Sky kicks off first live 3D TV sports event

Sky’s coverage of the Arsenal v Manchester United game yesterday kicked off the first live 3D TV sporting event to be shown to a public audience.

The landmark 3D event was broadcast to viewers wearing dark glasses in nine pubs in London, Manchester, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Dublin that were equipped with 47 inch LG LD920 screens.

Eight camera positions were used to film the first live stereoscopic transmission, which was produced in parallel with the conventional coverage of the match.

The 3D coverage was supported by a dedicated commentary and production team from a purpose-built outside broadcast truck, according to reports.

Alan Parry, a commentator, said the event represented “a moment of television history”.  “I’m sure it will revolutionise the way we watch live sports,” he added.

Last year, Sky announced plans to offer 3D TV to pubs first, giving them a period of exclusivity ahead of other subscribers, in preparation for the launch of a dedicated Sky 3D channel in April.

The satellite broadcaster will roll out the new channel to hundreds of pubs across the UK from April onwards, broadcasting a live Premier League match in 3D every week.

Around 25 matches from the upcoming World Cup finals in South Africa will also be produced for the channel.

Sky 3D will be made available to all Sky HD customers once 3D-ready televisions sets are on the market.  Models are expected from LG, Panasonic, Samsung and Sony.

From now on, Sky also plans to offer a 3D Sky+ HD box as standard to all new and upgrading customers.  At the moment, Sky has more than 2 million Sky HD customers and the company is set to exceed its target of 10 million by the end of this year.

Jeremy Darroch, chief executive of Sky, said: “3D is without doubt one of the most talked-about developments in television for many years.  We fully intend to take the lead in bringing the spectacle of 3D to the UK and Ireland.”

Sky+HD added 482,000 users in Q4 2009, which is more than double the amount in the same period in 2008. In total, 2.08 million households now use Sky+HD services, which helped Sky increase its customer base by 172,000 to 9.7 million during the six-month period to the end of 2009.