Tokyo Olympics in 4K: Seven network partners with Optus 5G and Fetch for ultimate viewing experience

If you’ve got a nice big 4K TV and you love your sport, there’s something special coming in July and August 2020 – the Tokyo Olympics in 4K.

Aussie TV rights holder the Seven Network have done a deal to create a 4K Olympic Channel for the duration of the games – but there’s a catch.

You have to be an Optus 5G Home Broadband customer, and you can only watch it with the Fetch Mighty box.

Now, the Fetch Mighty isn’t an issue – great entertainment box, loads of content, why wouldn’t you want one.

However, to be an Optus 5G Home Broadband customer you need to be in one of the limited 5G coverage areas (granted Optus has the best coverage so far, and that will only grow between now and then), and you need to use their 5G Home Broadband.

Put simply, that means if you have the NBN with Optus, even if it’s the “rolled gold” Fibre to the Home – you can’t get the 4K Olympic Channel.

A bit limiting.

Optus’ Innovation Guru Clive Dickens told EFTM recently this very focussed delivery channel gave Optus the ability to completely control the broadcast, and while the NBN is fast, there are parts of the delivery that occur outside of Optus’ control – and we don’t want another World Cup debacle do we?

So it’s a smart move when you take that into consideration.

Seven West Media Chief Revenue Officer, Kurt Burnette, said: “This will be the most-watched Olympics and the biggest digital event in Australian streaming history.”

“Seven’s coverage of the Olympics will be unprecedented, and with time zones differing by only one-hour, Tokyo 2020 will feel like a home Games for Australians.

“As our Australian athletes go for gold, Seven will be supporting them every step of the way, and through an exclusive partnership with Optus we will be able to deliver live event coverage in 4K Ultra HD exclusively to Optus 5G Home customers with Fetch Mighty set top boxes.”

Optus’ Clive Dickens, said: “A partnership with Seven will allow us to showcase the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 in 4K Ultra HD for the first time over a 5G network in Australia to Fetch Mighty customers.”

“This exclusive partnership is another element of our 5G ‘Video Experience Network’ which will allow us to ensure end-to-end delivery of 4K Ultra HD Video content to exclusive Optus customers.

“Australian’s appetite for 4K Ultra HD Video content is growing with anticipation following the launch of Optus 5G and we continue to work with premium Video On Demand content partners to build out their 4K Ultra HD offerings.”

Fetch CEO, Scott Lorson, said: “Australians love their sport, and many have invested heavily in-home theatre systems to ensure the biggest and best possible viewing experience. The Olympic Games represent the pinnacle in sports viewing, and Seven is set to provide unprecedented access during the 3 weeks of the Olympic Games.”

“As a result of this partnership, Optus subscribers with a Fetch Mighty will be in for a special treat, with access for the first time ever to a 4K Ultra HD channel streaming Seven’s coverage of the Olympics. We are delighted to work with Optus and Seven on this ground-breaking initiative.”

EFTM has reached out to Optus to see if we can get a list of suburbs where 5G should be enabled by the time of the Tokyo Olympics – we’ll update you if we get that information back.