{"id":95835,"date":"2025-10-23T05:56:06","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T05:56:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/95835\/"},"modified":"2025-10-23T05:56:06","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T05:56:06","slug":"sky-makes-4k-streaming-move-for-kiwi-sport-fans-heres-what-we-know-tech-insider","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/95835\/","title":{"rendered":"Sky makes 4K streaming move for Kiwi sport fans \u2013 here\u2019s what we know: Tech Insider"},"content":{"rendered":"

No on-demand content will be available in 4K.<\/p>\n

Sky Sport Now annual pass holders will get the 4K stream at no additional cost.<\/p>\n

Sky\u2019s commercial customers like pubs and gyms will get 4K at no additional cost if they have the new Sky Box or Sky Pod.<\/p>\n

Neon: No word<\/p>\n

Sky has no timeline for offering 4K for its Neon, HBO or any of its other entertainment offerings.<\/p>\n

What you\u2019ll need<\/p>\n

To watch 4K, you\u2019ll need an unlimited data plan for streaming (standard for most urban connections) and ideally fibre rather than fixed wireless. You\u2019ll also need a TV capable of displaying 4K quality pictures. The first 4K TVs came out more than a decade ago and the technology has featured almost all models – even the most budget sets – for a good five years. Manufacturers are now releasing the first 8K models.<\/p>\n

The bigger your TV, the more obvious the boost in picture quality to 4K.<\/p>\n

Sky satellite customers will also need the new Sky Box or Sky Pod. Older decoders don\u2019t support 4K.<\/p>\n

Sky is offering a one-month free trial for its new 4K UHD Premium Month Pass so Sky Sport Now users can see if it works with their setup.<\/p>\n

For the big streamers, it\u2019s old news<\/p>\n

Netflix first offered 4K content in 2013 \u2013 although you have to subscribe to its $33.99 Premium monthly plan to access it (4K is missing from its $25.99 Standard plan).<\/p>\n

4K has also been standard on Disney+, Amazon Prime Video and other international streamers available in New Zealand for years. while locals who don\u2019t enjoy the same economies of scale, including Sky, TVNZ and Three, have been stuck on standard HD.<\/p>\n

A Sky spokeswoman said the technical complexity of the upgrade meant it had taken an extended period to implement.<\/p>\n

\"ReadyReady for his ultra high definition close-up? All Blacks coach Scott Robertson. Photo \/ Mark Mitchell<\/p>\n

Local rugby in 4K plans<\/p>\n

Sky chief customer officer Nikki Goodman said: \u201cKiwi sports fans are passionate and discerning, so we\u2019re proud to be delivering them an immersive viewing experience with 4K UHD. Our investment in UHD means fans can look forward to enjoying the drama of the Ashes and Australian Open in sharper detail and richer colour.\u201d<\/p>\n

While only two events are confirmed for 4K so far, a Sky spokeswoman said more ultra-high definition content will be announced shortly. (Overseas, many events are now shot in 4K. Japanese broadcaster NHK even ran a limited 8K trial with its Paris Olympics coverage.)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe intend to have English Premier League 4K UHD coverage up and running later in the current season,\u201d the Sky spokeswoman said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll be progressively introducing more 4K UHD content to ensure we get the experience right for our customers.<\/p>\n

\u201cLocally-produced content will be at the heart of our 4K UHD coverage. We will share more details on this in due course, but you can expect to see rugby, league and football featuring.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 4K upgrade is accommodated within Sky\u2019s existing cap-ex guidance, the spokeswoman said.<\/p>\n

Confirmed sports content in 4K UHD<\/p>\n

The 2025\u201326 Ashes series between Australia and England will feature five Test matches which will be broadcast live in 4K UHD on Sky Sport 1 UHD:<\/p>\n

The Ashes<\/p>\n

1st test: November 21-25, 20252nd test: December 4-8, 20253rd test: December 17-21, 20254th test (Boxing Day test): December 26-30, 20255th test (New Year\u2019s test): January 4-8, 2026<\/p>\n

The 2026 Australian Open <\/p>\n

January 12-Februry 1, 2026<\/p>\n

Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald\u2019s business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"No on-demand content will be available in 4K. Sky Sport Now annual pass holders will get the 4K…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":95836,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[25160,9516,13801,9517,5071,9872,2082,3011,8455,26098,2959,2936,194,6036,5338,2683,70973,111,139,69,8617,1319,4993,8861,2022,213,1177,3291,370,1361,14005,1865,70974,7188,416,3270,6923],"class_list":["post-95835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-4k","tag-broadcaster","tag-definition","tag-fans","tag-feature","tag-finally","tag-for","tag-four","tag-getting","tag-heres","tag-high","tag-insider","tag-kiwi","tag-know","tag-makes","tag-move","tag-muchrequested","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-offers","tag-picture","tag-quality","tag-sky","tag-sport","tag-sports","tag-standard","tag-streaming","tag-tech","tag-that","tag-times","tag-today","tag-ultrahighdefinition","tag-uses","tag-video","tag-we","tag-what"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95835"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95835\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}