NBC made a historic announcement in regards to their coverage of the upcoming Winter Games. For the first time ever, NBC Sports will provide live coverage of the Winter Olympics primetime and Prime Plus shows in 4K Ultra High Definition (UHD) format with High Dynamic Range (HDR) and ATMOS sound in certain markets. NBC’s primetime coverage of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies will also be presented in 4K HDR.
“The Winter Olympics provide some of the most amazing moments and stunning visuals in the world of sports,” said Gary Zenkel, President, NBC Olympics. “We’re excited to once again bring the American audience closer to all of the incredible action with our live primetime and Prime Plus shows utilizing this remarkable 4K HDR technology.”
The Prime Plus shows will air following the late local news in most markets and NBCUniversal will distribute 4K HDR coverage to their U.S. distribution partners.
Ultimately, the distribution partners will choose how the content will be available to the consumers. This comes after YouTube TV announced that they will be streaming the 2022 Winter Olympics in 4K.
Below are the specs of NBC’s coverage from the press release:
NBC Sports’ 4K UHD programming provides pictures in ultra-high resolution (3,840 x 2,160 pixels) that is four times that of current HD (1,920 x 1,080 pixels), High Dynamic Range (HDR), which produces wider contrast and richer range of colors, and Dolby ATMOS, which provides a fully immersive overhead surround sound experience.
NBC has been pulling out all of the stops for the upcoming XXIV Olympic Winter Games. Comcast NBCUniversal is partnering up with Army & Air Force Exchange Service to give veterans and service members worldwide access to stream the games for free. Streaming service Peacock premiered three Olympic documentaries ahead of this year’s games.
The 2022 Olympic Winter Games will take place from Wednesday, February 2 to Sunday, February 20 from Beijing.