Fox Sports Will Produce Super Bowl LIV In 1080p HDR, While Offering a UHD Stream to Viewers

Fox Sports’ Kevin Callahan and Mike Davies shared their plans for The Big Game at the 2019 SVG Summit

Fox Sports announced at this week’s SVG Summit that the network will produce all its coverage of Super Bowl LIV (Feb. 2, in Miami) in 1080p HDR (high dynamic range), while also offering an upconverted UHD (ultra-high-definition) stream to viewers.

Fox Sports SVP, Field and Technical Operations, Mike Davies and Director, Technical Operations, Kevin Callahan shared that the entire production — game, halftime show, and all surrounding onsite studio programming (pregame and postgame) — will be produced in the next-gen format. The duo explained that upwards of 20 high-frame-rate cameras will be deployed at Hard Rock Stadium to meet the needs of this production.

Live 1080p HDR shows (upconverted to UHD for distribution) are nothing new for Fox Sports. The broadcaster has produced its full Thursday Night Football package in the format this season. A similar workflow was deployed for the 2019 American League Championship Series; however, only the game was produced in 1080p HDR, while surrounding studio programming remained in HD.

So if all of this content is going to be made available to viewers in 4K, why wouldn’t Fox Sports produce the show end-to-end in 4K? Davies explains:

Watch the full conversation from the SVG Summit previewing Fox Sports√ production of Super Bowl LIV:

For more video and audio content from the 2019 SVG Summit, continue to visit SVG On Demand in the coming days.