James R | On 03, Jul 2018

Virgin Media and Sky will be joining BBC iPlayer and Sky in showing this year’s Wimbledon finals in 4K.

In a packed summer of sport, BBC iPlayer has led the way into the Ultra HD arena, streaming the BBC One World Cup matches in Ultra HD for the first time on a trial basis. While it will continue to do the same for Centre Court matches at Wimbledon 2018, Virgin has also announced that it will also be making the final stages of the tennis available to watch on 4K for UK TV viewers through Eurosport.

Virgin TV customers with a V6 TV box will be able to watch both finals in Ultra High Definition. Customers can watch the Ladies’ and Gentlemen’s finals at no extra charge through the TV home page or for Full House subscribers by pressing the red button on the Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2 HD (Virgin Media channels 521 and 522).

Customers will, of course, need a compatible 4K TV and a V6 box, although HDR will not be supported through the cable broadcast. Customers with an HDR capable TV will be able to stream 4K HDR Wimbledon coverage through the V6 box’s BBC iPlayer app.

This is the latest sport offering in 4K UHD for Virgin TV customers following the broadcast of Roland Garros, also on Eurosport, as well as this year’s Champions League Final on BT Sport. Virgin Media is also currently trialling the BBC’s 4K Ultra HD World Cup stream.

David Bouchier, Chief Digital Entertainment Officer at Virgin Media, says: “With ultrafast broadband speeds alongside our incredible V6 box, we are serving up an ace combination for our customers with Eurosport. Virgin TV customers can look forward to more top-quality 4K programming later this year.”

James Gibbons EVP, General Manager of UK / Ireland, Australia & New Zealand and Head of Commercial Development for EMEA, Discovery, adds: “Wimbledon is one of the great sporting events of the year, and we’re thrilled to have partnered with Virgin to offer customers both finals in Ultra HD 4K. As the number one sport destination in Europe we connect passionate fans with their favourite sports, and this tennis season Eurosport is the best place to enjoy the action.”

Sky will be offering 4K coverage of Wimbledon too, with Sky Q offering the semi-finals and finals of the tournament in Ultra HD as part of the BBC’s trial – via the red button on BBC One and BBC Two. This will be broadcast over Sky’s satellite service, which means HDR will not be supported.

The Championships from Wimbledon began on Monday 2nd July and conclude on Sunday 15th July. Eurosport will be showing daily highlights from the All England Tennis Club for the duration of the tournament and will show the Gentlemen’s and Ladies’ semi-finals and finals live. The BBC will be providing extensive coverage of all matches live across TV and BBC iPlayer throughout the tournament.

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