Polsat TV will launch two new, regular, 24-hour premium sports channels – Polsat Sport Premium 1 and Polsat Sport Premium 2, available in the new Super HD quality and without any advertisements, and four additional premium television services, which will show UEFA Champions League and Europa League matches in the next three years. All sixteen matches of each round of the Champions League will be broadcast live starting from the new season.
All 1029 matches, 343 matches in each season, will be shown only in Polsat TV channels and services, which will be a true football feast for sports fans.
UEFA Champions League and Europa League in Polsat channels mean both, a new broadcaster as well as new attractive hours of the matches. Starting from the 2018/2019 season, the Champions League fans will for the first time be able to see more matches thanks to the new hours when the matches are played. During a match day the Champions League matches will be played at 6.55 p.m. and then at 9 p.m. (so far all the matches were played at one time, 8.45 p.m.). Thanks to this fans will no longer have the dilemma as to which of the parallel matches to watch – e.g. Real Madrid vs. Bayern Munich, or Barcelona vs. Manchester United. Europa League matches will be shown on Thursdays, as they have been so far, with matches starting at 6.55 p.m. and 9 p.m. Thanks to the launch of new premium channels and services, Polsat TV will be able to broadcast live all matches of each round (8 matches broadcast live on a match day, 16 matches in each round of the group stage).
UEFA Champions League and Europa League in Polsat TV channels:
- 2 regular, new Polsat Sport Premium channels and 4 additional live premium services launched during the time of matches, all of them without any advertisements,
- 1029 matches for three years, 343 matches each season,
- new kick-off times of matches in the Champions League: 6 matches at 9 p.m. and 2 matches at 6.55 p.m.,
- each match day means approx. 8 hours of live broadcast – including sports studio and matches,
- new quality of broadcasts – Super HD technology available in all Cyfrowy Polsat’s set-top-boxes will ensure better picture quality, rendering more details visible on the display.
“Our viewers and customers will be able to watch all matches live and will be able to watch more matches each day thanks to the new hours when the matches will be played – at 6.55 p.m. and 9 p.m. We have prepared a comprehensive offer – everyone will be able to watch matches at any time and at any place, in a way which is most convenient to him – on a satellite platform of Cyfrowy Polsat, in the Internet in IPLA web TV or on mobile devices in Plus network. Two new channels in a new Super HD quality, plus four premium services with matched broadcast live, some matches shown in 4K as a test – Polsat is preparing a true football feast for viewers and sports fans”, says Maciej Stec, Member of the Management Board of Polsat Television and Cyfrowy Polsat.
Super HD technology
Super HD technology, in which two new, regular Polsat Sport Premium 1 and Polsat Sport Premium 2 channels will broadcast all content, will ensure even better picture quality – thanks to the introduction of the twice as high bandwidth. It is a viewer-friendly technology, because it does not require replacement of a TV set or STB with devices other than those supporting HD. All subscribers of Cyfrowy Polsat, who have had HD set-top-boxes for years, will be able to watch new channels in Super HD quality.
“Super HD, unlike 4K, is a standard already available to all users or our set-top-boxes. 4K content is still not widespread, and broadcasts in Super HD do not require replacement of equipment at home. Super HD becomes a standard e.g. in Italy and we are convinced that Polish fans will appreciate a much better picture quality”, says Dariusz Działkowski, Member of the Management Board of Polsat Television and Member of the Management Board of Cyfrowy Polsat for Technology.
Super HD quality requires a bigger bandwidth, but it ensures better picture quality, rendering more details visible on the display. Thanks to maintaining high parameters of the source signal, a special setting of compression parameters and a bigger transmission bandwidth, the viewer receives better picture parameters.
Where to watch?
Polsat Group has acquired, for Polish fans, exclusive rights for showing the Champions League and Europa League matches across all distribution channels, including TV, the Internet and mobile devices. This means that the new football competition will be available both to the subscribers of Cyfrowy Polsat, customers of Plus network as well as users of IPA web TV. Detailed offers will be presented in the forthcoming weeks.
Extensive experience of Polsat TV in showing football events
Polsat TV has an extensive experience in broadcasting of most important football events, which will be definitely reflected in the technical execution of the new competition starting from 2018/2019 season. For many years Polsat TV was showing UEFA Champions League matches in Poland – in the years 2001-2006 and 2009-2012, as well as UEFA Europa League in the seasons 2009-2012. Polsat TV also has rich experience in showing, to Polish fans, the major football events where our national team plays – the fans could have so far watched in Polsat TV such events as the 2002 FIFA World Cup tournament played in South Korea and Japan as well as the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. Moreover Polsat showed the 2008 European Championship in Austria and Switzerland, and the most recent 2016 Euro in France which was fantastic for the Polish national team. Polsat Group has successfully executed a unique and comprehensive UEFA Euro 2016 project. For the first time, broadcasts of matches in the main, open channel – Polsat, were combined with special, 24-hour paid channels Polsat Sport 2 and Polsat Sport 3, which broadcast live all 51 matches, without advertisements and in HD quality. Within 30 days of UEFA Euro 2016, over 200 hours of live broadcast were aired. Such a strategy enabled the Group to achieve a great success, both in sales, operational and financial terms. The most recent U21 UEFA Euro 2017 tournament, which was played in Poland, also enjoyed high interest.
