MELBOURNE: Fox Sports or Foxtel, Australian cricket’s new broadcaster that has won the rights till 2024, has announced at an event that Australia’s ODI series against South Africa at home in November will be the first time that live sport in the country will be broadcast in 4K resolution, Cricket Australia’s digital mouthpiece, cricket.com.au reports.
The event also featured legendary bowler, Shane Warne who will be one of the commentators for the Australian summer.
All Australian men’s international matches and Big Bash League games will be included as a part of this move.
Foxtel will launch a special 4K channel in October, but it will make its debut on the November 4 ODI at Perth Stadium.
For the broadcast, customers would need to have a compatible 4K-capable television set, buy a satellite subscription to Foxtel’s Sports HD package, and upgrade to an iQ4 set-top box.
Foxtel will deliver its 4K service via satellite, which implies subscribers do not need an internet connection to achieve the full resolution, as is the case with online streaming services.
Australia’s shambolic 5-match series in the UK earlier this year could be seen in 4K resolution on British broadcaster channel, Sky Sports which had embraced the innovation a year earlier.
The term ‘4K’ refers to the pixels displayed on the modern TV screens. The 4K resolution is effectively double the number of pixels of a High Definition broadcast.
Fox Sports is likely to rebrand one of its channels to be a dedicated Fox Cricket channel ahead of the Australian summer. That is expected to launch Fox’s coverage of Australia’s series against Pakistan in the UAE in October.
Foxtel CEO Patrick Delany said: “The first thing it is going to power is cricket. This will be Australia’s first live 4K sports broadcast and it will be cricket like never before, 20 times the definition of standard definition and four times the definition of HD.
“Innovation is in Foxtel’s DNA and we have continuously redefined entertainment for Australia putting us at the centre of connecting subscribers with the sports and the shows they love.
“Today’s new is just the first step into a 4K future – this incredible experience will continue to expand as we bring even more sport and entertainment programming to life in guaranteed 4K, making the most of today’s ultra-modern 4K TVs.”
