DirecTV to Offer Live 4K in Early 2016

“Our goal is to have them tuned to DirecTV and have as much linear live content, especially sports content, as soon as possible”. “But I think content is king; the plane is ready to take off and there is no king on board”. The satellite-TV provider is testing sports transmissions now, and is “bringing our check books” to partners who want to offer 4K channels, vice president Phil Goswitz said at an industry conference last week. To this point, Goswitz added that 40% of consumers will likely have 4K HDTVs by 2016, creating a demand that DirecTV will only be too happy to satiate.

The satellite company plans to start broadcasting live 4K content next year.

So far, 4K resolution was an option only for streaming, but as prices of 4K televisions drop down, TV service providers are starting to rethink their financial strategies concerning live 4K telecasts. Its rival, Dish offers an on-demand 4K video service. Users were required to own the Genie HD DVR, and that box only worked with a few Samsung 4K TVs.

He also went on to explain that even now, DirecTV already has the capacity to launch as many as 50 UHD 4K channels at a transmission rate of 30Mb/s, in addition to its extensive collection of HD and SD channels which are well established on the consumer media market. Goswitz was not forthcoming with specifics about DirecTV’s 4K broadcasting service, and there’s no word on when in 2016 it will launch. This would be on top of its existing standard and high definition content.

While 4K TVs have hit the mainstream, actually watching 4K content still presents some difficulties.

Indeed, 4K content for sports lovers should prove to be especially alluring, especially considering that ESPN still broadcasts in 720p HD.