NESN Becomes First U.S. RSN to Broadcast MLB Games in 4K HDR With All Red Sox Home Games

DIRECTV, fuboTV and Verizon Fios to carry NESN's 4K HDR broadcasts

NESN announced that all home Red Sox games will be broadcast in native UHD HDR beginning tonight for viewers on DIRECTV and Verizon Fios and coming soon for fuboTV customers. The 4K HDR schedule will feature all home game matchups for the remainder of the season. These games mark the first time that an RSN in the U.S. is broadcasting MLB games in native 4K HDR. Stay tuned to sportsvideo.org for more in-depth coverage of NESN’s 4K HDR production workflows in the coming weeks. 

In preparation for its 4K HDR Red Sox broadcasts NESN launched a new 4K HDR-capable studio at its headquarters in Watertown, MA, in January.

“We are proud of our history of innovation and excited to be the first RSN in the country to produce home games in native 4K HDR,” says Sean McGrail, NESN President and CEO.  “With the introduction of 4K HDR, Red Sox fans will be able to experience the game in stunning clarity and color and have an unprecedented view of the action.”  

“We’ve been planning for this achievement for several years,” says Kenny Elcock, NESN VP of Engineering. “This is no small feat, but rather a technical marvel.  It’s been fantastic working with Game Creek Video, Imagine Communications, Lumen, Programming Production, Inc. (PPI) and The Switch.”  

In preparation for its 4K HDR Red Sox broadcasts NESN launched a new 4K HDR-capable studio at its headquarters in Watertown, MA, in January.

Recently, NESN moved all satellite transmission to fiber and IP transmission in order to better position the network for 4K capabilities. In addition, NESN upgraded and completely renovated its state-of-the-art pre and postgame studio, Salem Five Studio, to be fully 4K HDR compatible. 

The network was the first regional sports network to fully automate studio production in 2015 and the first to deliver all professional MLB and NHL games in HD. 

DIRECTV, fuboTV and Verizon Fios will be broadcasting NESN’s 4K HDR telecasts on new specific channels. DIRECTV’s 4K channel will be channel 105 to 108 and Verizon Fios 4K channel will be channel 1494. For more information on the 4K HDR distributors and how to access the games, visit www.NESN.com/4K.