TORONTO—Are you ready for some 4K sports action? Rogers Communications and Sportsnet recently announced that they will deliver more than 100 live 4K sports broadcasts during 2017, including games of the Toronto Blue Jays, the Toronto Raptors and the Toronto Maple Leafs. In addition, Rogers has introduced its NetBox 4K PVR, a new system that allows customers to record up to eight 4K programs at one time and store up to 90 hours of 4K content.

For the second straight year, Rogers will offer 4K broadcast of all 81 regular season Blue Jays home games on Sportsnet. Sportsnet will also carry the 4K broadcast of the Toronto Maple Leafs game against the Detroit Red Wings on New Year’s Day as part of the NHL Centennial Classic outdoor game. Six more games will be broadcast throughout the remainder of the season, primarily on Sportsnet ONE. Also starting in January, the Toronto Raptors will have 14 games broadcast in 4K on Sportsnet ONE.

Sportsnet 4K feeds are available to cable, satellite and IPTV providers across Canada. In addition, Rogers plans to continue to make investments to its TV platform to improve stability, upgrade its mobile apps and enhance NextBox.

All games are schedule to change, visit sportsnet.ca/schedule for any updates.

NEWBURY, ENGLAND—After previously testing its 4K broadcast capabilities during a Toronto Raptors basketball game, Rogers Media has announced it will acquire Snell Advanced Media products to support its 4K and HDR broadcasting services. As part of the installation, Rogers Media will add SAM’s Kahuna 9600 switcher, Morpheus automation and ICE Channel-in-a-Box units. Rogers has also installed main and backup 4K sQ servers.

Rogers has had previous experience with the Enterprise sQ servers. The UHD version of the sQ 1800 server stores 4K media as single image files with the goal of avoiding synchronization or alignment errors. The server is coupled to a 4K-enabled version of the Qube editor for recording, editing and playback from a single mainframe. Playback control was from the existing SAM Morpheus installation.

With the Kahuna switcher, Rogers Media can handle multiple formats simultaneously with its FormatFusion 3 technology. An inbuilt multiviewer provides source overview and mixer previews. There are also macro buttons for access of graphics insertion and replay for the switcher’s still and clip stores.

Rogers’ plan to move forward with 4K broadcasts was announced in 2015 and included a series of technical trials and proof-of-concept trials. The Canadian media company’s planned 4K programming package moving forward will feature more than 100 live sporting events, including all Toronto Blue Jays home games for the upcoming 2016 season and more than 20 NHL games.

Rogers Media is a division of Rogers Communications.

TORONTO—Canadian-based communications and media company Rogers Communications has announced it will launch Rogers 4K TV, with a commitment to live broadcasting with HDR, starting in 2016. Rogers will also offer a new 4K set-top box and 4K ready gigabit Internet speeds.

Rogers is set to broadcast more than 100 live sporting events in 4K next year, including more than 20 NHL games, starting with the Jan. 23 matchup between the Montreal Canadians and the Toronto Maple Leafs. It will begin broadcasting with high dynamic range for the Toronto Blue Jays home opener in April 2016, and broadcast each Blue Jays home game in 4K with HDR for the entire 2016 season. Movies and TV shows will also be available in 4K on shomi, including Netflix original series.

To assist with 4K streaming, Rogers Ignite Gigabit Internet will be rolled out this year and by the end of 2016 is expected to be in more than 4 million homes. Rogers Ignite Gigabit with unlimited usage will be available at a starting price of $149.99.