TV Answer Man, when will ESPN say what’s the 4K game of the week for college football? Will it be the Baylor-BYU game? I bet a friend that it will be. — Mo, Big Spring, Texas.
Mo, ESPN this Saturday (September 10) will broadcast the BYU-Baylor college football game in 4K on participating pay TV services. (Mo, you win the bet!)
The sports network does one game per week in native 4K during the college football season. If you’re not familiar with the term, native 4K means that the game is produced in 4K on site as well as transmitted to the home in 4K. (In contrast, Fox produces a live sporting event in 1080p HD on site and then upscales it to 4K HDR for the home transmission. ESPN’s 4K games do not include HDR, also known as High Dynamic Range.)
The ESPN 4K broadcast will be available on special 4K channels from select pay TV providers, including DIRECTV, Verizon, Comcast and YouTube TV. (Unlike Fox, ESPN does not provide a 4K stream on its app, ESPN+.)
ESPN will simulcast the BYU-Baylor game, which begins at 10:15 p.m. ET on Saturday, in HD on the main ESPN channel.
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BYU, which is 1-0, enters the contest as the nation’s 25th ranked team and is a 3.5-point favorite, according to most oddsmakers. But Baylor, which is also 1-0, is the nation’s 10th ranked team.
ESPN’s ‘Matchup Predictor’ says Baylor has a 57.6 percent chance of winning. Baylor beat BYU, 38-24, in last year’s meeting between the two squads.
Have a question about new TV technologies? Send it to The TV Answer Man at swann@tvanswerman.com Please include your first name and hometown in your message.
— Phillip Swann
@tvanswerman
Well, that did it- football in 4K is enough to get me to sign back up for the 4K package. I did the $10/month trial for about 6 months last year but then cancelled it because YTTV 4K is mostly a ghost town. Live sports definitely makes it worth the money for me. Too bad they don’t have HDR…