TORONTO – Rogers officially announced “the next big thing in home entertainment” Monday with the launch of 4K ready gigabit internet speeds, a new 4K set top box, Rogers 4K TV and a big commitment to live sports broadcasting in 4K high dynamic range (HDR) technology.
At a press event at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, the communications giant said that its new Rogers Ignite Gigabit internet will start to roll out this year in the city's downtown and the Greater Toronto Area, including Vaughan, Markham, Richmond Hill, Pickering, Ajax, and Whitby. By the end of 2016, the service will be available to its entire cable footprint across Ontario and Atlantic Canada, some four million homes.
Rogers also committed to broadcasting over 100 live events in 4K, including every Toronto Blue Jays 2016 season home games and more than 20 NHL games starting with the Montreal Canadiens versus Toronto Maple Leafs matchup on January 23, 2016.
A new partnership with Netflix will deliver over 100 hours of 4K movies, series and TV shows to streaming service shomi, and result in Netflix being available on select cable set top boxes and Android devices from Rogers.
Rogers 4K TV, 4K set top box and Rogers Ignite Gigabit internet with unlimited usage is priced at $149.99.
“4K TV sets have been in the market for some time and 40 per cent of all TV sales are likely to be 4K this holiday season. However, until now live TV broadcasts in 4K have been few and far between and customers have not been able to get 4K set top boxes,” said Rogers Communications president and CEO Guy Laurence (pictured), in the announcement. “We are solving both problems in one go with the world’s largest commitment to 4K broadcasting and a new 4K set top box for customers that will allow customers to see sports and entertainment in the highest resolution and with the fastest internet speeds. 4K gets you closer to the action than the linesman and first base coach, and HDR brings those images to life with intense colour and contrast.”
