Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Audio / Video
  3. News

Fox Sports’ Thursday Night Football goes 4K HDR for the first time

By

It’s been a little over a year since Fox Sports grabbed the coveted Thursday Night Football broadcast rights from CBS and NBC, and now Fox has announced it will do something neither of those companies did when they had them: Make the weekly NFL matchup available in 4K UHD with HDR.

To see the games in this format, you’ll need the Fox Sports or Fox Now apps running on an Apple TV 4K, or on select Roku devices that are 4K-capable. However, if you’re a cable or satellite subscriber, you might be able to tune in on your existing set-top box: The 4K broadcast is available through Fox Sports distributors, including DirecTV, Altice Optimum, Comcast Xfinity, Verizon Fios, and TVision. Finally, if you’re a FuboTV subscriber, you can watch the coverage via that service too, as long as your chosen streaming device and screen can handle 4K and HDR.

Recommended Videos

Other options to watch these games include NFL digital properties, and on mobile via Yahoo Sports and other Verizon Media properties. Fox Thursday Night Football games will also be available to stream on Amazon via Prime Video and Twitch, in addition to NFL, Fox, and Fox Deportes digital properties across devices.

Interestingly, despite the fact that these games will be broadcast in 4K, it may not be quite as crisp as other 4K content you’ve watched in the past, like movies or TV shows. The press release on Fox Sports’ website says: “Technical specifications for the authenticated broadcast: Producing in 1080p/High Dynamic Range (HDR) and upconverting to 4K/HDR.” This means that even though the broadcast is in 4K, it won’t be captured using 4K gear. Instead, Fox Sports will be using broadcast-grade equipment to upconvert a Full HD (1080p) signal to 4K resolution. Still, the fact that these games will be shown in HDR will probably have a bigger impact on the quality of the image than the resolution, assuming you have an HDR TV. With HDR’s greater brightness, contrast, and color-accuracy, these games will be eye-catching.

The 4K broadcasts begin on September 26, with the Philadelphia Eagles at the Green Bay Packers.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Simon Cohen
Simon Cohen
Contributing Editor, A/V
Simon Cohen covers a variety of consumer technologies, but has a special interest in audio and video products, like spatial…
Hands-on with the Belkin iPhone Mount with MagSafe for Apple TV 4K
The Belkin iPhone Mount with MagSafe for Apple TV 4K.

The Belkin iPhone Mount with MagSafe for Apple TV 4K perched atop an extremely thin OLED television. Phil Nickinson / Digital Trends

The Belkin iPhone Mount with MagSafe for Apple TV 4K is one mouthful of an official name. What it does is much more simple. It is a mount for your iPhone to be used with an Apple TV 4K. And it has MagSafe to keep the phone in place. That's it.

Read more
Belkin drops a $50 mount for iPhone video calls on Apple TV 4K
The Belkin iPhone Mount with MagSafe for Apple TV 4K.

We've previously written that the addition of FaceTime and Continuity Camera to Apple TV 4K is a perfect excuse to have some sort of tripod for your iPhone in the living room. Belkin just took that idea and made it a little easier (and less expensive than our idea).

Enter the appropriately named iPhone Mount with MagSafe for Apple TV 4K. Retailing for just under $50, it's ... well, it's a MagSafe iPhone mount to use in conjunction with video calls on your Apple TV 4K. No cables required. No power needed. Just a simple way to position your iPhone to use when on FaceTime, Zoom, Webex, or the "Sing" feature on Apple Music.

Read more
If you don’t see CBS in 4K on YouTube TV, try this
Super Bowl in 4K on CBS on YouTube TV.

A quick heads up if you have the 4K add-on for YouTube TV but aren't seeing the option to watch Super Bowl 2024 in 4K on CBS: It's likely because you're using a custom sort on your live channel listings. (Which is something you might have done if you want to hide YouTube TV channels that you never watch.) That'a bad enough for the game itself, and it also means you won't be able to enjoy the Super Bowl Halftime Show in 4K.

This is a known problem — and has been for years — anytime YouTube TV adds a new channel to the listing. If you're not using the default sort on the live channel listings, a new channel will appear at the bottom of the listings, which is bad enough. But worse is that it's hidden by default until you actively go in and unhide it.

Read more