Viasat Ultra HD launches across Nordics

[donaldk]

Viasat Ultra HD, will be launched after the summer in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland via SES-5 at 5 degrees East.



Viasat Ultra HD will be the Nordic region’s first ever TV channel with Ultra HD (4K) content, and be launched when the next sports seasons kick off this autumn. The channel will provide customers with events from MTG’s unrivalled portfolio of live sports coverage in the best possible picture quality.


Bartek Gudowski, Chief Technology Officer of MTG Broadcasting

“It’s great that real Ultra HD content now is being produced and that sport is leading the way. The picture quality is amazing and brings a wonderful experience of being so close to the action. We are really excited to be the first out in the Nordics, and look forward to building on this successful partnership with Samsung and SES to bring even more Ultra HD content to our customers over time.”

Viasat will also be launching a new Ultra HD set-top box from Samsung, as well as a TV-Module enabling customers with an Ultra HD TV to see the channel. The channel will initially be available to all Viasat satellite customers with sports channels in their package.

With the addition of Viasat Ultra HD, SES will broadcast a total of 24 Ultra HD channels (including test channels and regional versions), representing 46% of all channels broadcast in this format via satellite worldwide. SES carries the world's largest HD line-up with over 2,300 HD channels, transmitting 27% of all HD/Ultra HD satellite channels worldwide – by far more than any other satellite operator.



"Viasat has been relying on SES services to broadcast its approximately 230 channels for more than 20 years," said Ferdinand Kayser, Chief Commercial Officer at SES. "As sports have always been predicted to be a key driver for Ultra HD, we are very pleased to take this important step together with Viasat to drive the next generation viewing experience forward. With more and more Ultra HD channels expected in the future, satellite will remain the optimal infrastructure to deliver this new and substantially improved viewing experience."

[donaldk]

“Ultra HD, VR and 360° video are revolutionising the way we watch and enjoy TV. These exciting technologies enable products that bring viewers closer to the action than ever before, and it does not get any bigger than the Olympics. We love to embrace new ideas that can shape the future of entertainment, and look forward to delivering an even better Olympic experience for Swedish sports fans,” says Bartek Gudowski, CTO at Scandinavian PayTV provider Viasat's parent MTG Broadcasting.

Modern Times Group (MTG)’s Viasat is to provide coverage of the Olympic Games in virtual reality on the Samsung 360° VR platform and 4K, kicking of its UHD service announced in May. The 4K channel Viasat Ultra HD will now be available before the August 5 opening ceremony in Rio. The channel will offer over 120 hours of Olympic coverage in 4K. There will be an one hour delay on the 4K channel compared to the regular live coverage.

According to the Swedish broadcaster it will also be the first Scandinavian broadcaster to make live sports available in the 360° virtual reality format, in europe most of the trials for this type of additional sports enterntainment have been in France. The Viasat Sport 360 app will be available as a free download on Samsung Gear enable smartphones and Headsets from August 2nd. From August 23 it will be available on Google Play and the App Store, when it will start makinging highlight avaioable after the Olympics.

[DCI forum]

Here Come the Virtual Reality Olympics ... for Samsung Users
By MAE ANDERSON, AP TECHNOLOGY WRITER NEW YORK — Jun 30, 2016, 4:18 PM ET

Athletes in Rio will compete to be the fastest sprinter and highest jumper at the Olympics this August. But there's another test underway as well: How well can virtual reality capture sporting events?

NBC says it will provide 85 hours of virtual reality programming during the Rio Olympics in August — though only to users of Samsung Galaxy smartphones and the Samsung Gear VR headset. It's the first time Olympics programming will be available in VR.

Virtual reality coverage of sports, essentially 360 video, has been growing since VR headsets such as the Samsung Gear and Oculus Rift became widely available earlier this year. Sports broadcasters are betting that virtual reality will be the next big game-changing way to watch sports. But right now, the audience is limited to those that have smartphones and VR headsets, which can be pricey.

Still, coverage is growing. In May, NBC broadcast the Kentucky Derby in 360 video. The NBA has broadcast some of its games in virtual reality, and Fox Sports broadcast VR streams from the U.S. Open at Oakmont in June.

Gary Zenkel, President, NBC Olympics, said Rio will be a showcase for the "cutting-edge" technology.

The Olympics video, which will be presented on delay during the games, will include opening and closing ceremonies, men's basketball, gymnastics, and track-and-field events. Other virtualized sports will include beach volleyball, diving, boxing and fencing. NBC will also release VR highlight packages of those sports.

The VR video itself will be captured by Olympic Broadcasting Services, a unit of the International Olympic Committee that provides video feeds to international broadcasters. Viewers will need Samsung devices and the NBC Sports app. Samsung is the official smartphone sponsor of the 2016 Olympics in Rio. Compatible phones include the Samsung Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 Edge, Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge, Galaxy S6 Edge+ and Galaxy Note 5 phones.

Other Olympics sponsors have been jumping on the virtual reality bandwagon too. Kellogg's, which sponsors Team USA, shot Olympics contender Tom Shields in 360 video as he practiced underwater for a marketing effort that appeared online and at an event in New York.

The Olympics will take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Aug. 5 to 21.