Claiming to have become the home of the game for all fans in Switzerland, Swisscom TV has added to its roster of football with the UEFA Champions League.
Beginning from the 2018/2019 season, every match from Europe's premier club competition will be shown via Teleclub available to watch on Swisscom TV, either as part of the customer subscription package or on a pay-per-view basis. Some games will also be broadcast free on the new Teleclub Zoom channel, which will be the only Swiss channel to show the UEFA Champions League final from the next season onwards.The offering is rounded off with UEFA Europa League fixtures, new info dossiers for fans as well as every match in the FIFA World Cup, which are being shown for the first time on SRG channels in Ultra HD and in high dynamic range (HDR). Swisscom TV customers will also be able to follow the World Cup games on SRG channels (SRF, RTS and RSI) for the first time in Ultra HD and HDR.
"It's as if you're actually sat watching the game in the stadium. HDR creates an effect that is similar to the jump in quality from analogue TVs to HD TVs, particularly for football broadcasts," explained Dirk Wierzbitzki, head of products and marketing and a member of the group executive board of Swisscom. However, HDR requires complex technical measures to be implemented by the individual stations and broadcasters, which is why Swisscom and SRG are working closely together to provide viewers with a particularly vivid football experience. The only thing that Swisscom customers need to view HDR TV is a UHD-enabled Swisscom TV Box and a compatible TV set."
Swisscom will also start displaying additional information in the TV menu, with this service being launched to coincide with the kick-off of the new football season. This will allow fans to read up on the background information to fixtures before and during games, such as background reports, team line-ups, information on individual players and other tournament developments.
"Such information is always sought after by fans and they have up until now found it on the Internet, via teletext or in newspapers. We have taken a whole new approach in preparing this content exclusively for Swisscom TV viewers," added Wierzbitzki.
