By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man – @tvanswerman
The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup began yesterday (July 20) with the first match, New Zealand vs. Norway, at 3 a.m. ET. Peacock, which is streaming every game in Spanish, has posted a ‘4K’ label on its World Cup episode descriptions. However, the streamer, which has never offered live sports in 4K, has mistakenly placed that label before for USFL games.
But The TV Answer Man has learned that the World Cup 4K episode labels are not a mistake. Peacock is offering the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 4K, the first time it has ever offered live sports in the format.
“Can confirm that live World Cup matches are available in 4K on Peacock,” a NBC Sports spokesman, told us today.
This is great news for 4K enthusiasts. While the spokesman did not say if more sporting events will be in 4K, Peacock streams a myriad of live sports including Notre Dame football, golf, Sunday Night Football and Sunday morning Major League Baseball games. All would be great candidates for 4K broadcasts.
When I looked at the Peacock broadcast of the New Zealand-Norway game yesterday morning, and compared it to the Fox 4K feed, Peacock actually had a better picture. That doesn’t mean it’s in 4K, of course. As 4K fans know, the 4K picture quality can vary and Fox’s feed may have been sub-par yesterday morning. But the Peacock stream was sharper than normal with more vivid colors than a regular HD display.
Read this article for more information on Fox’s 4K broadcasts of the World Cup.
The Peacock 4K World Cup games are available in Spanish only and are the same broadcasts that can be seen in high-def on Telemundo and Universo. Here’s a World Cup schedule for Telemundo/Universo/Peacock.
Peacock, which is owned by NBC/Comcast, has plans starting at $5.99 a month. The ads-free package is $11.99 a month.
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
Could this be a trial before showing the English Premier League in 4k?
It was announced a while ago that Peacock would show EPL games in 4k in 2023 but nothing so far…
Who cares?
If they won’t shell out a few dollars to modernize their equipment at least allow us to buy the Sky Sports UK 4K feed of EPL games here in the USA