YouTube TV: Michigan-Washington Championship Game Will Be In 4K

By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man –Follow on Facebook & X.
Former Sony employee and editor of 4 TV magazines.

YouTube TV has just posted a notice that it will offer the college football championship game between Washington and Michigan in 4K on January 8 at 7:30 p.m. ET.

ESPN, which is broadcasting the game, has yet to confirm that it will be available in 4K but it’s rare for a pay TV provider’s 4K listings to be wrong, although not unprecedented.

The YouTube TV listing says the game will be available in Skycam 4K, which is a single camera system suspended over the field and controlled by a computer. The regular broadcast, which includes multiple cameras, will air on ESPN in high-def.

In the last several years, ESPN has provided the championship game in 4K as part of its MegaCast broadcast which includes different angles and perspectives on different channels.

But the use of the Skycam for the 4K feed is somewhat controversial. Some fans love it because it can create the feeling of being close to the field. But others would prefer the regular ESPN broadcast being available in 4K because it provides more coverage and camera angles.

What’s also unclear is whether the Skycam 4K will be ‘native 4K’ or upscaled 4K. The ‘native 4K’ broadcast would be produced and aired in 4K rather than ‘upconverted’ from HD to the format. The upscaled 4K would mean that the game was produced in 1080p HD on site and upgraded to 4K for the home transmission. ESPN did some 2023 college football regular season games in upscaled 4K after offering games in native 4K in previous seasons.

The TV Answer Man will provide more details about the 4K broadcast as they become available.

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The TV Answer Man is veteran journalist Phillip Swann who has covered the TV technology scene for more than three decades. He will report on the latest news and answer your questions regarding new devices and services that are changing the way you watch television. See the bio for Phillip Swann here.