Now that the Super Bowl is done and dusted, AT&T-owned DIRECTV will be jumping on the bandwagon to provide its subscribers with 4K and 4K HDR footage of this year’s 2018 Winter Olympics. The games are being held in Seoul this year and, presumably, the provider’s content will be provided via NBC. That’s following the broadcaster recently announcing that it had teamed with the International Olympic Committee’s Olympic Broadcasting Services to provide distribution of coverage. However, it isn’t immediately clear how much of the event will be covered on the service, since AT&T’s announcement appears to have suggested that the provider will be offering “portions” of the games. In the meantime, what is known is that there will be a 24-hour delay to the broadcasts, rather than live coverage and that viewing will, of course, be limited to the service’s paid subscribers.
For those who have signed up for DIRECTV service, the games will be accessible via the company’s live 4K channel, which airs on channel 106. Coverage will start on February 8 and will run through February 25. That’s just three days away, as of this writing so anybody interested in joining up for the 2018 Winter Games probably won’t want to wait too long to head over to DIRECTV’s website and get signed up. This will be the first Olympic games on offer in HDR formats to deliver added detail and clarity of the athletics, albeit not the first 4K offering in history.
In the meantime, as previously reported, NBC will also be offering widespread live coverage, replay and repeat footage, and extra content in VR formats and across effectively every platform for VR. With regard to what events that broadcaster has announced so far to be available in 4K or 4K HDR, there will be four events for each day of the games. Those are said to include the Opening Ceremony, ski jumping, short track speed skating, figure skating, hockey, and snowboarding. There will, of course, be other ways to enjoy the Winter Games for those who can’t attend in person or who don’t want to go through those services. Samsung has also teamed up with the Olympic Committee to provide access to the games and information about the events via the official application of the games and there will also be 8K footage available in other regions of the world.