Dish announced today that it will offer 13 March Madness games in 4K, starting tonight with the two play-in games from Dayton, Ohio.

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The satcaster joins rival DIRECTV in offering 4K coverage of the annual college basketball championship tournament. The latter revealed last week that it will also air tonight’s two games in 4K. Fairleigh Dickinson will play Prairie View tonight at 6:40 p.m. ET while Belmont will face Temple following the conclusion of game one. The winners of the two games will then become part of the 64-team tournament, which begins Thursday.

Dish and DIRECTV will air tomorrow night’s play-in match ups in 4K as well. North Dakota State will play NC Central at 6:40 p.m. ET while Arizona State will face St. John’s following that game. The winners of those games will also move on to the final tournament.

Dish does not reveal additional games it will offer in 4K, but says it will be up to 13. DIRECTV has said it will air 4K broadcasts of the first and second round from Tulsa, Oklahoma on March 22 and 24 and regional action from Anaheim, California on March 28 and 30.

The games will air on DIRECTV”s live 4K channel, which is 106, and they will be broadcast in both 4K and HDR. (HDR stands for High Dynamic Range which can enhance the color and clarity of the 4K picture.)

Dish says Hopper 3 DVR subscribers can watch the games in 4K on channel 540, but it does not say if the games will be in HDR.

(Note: The tournament games will be produced and broadcast by CBS and Turner Sports.)

This will mark the first time that the March Madness tournament will be available in 4K on any pay TV service.

— Phillip Swann

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