TV Answer Man, I see on the Xfinity customer message boards that Comcast will have Notre Dame football games in 4K this season! That is exciting although I don’t know why they haven’t had them in 4K before. They own NBC, right? – Dave, Boston. 

Dave, you need to curb your enthusiasm. Let me explain.

NBC recently confirmed to the TV Answer Man that it will again offer Notre Dame home football games in 4K during the 2022 season. NBC has provided home Notre Dame games in 4K for several years, but you can’t take anything for granted these days with the networks trimming costs in advance of a possible economic recession.

And as for where you can watch the six Notre Dame games in 4K, DIRECTV and YouTube TV last year were the only pay TV services to offer them in the format and they are likely to do so again this year.

The two services aired the games in 4K on special 4K channels. Unlike Fox, NBC does not provide a 4K feed of live sporting events on its streaming app so there is no other way to watch the games in 4K besides watching them on a pay TV service. (Peacock, which is owned by NBC, recently began adding 4K titles to its catalog but has yet to do any live sports in the format.)

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Although it has broadcast Notre Dame games in 4K in past years, Comcast last year did not provide the Fighting Irish’s home contests in 4K. The omission was particularly strange since Comcast actually owns NBC, the network doing the broadcast.  In fact, Comcast in 2019 even produced commercials boasting that its viewers can watch Notre Dame college football in 4K.

The cable operator did not offer a reason for the sudden omission last year when asked by The TV Answer Man.

A reader told me about a recent Comcast employee message on an Xfinity customer message board that suggests that the cable op will air Notre Dame games in 4K this season. So I asked a Comcast spokesperson whether that was true.

Her response: “We are not planning to offer NBC’s coverage of Notre Dame games in 4k this year.”

Once again, the spokesperson did not provide an explanation for the decision.

Sorry, Dave. Wish I had better news.

But happy viewing and stay safe!

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— Phillip Swann
@tvanswerman