In the latest example of live sport being the driver for UHD in the UK, cable provider Virgin Media is to offer the Ladies’ and Men’s tennis finals from Wimbledon in Ultra HD via the Eurosport channel.
For the famous tennis championships running from 2–15 July, Eurosport is showing daily highlights from the All and will show the Men’s and Ladies’ semi-finals and finals live. Those Virgin TV customers with a V6 TV box will be able to watch both finals in UHD at no extra charge through the TV home page or for Full House subscribers by pressing the red button on the Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2 HD.“With ultrafast broadband speeds alongside our incredible V6 box, we are serving up an ace combination for our customers with Eurosport,” remarked David Bouchier, chief digital entertainment officer at Virgin Media. “Virgin TV customers can look forward to more top-quality 4K programming later this year.”
Added James Gibbons EVP, general manager of UK/Ireland, Australia and New Zealand and head of commercial development for EMEA, Discovery: “Wimbledon is one of the great sporting events of the year, and we’re thrilled to have partnered with Virgin to offer customers both finals in Ultra HD 4K. As the number one sport destination in Europe we connect passionate fans with their favourite sports, and this tennis season Eurosport is the best place to enjoy the action.”
The new package follows on the heels of a similar UHD offer with the broadcast of Roland Garros, also on Eurosport, as well as this year’s Champions League Final on BT Sport. Virgin Media is also currently trialling the BBC’s 4K/Ultra HD World Cup stream.
