even though the whole category is on fire and customers are using them, its still too early to know whether their growth will continue over the long term or whether they will be discarded like so many other AI pilot projects once the wow factor fades, because they dont prove to be more effective than human outreach.Small businesses love AI sales LLMsArjun Pillai, founder of Docket, a startup that builds AI sales engineers, is convinced that AI SDR adoption is high because small and medium-sized businesses can easily experiment with these tools. Before Docket, Pillai was the chief data officer at sales lead generation platform ZoomInfo.Over the last two years, the reply rate on cold emails fell at least 50%, Pillai said. Now that there are a bunch of companies that claim they can improve this rate, everyone is willing to try their service.The best-known AI SDR startups include Regie.ai, AiSDR, Artisan, and 11x.ai, but ZoomInfo, an incumbent, also released a copilot that competes with these and other virtual sales agent startups.While these companies are experiencing rapid revenue growth, its unclear if theyre actually helping businesses sell more effectively.According to Tomasz Tunguz, founder of Theory Ventures, a chief revenue officer from a publicly traded company disclosed to him that while an AI SDR helped generate a substantial volume of leads over a nine-month period, it did not lead to actual sales.So its not to say that AI wont work. Its to say many of us [still] do not know how to use AI, Tunguz said onstage at a SaaStr conference in September.Will the incumbents squash them?Chris Farmer, partner and CEO at venture firm SignalFire, said he believes that AI applied to sales and marketing is a large opportunity, but without access to differentiated data, AI SDR startups risk being overtaken by incumbents like Salesforce, HubSpot, and ZoomInfo. Those companies main products are the keepers of their customers data. So if they offered bots that let their customers tap into their own data, such bots could be more effective.Another venture capitalist who looked at this market but hasnt yet invested said her firm looked at several AI SDR startups and that they all had $1 million in ARR within less than a year. The startups impressive growth was attractive, she said, but like Farmer, she was concerned their solutions could eventually be offered as a free feature by established competitors.Jasper, a copywriting startup that was last valued at $1.5 billion but ran into speed bumps and had to lay off 30% of its staff after ChatGPT was introduced, serves as a cautionary tale for some investors.Investors are not surprised by the rapid adoption of AI SDRs; they are just doubting that adoption is sticky.Updated: This story was originally published on August 22 and was updated December 26 with comments from Tomasz Tunguz.

ChatGPT, Sora, and OpenAIs developer-facing API were down on Thursday for more than four hours. OpenAI says it started experiencing a major outage at 11 a.m. PT, but now says its services are slowly coming back online as of 3:16 p.m. PT. Frequent users of ChatGPT may recall that the service went down earlier this month as well.TechCrunch received error messages when attempting to access ChatGPT and Sora on Thursday afternoon. On its status page, OpenAI says the major outage was caused by one of their upstream providers but doesnt offer further detail. As of 2:05 p.m. PT, OpenAI said ChatGPT was partially recovered but users may still experience issues loading their chat history. At 3:16 p.m. PT, Sora became operational again. The company says it is actively working on a full fix for ChatGPT and its API.This is the second time that OpenAIs family of services have gone down during the month of December. When this happened two weeks ago, OpenAI blamed the outage on a new telemetry service gone awry. That outage lasted for roughly 6 hours, an unusually long disruption. Typically, these outages last only an hour or two.Popular services that use OpenAIs API, like Perplexity and Siris Apple Intelligence integration, did not appear to be affected by the outage, according to the companies respective status pages and TechCrunchs testing.TechCrunch has an AI-focused newsletter! Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Wednesday.

Health apps can help patients. In particular, telehealth and AI alike have various benefits in patient care.

Microsofts Copilot is an amazing development in AI, and Copilot+ PCs are designed to take advantage of the technology. If you want a Copilot+ laptop for an affordable price, check out Best Buys offer for the Asus Vivobook S 14. From $950, its down to only $650 following a $300 discount. Were not sure when its price will return to normal though, so if you want to get this device with huge savings, youre going to have to complete your purchase for it as soon as you can.Microsofts Copilot was created to streamline and boost productivity, and Copilot+ PCs integrate support for the AI technology at a systemwide level. The Asus Vivobook S 14 is one of the Copilot+ laptops that are already available, passing the hardware requirements to earn this designation with its Intel Core Ultra 5 Series 2 processor, Intel Arc Graphics, and 16GB of RAM thats on the level of top-tier machines, says our guide on how much RAM do you need. The laptop also comes with a 512GB SSD with Windows 11 Home pre-loaded, so you can already start using it right after unboxing.The Asus Vivobook S 14 is packing powerful performance under its hood, but its external features are amazing as well. Its equipped with a 14-inch OLED screen with WUXGA resolution, a 16:10 aspect ratio, and a 0.02ms response time, for stunning and vivid visuals. The relatively compact screen makes the Asus Vivobook S 14 extremely portable, in addition to its thickness of just 0.55 inches and weight of less than 3 pounds, but the laptop offers military-grade durability so you dont have to be extra careful with it when youre on the move.RelatedCopilot+ PCs arent appearing much in laptop deals yet, so if you want to enjoy savings when buying a device that fully integrates Microsofts AI, you dont want to miss Best Buys $300 discount for the Asus Vivobook S 14. Its down to a more affordable $650 from $950, but the offer wont last long. The stocks up for sale may run out at any moment, so if you want the Asus Vivobook S 14 as your next laptop, we highly recommend pushing forward with your transaction for it right now.Editors Recommendations

We are approaching the next Unpacked event, and as usual, all the smartphone surprises that Samsung harbored have been spoiled by leaks. Granted, its a bit shaky to put all your faith in leaks. But what about some unceremonious web upload from one of the worlds top accessories brands?Well, that just transpired on Dbrands website. The notoriously outspoken company has listed dozens of renders depicting the Galaxy S25 series smartphones, draped in a variety of skins available for enthusiasts.Recommended VideosOf course, the design is familiar. A little too familiar, Id say. The vanilla Galaxy S25 and its Plus trim look identical to each other. And also to their respective Galaxy S24 series counterparts. And their Galaxy S23 series iterations. Plus, a whole bunch of Galaxy A and M series phones.One of them is the Plus. (Hint: Its the bigger one. Thanks, Samsung!) dbrand / Digital TrendsThe only refinement is reserved for the Ultra version, which loses its signature sharp corners and goes with a slightly rounded approach. Its not quite the dramatic corner radius that Apple has maintained across iPhones, iPads, and Macs over the years, but the Galaxy S25 Ultra still stands out.Please enable Javascript to view this contentWhat doesnt stand out is the camera lens design, the display aesthetics, and the port-button profile. The saving grace could be a splash of new colors on the rear glass. What about the magnetically-driven Qi 2 wireless charging perk? Well, leaks are split on that convenience.RelatedAmong the new color options should be a dusty blue tone, as per leaker IceUniverse. If that turns out to be true, this is what it would look like on the Galaxy S25 series phones.dbrand / Digital TrendsA lot can be written about Samsungs conservative design. I am being pretty lenient here, but there are a few strong opinions in the Samsung fandom. And by fandom, I mean Reddit subs discussing Samsung Galaxy phones and Samsungs official community forum.At least Samsung is not copying you know who, like everybody else. Thats an argument rooted in factual accuracy, at least. Why should they? Not everyone can afford or wants to pay for a flagship, says one comment in a heated Reddit debate about Samsungs design approach.But not everyone can buy into it. A healthy few also want a design that stands out and doesnt make their thousand-dollar phone look like a $250 midranger with a near-identical design formula.I cant speak for others, but I want a unique and good-looking phone, not just a powerful glass rectangle (especially for flagship prices), claims one such Reddit argument.dbrand / Digital TrendsI am siding with the second argument. I would rather have a flagship phone look the part than just go with slightly premium material. A case can be made about, well, cases, which are eventually going to hide all the snazz and jazz of your shiny new phone.But that argument beats the whole purpose of spending top dollars on a high-end Galaxy S series phone. If performance is all you seek, you can get the same and more from a device like the Red Magic 10 Pro, which also blesses buyers with a ginormous battery.Alternatively, if cameras are the only consideration, maybe a Google Pixel Pro series phone or the iPhone would also suffice. You are buying a premium Samsung phone, knowing all its strengths and willing to live with its weaknesses.This phone costs half as much as a Galaxy Ultra series device. But its faster. And it looks terrific. Nadeem Sarwar / Digital TrendsThe least it can do is give you the satisfaction of unique, top-tier engineering every time you pick it up. I am hoping that Samsung comes up with some interesting shades and doesnt keep most of the good ones limited to its online store the way it has done for the past few years.Wishing for a change wont change anything, of course, as the phones have been in production for a while now. But if the leaked Dbrand assets are anything to go by, I would pay for a two-tone Galaxy S25 series phone rather than a repetitive glass-and-metal chassis with a matching frame with a luster.Youve done it before, Samsung. Do it again, maybe.Editors Recommendations

The singer-songwriter performs selections from her catalog at the Kennedy Center in this PBS special.

For some New Yorkers, winning the NYC housing lottery is the only way they can afford to stay in the city.But competition is tough: There are about 3.5 million applications each year.Those who have won say it often took multiple applications and months of waiting before they heard back.Louis Ciprian, 29, moved around New York City a lot when he was younger.His father died when he was 11, and Ciprian and his mother fell on hard times. At 15, he entered the foster care system. For the next couple of years, he bounced from place to place and even graduated from high school while living in a homeless shelter.After college, he started couch surfing, living with different roommates while looking for a more permanent place to call home.In 2022, he started applying for the New York City affordable housing lottery, which is run by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) and the Housing Development Corporation (HDC). Louis Ciprian won the NYC housing lottery for an apartment in the Bronx earlier this year. Louis Ciprian. Two years later, in July, Ciprian finally received the call that he'd been waiting for: He won the lottery for a one-bedroom apartment in the Bronx, where rent is $1,481 a month.He was thankful and relieved."To be able to get an opportunity like that where I'm paying rent that is affordable and not going to hit more than 30% of my income, it's an amazing feeling," Ciprian, a customer success manager at a real estate technology company, told Business Insider.After years of grappling with homelessness, he now has a place of his own.1 in 450 chance of winningNYC is experiencing a severe housing affordability crisis.From 2022 to 2023, rents in NYC increased seven times as fast as wages, a Zillow and StreetEasy analysis found. Even tech workers who make an average of $135,000 annually can only afford 35% of rentals in the city.It's not surprising that many lower-earning New Yorkers are choosing to leave the city or even the country entirely in order to enjoy a lower cost of living.For those still in NYC, the outlook is far from rosy. Over the past decade, the city grew by nearly 800,000 people, but only added 200,000 new homes, mayor Eric Adams said in a speech in December 2022.Not only that, the city has also lost some 100,000 apartments many in wealthy neighborhoods because New Yorkers keep consolidating multi-family buildings and turning them into one- or two-family homes.A 2023 city housing and vacancy survey found that only 1.4% of NYC apartments were available to rent last year, and over 40% of all renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent.For many New Yorkers like Ciprian, winning the housing lottery is their only hope of securing an affordableWhile the application is free, each household must meet specific income requirements to qualify for an apartment. But winning the affordable housing lottery is a feat in itself.The HPD receives about 3.5 million applications a year, Natasha Kersey, an HPD representative, told BI.On average, there are 450 applications received per rental unit.With competition so stiff, it is not uncommon for people to apply for multiple apartments offered in the lottery.Nkenge Clarke, 30, told BI previously that she had sent out over 130 applications before she finally succeeded in her bid. Nkenge Clarke won the NYC affordable housing lottery. Now, she pays about $1,000 in rent for her Chelsea apartment. Nkenge Clarke. "It took me maybe over a year before I started hearing back from different properties that I applied to," Clarke said. "Some of them I ended up not qualifying for, some of them I didn't provide enough documentation for."Now, she pays about $1,000 in rent every month for a one-bedroom apartment in Chelsea, a neighborhood on the west side of Manhattan. The timing was impeccable; her previous landlord was looking to raise her rent had she renewed her lease."This place literally came just in time, like a few months before my second-year lease ended," Clarke said. Clarke says she had sent out over 130 applications for the affordable housing lotteries. Nkenge Clarke While the process took a lot of paperwork and patience, it was well worth the effort, she added. After all, living in an affordable apartment in the heart of the city was like a dream come true.Stabilized rent in an ever-expensive marketInterested parties can apply for the affordable housing lottery online via the Housing Connect portal or by mail. Once the deadline passes, all applications are combined to create a pool from which the lottery is conducted, Aileen Reynolds, the assistant commissioner of housing opportunity at HPD, told BI. Josh Ayala won the NYC housing lottery in 2023. Josh Ayala. A computer algorithm randomizes all the applications and assigns everyone a number, known as a lottery log number. That number, she added, dictates the order in which the developers have to contact the applicants.While it helps applicants get a sense of where they stand, it's not a perfect science since there might be people who applied but do not qualify for the apartments.It can take any time between weeks to months for an applicant to hear back, Reynolds said.In Josh Ayala's case, it took him eight months to receive a call back after he had applied for his apartment. Ayala says his rent costs $2,345 a month. Josh Ayala. "I was like, wait, what? I totally forgot I applied to this," Ayala, 26, told BI in August.Thankfully, it all worked out for him; He signed the lease for the apartment within a month of the viewing. Now he pays $2,345 in monthly rent, which is stabilized."Around COVID-19 time, people were moving into apartments, and for one year, it was a great price. But the next year, the landlord would just increase their rent exorbitantly," Ayala said. "I didn't want that to happen to me, so I wanted something that was more secure, too." Knowing that his rent is stabilized gives him peace of mind, Ayala said. Josh Ayala. Likewise, rent stabilization was the main reason Brynne McManimie and Peter Romano started applying for the housing lottery.In 2021, they lived in a $2,600-a-month apartment in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. They had gotten a good deal on their lease due to the pandemic, but it didn't last long. Peter Romano and Brynne McManimie applied for the affordable housing lottery after their landlord raised the rent. Matthew Dunivan Photography "After a year, our landlord raised our rent by like 25% and it made us very nervous about staying in that apartment," McManimie told BI in June. Their new rent was going to be $3,300 a month, and they decided it was too expensive for them to afford.But luck was on their side: Within a month of applying for the housing lottery, they were contacted about a one-bedroom unit in Brooklyn. McManimie and Romano now live in a $2,800-a-month apartment in Brooklyn, Brynne McManimie and Peter Romano The couple ended up signing a two-year lease. Now, they pay $2,800 in monthly rent."Since it's rent-stabilized, they can't raise it like a ton," Romano told BI. "Which is honestly really attractive to us, given what happened with our last landlord."The income and household eligibility criteria for the lottery apartments only apply at the initial stage. The couple says that they were lucky to have won the lottery so soon after they started applying. Brynne McManimie and Peter Romano "Folks only need to qualify based on house size and income at the time they move in," Reynolds said.'Native New Yorkers deserve to stay here'But the housing lottery isn't without its criticism.For years, the city's "community preference" policy dictated that half of new affordable apartments must first be offered to those already living in the area.However, in 2015, three women filed a lawsuit against the city, saying that the policy reinforced segregation.After almost a decade, the city finally agreed to settle the lawsuit in January. Under the terms of the settlement, the city will reduce the percentage of affordable houses set aside for those already living in the same community to 20%, down from the original 50%, per court documents. In May 2029, it will drop to 15%."Although the preference has been reduced, the outcome allows us to preserve it and continue to do our work by advocating for New Yorkers that need more housing at deeply affordable levels," Kersey said. Ceronne Mitchell won the NYC housing lottery in 2023. Molly Stromoski for NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development Still, NYC residents do get priority in the affordable housing lottery although applicants don't need to be US citizens, Reynolds said.In the meantime, the housing lottery will still be one of the best ways for New Yorkers to stay in affordable apartments in the city. Rent for Mitchell's one-bedroom apartment in Queens is $1,600 each month. Molly Stromoski for NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development "As much as I'm for the housing lottery, I think that it does suck that as a native, sometimes the only hope and dream of staying in the city affordably is this route," Ceronne Mitchell, who pays $1,600 a month for her one-bedroom lottery housing apartment in Queens, told BI previously."Native New Yorkers deserve to stay here, and I'm always proud when one can," she added.

Lindsay Jang moved to Hong Kong 15 years ago and has launched five businesses.Despite not all of Jang's ventures being successful, she says she has learned something from each.At 43, the entrepreneur and mom says she's finally found ways to disconnect and find work-life balance.Lindsay Jang moved to Hong Kong 15 years ago and has kept herself busy, very busy.Since relocating, she's launched five businesses including a one-Michelin-starred restaurant and a workout technique listed on Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop. Now, at 43, she balances her time between running her companies and raising her two kids.Born in Alberta, Canada, Jang is the eldest of three sisters. Her dad was a civil engineer, and her mom worked as a special needs teacher. A stroke of luck changed her family's path when her parents won a gold brick, valued at 100,000 Canadian dollars, in a local carnival lottery in 1981, the year she was born.Shortly after, when her dad got laid off, he invested in a Chinese-Canadian restaurant in Sherwood Park, near her hometown. Her dad went on to run the restaurant, and her mom decided to be a stay-at-home mom. "Growing up, the restaurant was a huge part of our lives and really shaped who I am today," she told Business Insider.Jang struggled to find the right career path. "I had scholarships for science and French, and I explored a few different paths science, art school, digital publishing, and business management but none of them fully resonated with me. I didn't graduate from any of those programs," she said.She dropped out of college when she decided she wanted to become an actor.She stopped in NYC before moving to Hong KongIn 2002, Jang left Canada and moved to New York City to study acting. She took on a job as a floor captain at Nobu Fifty Seven, and began contributing to the restaurant's special events department. In 2009, at 27, she relocated to Hong Kong with her then-romantic partner, Matt Abergel, who had accepted a job offer as an executive chef.They had two kids during their relationship before separating in 2011. Despite the split, they remain close. "We're best friends, co-parents, and business partners," Jang said.In 2011, Jang said they raised around $500,000 to open Yardbird, the restaurant that went on to earn a Michelin star in 2021. It was followed up with Ronin another izakaya-style dining bar in 2012.Jang said the primary investor in both restaurants had been a regular customer of theirs in New York. "He ate at Masa, where Matt worked, every week and would occasionally come to Nobu Fifty Seven," she said. Yardbird, in Hong Kong, earned a Michelin star in 2021. Yardbird The team managed to find their rhythm at Yardbird early on. "We hit capacity within just a few weeks thanks to word-of-mouth, and once the media discovered us, it brought in a steady stream of guests," Jang said. "We didn't rely on traditional PR or marketing instead, we gave out stickers and T-shirts to build the brand."Social media was still an early concept Instagram had just launched the year before and it didn't play much of a role in the hype. Jang did, however, face challenges online in the early stages, when she was sharing the restaurant's no reservations and no service charge policies. "People didn't like those ideas and weren't shy about voicing their concerns," she said.The restaurant has continued to draw in crowds over the past 13 years, despite the policies. "The main draw is without doubt the 20-plus types of yakitori skewers made with local 'three-yellow' chicken from beak to tail, grilled over binchotan charcoal," per the Michelin website. An extensive Japanese whisky collection has also added to its appeal. Jang opened Ronin, another izakaya-style dining bar in Hong Kong, in 2012. Ronin After the couple split, they went back to being friends. "Between sharing businesses and kids, we take pride in giving each other the space and time to do the things that we need to do to be happy," Abergel, co-owner of the restaurant, told BI. "Things are pretty great most of the time, and when things are hard, we know that the foundation we have as friends is stronger than whatever we are facing."Not all of Jang's ventures have been successfulJang has also seen some of her companies fail.Sunday's Grocery, which started as an extension of the Yardbird brand, opened in 2014 and closed in 2016. "We took over an existing business to test the concept, but the location wasn't ideal, and the costs were too high to make it sustainable," Jang said. "It was a valuable experiment, and while it didn't last, it taught us to prioritize scalability and the importance of location."Jang went on to launch Sunday's Spirit in 2017, before wrapping it up in 2023 due to challenges with margins, certain team dynamics, and working within Japan's highly specific market structure. "Both of these ventures taught us that not every concept needs to be forever," she said. "Letting go of ideas that no longer resonate or fit the bigger picture is OK. The key is to embrace adaptability while staying true to the vision."She continues to run Hecho, a creative agency she launched in 2017. Previous clients include Hongkong Land, a property investment company and Swire, a conglomerate working in sectors ranging from aviation and beverages to healthcare.Finding balance and staying healthyIn the past, Jang found it difficult to find a work-life balance. "I don't put rules on myself when it comes to disconnecting because my work and my life are about being connected," Jang said in an interview with Compare Retreats in 2020. However, more recently, she has found ways to decompress."I've been making a concerted effort to disconnect more," she told BI. Flexibility plays a central role in her time management. "I run my entire life from my phone and computer, which allows me the freedom to manage my schedule. So even though I'm technically always plugged in, I still make time for myself and my family," she added. Jang says she exercises regularly. Lindsay Jang Her daily routine now includes a 20- to 45-minute session in the infrared sauna. She said it was a trip to HigherDOSE in New York almost 10 years ago that got her interested in the heat. "It was intense, but it felt productive. Since I had space at home, it made more sense to own one than to pay by the minute elsewhere."A few years after the sauna was installed, during COVID-19, Jang transformed her TV room into a workout studio. "The space was better used as a place where I could sweat and move every day," she said.Her most recent lifestyle adjustment was to stop drinking. "I cut alcohol out of my life over a year and a half ago, which was significant given my F&B background," she said. "I was nervous about what social situations would be like without alcohol, but I've found that my life has improved in every way."Her career has also shifted toward fitnessFour years ago, she co-launched Family Form, a workout technique and studio in Hong Kong. She said the mat-based workout aims to use movement and infrared heat to strengthen and balance the body."People connect with it on a deeper level because it's approachable yet challenging, and it becomes part of their daily routine," she said. Jang launched Family Form, a workout technique listed on Goop that's expanding to Shanghai. Family Form Classes are often at full capacity with waiting lists. On Google reviews, nearly all of its ratings are five stars.Expanding to mainland China is part of the plan and has come with hurdles. "We are building our China community for when we launch in Shanghai in a few months, and it's been interesting to navigate the approach in such a different market," she said. "It's been a grassroots effort mostly, and we're so grateful for the word-of-mouth support from our community."In July 2024, Family Form received support for the directory listing of Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop. The listing states, "It's intense but also totally cathartic. ""Someone from their team reached out to us," Jang said, regarding the posting, adding that they did not pay for the listing. "It was purely an organic connection." A representative for Goop did not respond to a request for comment sent by Business Insider.In November, the company launched classes in Manila and will start in Shanghai in early 2025.As for her future, Jang hasn't planned too far ahead. "I prefer to remain flexible and open to opportunities as they arise," she said. Jang said she has a few projects in the works, including a new wellness product brand that will launch next year."While Hong Kong will always be home, I plan to spend more time in a more relaxed environment once my kids are in university," she said. "Running multiple businesses has taught me the importance of balancing ambition with sustainability. The biggest life lesson I've learned is that success comes from staying true to your vision while remaining flexible enough to adapt to change."

Netflix didn't crash when it streamed two NFL games on Christmas.Even better for the NFL and Netflix: The streaming-only games got audiences that were only a bit smaller than a TV game.Streaming live sports used to be a novelty. Not anymore.Netflix passed two tests on Wednesday when it streamed live NFL football games for the first time in its history.First: Netflix managed to stream the games around the world without widespread tech foul-ups that plagued its Mike Tyson-Jake Paul boxing exhibition/stunt last month.Second: Netflix managed to attract the kind of audience for the games that you'd expect from the NFL, which is continually the most popular thing on conventional TV.The NFL and the streamer say that both of Wednesday's games the Kansas City Chiefs vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens vs. the Houston Texans averaged around 24 million viewers in the US. That's a record for streaming NFL games in the country. (Those initial numbers may swell a bit once the NFL, Netflix, and Nielsen scour for additional viewers.)The biggest audience around 27 million viewers showed up for the "Beyonc Bowl" a halftime performance during the Ravens/Texans game, featuring, of course, Beyonc.For comparison, last year, the NFL attracted an average of some 28 million US viewers for the two games it broadcast on Christmas Day, via conventional TV networks. (Netflix's numbers don't include viewers outside the US; it says it will report back on those on December 31. Netflix says the audience for the Tyson/Paul event peaked at 65 million worldwide and 38 million in the US.)All of which means that when Netflix streams Christmas games again next year, and again in 2027, it won't seem like a novelty. It will just be the most popular sport on TV, delivered via a streaming service.This is what both Netflix and the NFL want, for slightly different reasons. The NFL is always looking for another outlet that will pay it top dollar for the right to show its games Netflix paid the NFL a reported $150 million for this year's games and Netflix wants high-profile live events as a way to boost its nascent ad business.Win-win. This is what the NFL has been finding every time it sells streaming rights to digital players over the years, including Yahoo, Twitter, Amazon, and Google.While we are here, a couple other notes:While there was some discussion of Netflix trying to make its NFL coverage unique, I couldn't discern anything meaningfully different about the games from any others I've watched this year. Which, again, is the point: The NFL wants the product to look the same no matter where you see it. (And if there is a desire for something different on the part of fans, I have yet to discern it.)Netflix streaming NFL games for the first time is meaningful to the NFL, Netflix, and people who pay attention to the media business. But in my 100% unscientific poll of people in the real world, no one knew Netflix had the games. And when they found out, they didn't care, which makes sense: Neither game was particularly important, or suspenseful. But for Netflix and the NFL that wasn't the point.