SES Video and InDemand are teaming to offer a 4K feed of the first Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) set for June 2 at 9 p.m. from the Cheyenne Ice Events Center in Wyoming.
SES said the 4K event, produced by Multivision Media, will be available nationally to cable and IPTV service providers that are signed on for its pre-packaged 4K offering.
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Based on those partners, the following MVPDs would be eligible to provide the 4K feed of the bare-knuckle PPV card: Armstrong Utilities, Aureon Network Services, Dish Network, enTouch Systems, EPG Chattanooga, Foothills Communications, Guadalupe Valley (GVTC), Highlands Cable Group, Hotwire Communications, Jackson Energy Authority, KPU Telecommunications, Sjoberg’s Cable TV, Buckeye Broadband, Margaretville Telephony Company, Marquette Adams, Midco, Midwest Video Solutions, Oneida Cablevision, Service Electric Cable TV, Skitter Inc., Wherever TV, and WideOpenWest. Verizon Fios and Frontier Communications are also testing 4K TV with SES.
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SES didn’t announce which MVPDs are on board for tomorrow’s 4K offering, but noted that the 4K version of the event will be delivered on the SES Events channel, one in a lineup that is hosted on the SES Ultra HD platform. SES has used that channel to deliver other sporting events in 4K, including Bellator: Sonnen vs. Silva Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) and select coverage of the 2018 Winter Olympic Games from PyeongChang.
“The SES Events channel is readily available for live events to virtually every Pay TV operator across North America,” Steve Corda, VP of media platforms, SES Video in North America, said in a statement.
Brian Ricco, executive producer for MultiVision Media, told Multichannel News R. Thomas Umstead that all major cable distributors, as well as DirecTV and Dish Network, will offer the event. “This is not an underground event; this is going to be in big arenas featuring full-blown productions,” he told Umstead.
The BKFC’s first card, featuring 12 bouts, is retailing for $29.99. SES has been asked if the 4K version of the PPV event will be offered for the same price.
“Events like the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship are immersive building blocks toward an exciting future in Ultra HD television,” noted John Schultz, VP of broadcast operations for InDemand, which is co-owned by Comcast, Charter Communications, and Cox Communications.
Other channels in SES’s pre-packaged Ultra HD lineup include Fashion One 4K, NASA TV UHD, 4K Universe, Insight TV, C4K360, Funbox UHD, Travelxp 4K, Nature Relaxation 4K, The Country Network, UHD1, and the SES 4K channel (a developmental incubator for emerging content producers).
