4K for Canada: Rogers, NBA and BT Sport to offer first live 4K NBA broadcast
Rogers, the National Basketball Association, and BT Sport will deliver the first live NBA game in 4K. Sportsnet will bring Canadians the Toronto Raptors vs. Orlando Magic Thursday January 14 at 3 pm ET, live from The O2 Arena in London.
Rogers cable customers can tune their NextBox 4K set-top box to Channel 999 to get the game at four times the pixels of HD for stunning picture quality, higher resolution, and improved motion video. Sportsnet will also air the game in HD on Sportsnet East, Ontario, West, and Pacific and Sportsnet ONE.
“We’ve been working on 4K technology for the past few months to deliver superior quality for our Sportsnet productions,” said Rick Brace, president, Rogers Media. “This is cutting-edge technology that continues to evolve and will only get stronger. 4K is taking off, and we’re building world-class content and investing in technology to deliver a true 4K experience for our customers.”
Jamie Hindhaugh, COO, BT Sport and BT TV, said, “We are extremely proud to have launched Europe’s very first live sports 4K channel, BT Sport Ultra HD, and to be innovating and leading the UK TV market. It’s fantastic to be able to share our learning and expertise with the NBA and Rogers to broadcast the first-ever NBA game live in 4K in both the UK and Canada.”
Said Steve Hellmuth, EVP, operations and technology, NBA, “We are thrilled to team with BT Sport and Rogers to bring fans the first NBA game broadcast live in 4K. We are always looking for new and innovative ways to bring our passionate fans closer to our game, and this groundbreaking 4K broadcast is a great opportunity to provide fans at home the sharpest look ever at the NBA.”
In 2015, Rogers made North America’s largest commitment to live 4K sports broadcasting, rolling out its NextBox 4K set-top box and announcing more than 100 sports events live in 4K, including every 2016 Blue Jays home game, plus marquee NHL games. Rogers customers will also have access to stream 100 hours of 4K movies, series, and TV shows on shomi and an ever growing catalogue of Netflix original series in 4K this year.