RTVE announces at the 4K HDR Summit that it will broadcast the 2026 World Cup in Ultra High Definition

• The public broadcaster announced that it will broadcast the World Cup in the United States, Benidorm Fest 2026 and the semi-finals and final of the Copa del Rey football tournament in UHD during the opening day of the eleventh edition of the 4K HDR Summit in Seville, which brings together leaders and experts from the audiovisual sector from more than 22 countries in the Andalusian capital.
• The 4K HDR Summit 2025 opened its doors in Seville with the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Service, RTVE, RTVA, SES, UHD Spain and an emotional posthumous tribute to Ricardo Medina and José Manuel Menéndez, two key figures in the promotion of Ultra High Definition in Spain.
• This Wednesday, 12 November, the second day of the event will be held in person with the participation of Google Cloud, Olympic Channel Services, UHD World Association, France Télévisions, Rai and UltraHD Forum Italia, among other prominent companies. In addition, Sevilla FC will present its new project, Sevilla FC+.

Since February 2024, TVE’s La 1 became the first DTT channel in the world to begin regular broadcasts in UHD, thus making Spain a world leader in broadcasting with this technology, the public broadcaster has continued to promote Ultra High Definition with a clear commitment to broadcasting content via Digital Terrestrial Television in the highest quality, free-to-air and free of charge.

RTVE will go one step further and broadcast the 2026 World Cup, to be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico, entirely in Ultra High Definition. This was announced by Adriana Vázquez, Director of Production and Media at RTVE, during the opening day of the 4K HDR Summit in Seville, which is being held from 11 to 14 November with two face-to-face days at the Cartuja Auditorium -managed by Yventu- at Seville TechPark (Tuesday 11 and Wednesday 12) and two virtual days (Thursday 13th and Friday 14th). This will be followed by Benidorm Fest 2026 and some Copa del Rey football matches, including the final and semi-finals, which will be broadcast in UHD on TVE’s La 1 channel. “UHD is not just an improvement in image and sound, but an audiovisual experience that RTVE cannot afford to be left out of,” said the executive.

From left to right, Javier Sánchez, Director of Audiovisual Policy and Public Service at RTVE; Adriana Vázquez, Director of Production and Media at RTVE; and Jesús García, Technical Director at TVE.

She was joined by Javier Sánchez, Director of Audiovisual Policy and Public Service at RTVE, who defended the promotion of Digital Terrestrial Television in Spain: “If we switch off DTT in Spain, the audiovisual sector would not survive in our country. Without DTT, we lose the ability to reach citizens in a comprehensive manner.” For his part, Jesús García, Technical Director at TVE, reviewed where we are and where we are going from a more technical point of view.

Juanma Blanco Poley, Director of Canal Sur Media, spoke about the commitment of CanalSur Más, Canal Sur Televisión’s on-demand television platform, and the experience with FAST (Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV) channels, which “allow for linear digital programming.” This service is booming in Spain, as “more than 75% of users access free content with advertising.”

Juanma Blanco Poley, Director of Canal Sur Media.

New National Technical Plan for DTT

The first day of the 4K HDR Summit 2025 was opened by Matías González, Secretary General of Telecommunications, Digital Infrastructure and Digital Security at the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Administration, who highlighted “the importance of radio and television as vital elements for public safety”. “We are working on the resilience of technologies because we believe that we can improve aspects and find solutions that allow us to act better in critical situations,” he said before detailing part of the New National Technical Plan for DTT.

Matías González, Secretary General for Telecommunications, Digital Infrastructure and Digital Security at the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Administration.

Álvaro Pimentel, Deputy Mayor of Seville City Council, welcomed everyone to the city and pointed out that “Seville brings together research, talent, the university, industry and the political will to make it a leading centre of innovation in southern Europe“. For his part, Luis Pérez, Director General of Sevilla TechPark, added that “technology parks such as Sevilla TechPark are ecosystems of innovation that enable talent to be retained”. Juande Mellado, Director General of RTVA, highlighted that the Andalusian public broadcaster “places innovation at the centre of decision-making”. For his part, Víctor Sánchez, as president of UHD Spain, announced that “the association’s major project for 2026 will be to present content so that the population can really understand what Ultra High Definition is.”

Víctor Sánchez, President of UHD Spain.

Julia Criado, Deputy Director of Radio Spectrum Planning and Management at the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Administration, spoke about the new National Technical Plan for Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT), which she described as “key” in the transition to UHD, the evolution of DTT towards DVB-T2/UHD, as well as new spectrum opportunities for the audiovisual sector: “The leap to UHD/HDR is not just about more pixels, but better dynamic range and colour equates to greater perceived value in premium content,” said the ministry representative, who detailed the conditions of the open competition launched by the Ministry to award a new licence.

Julia Criado, Deputy Director of Radio Spectrum Planning and Management at the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Administration.

Emotional tribute to Ricardo Medina and José Manuel Menéndez

The opening day featured an emotional posthumous tribute to Ricardo Medina and José Manuel Menéndez. UHD Spain recognised the work of two key figures in the promotion of Ultra High Definition in Spain, who were remembered by colleagues from the association that Ricardo Medina himself had promoted in 2021. Their two daughters, María Medina, Managing Director of Medina Media Events and Executive Director of Medina Media Global, and Sonsoles Medina, Director of Operations at Medina Media Global, accompanied by Rossana Rompato, Managing Director of Medina Media, received a plaque in their honour after watching a moving video.

From left to right, Rossana Rompato, Managing Director of Medina Media; María Medina, Managing Director of Medina Media Events and Executive Director of Medina Media Global; and Sonsoles Medina, Director of Operations at Medina Media Global.

The former president of UHD Spain, Pere Vila, dedicated some emotional words to the memory of José Manuel Menéndez, professor at the UPM and director of the RTVE-UPM Chair, while Miguel Ángel Cristóbal, member of the Board of Directors of UHD Spain, collected the plaque on behalf of the professor.

Premiere presentation of UHD Spain

Xavi Redón, vice-president of UHD Spain, presented the results of a market study on viewers’ knowledge, understanding and perception of UHD in Spain, carried out in 2025, which shows that “the concept of UHD causes confusion” among users, for whom “the concept of 4K (75% of those surveyed) is the best known“. He concluded that “65% of respondents have their sofa less than 3 metres from a 44″ or larger television, which means they have a good environment and good conditions for enjoying UHD“.

From left to right, Pedro Espina, Technical Director of RTVA; Amaya Remón, Deputy Director of Engineering at EiTB; Xavi Redón, Vice-President of UHD Spain; Sara González, Director of Technological Support at Televisión de Galicia; and José María Casaos, Technical Director at Telemadrid.

The Vice-President of UHD Spain moderated the panel ‘UHD comes to Spanish regional television stations’, which discussed how television stations such as Canal Sur, EiTB, Televisión de Galicia and Telemadrid are facing the future of UHD television, the first simulcast broadcasts and the technical challenges that exist with this technology. Pedro Espina, Technical Director of RTVA, lamented the lack of resources and spectrum that prevent greater deployment of UHD. Amaya Remón, Deputy Director of Engineering at EiTB, a channel that broadcasts in UHD via HbbTV, advocated “having the entire value chain ready for when the spectrum opens up”. For her part, Sara González, Director of Technological Support at Televisión de Galicia, the only regional broadcaster that simulcasts in UHD via DTT, added “the complexity of maintaining simulcast”. Finally, José María Casaos, Technical Director at Telemadrid, pointed out that, without underestimating UHD, the idea of Madrid’s regional television “is to produce native HDR content, which is also complex, but not as much as 4K in terms of resources”.

Michele Gosetti Di Sturmeck, VP, Sports & Events & New Media at SES, shared the company’s latest innovations in satellite distribution and new audiovisual services, including ASTRATV, a proposal that makes all the main national DTT channels available to everyone: “With satellite, we have the opportunity to provide a signal similar to that enjoyed with DTT, but our position is not to compete with terrestrial television. Our goal is to improve UHD technology in Spain through our satellites,” he said.

Michele Gosetti Di Sturmeck, VP, Sports & Events & New Media at SES.

Cristina León, Head of Audiovisual Services at Axión, spoke of the importance of technology in emergency situations, demonstrating that “we cannot depend on a single technology or a single infrastructure, but rather there must be support among all of them.”

Pablo Rodríguez de Tembleque, Sales Director at Appear, together with José Luis García Cabrera, Broadcast & Media Manager at Telefónica Servicios Audiovisuales, spoke about the new era of live sports distribution and the latest project they have worked on for LaLiga, which provides “flexibility and density for network cable savings and simpler operation.”

Cisco was represented by María Martín Jódar, Broadcast Account Manager, and María Isabel Arias, Head of Security for Broadcast in Iberia, who participated in the presentation ‘Securing change: Navigating the Inflection Point of IT, AI and Media Technologies’, in which they addressed how “key innovations such as IP networking and Artificial Intelligence, while driving efficiency and flexibility, also demand an urgent reassessment of the role of security”. The presentation argued that “security must move from being a secondary concern to becoming the cornerstone” of this new era. “IP networking is driving change, and the massive migration t r IP is causing a great convergence of infrastructures,” said María Martín Jódar, while María Isabel Arias highlighted how crucial “trust” is in the sector.

From Cisco, on the left, María Martín Jódar, Broadcast Account Manager, and on the right, María Isabel Arias, Head of Security in Iberia for Broadcast.

Emili Planas, CTO of Grup Mediapro, spoke of screen manufacturers and content producers as the link for building the future of the business and presented Grup Mediapro’s 360º project, as he put it, “the first company in the world to regularly produce UHD in HDR” and which in recent years has been adding technological components to improve the image. “OTT platforms and demand have increased eightfold, which means that production costs have to come down, while always adding quality.”

Eric Ellenbogen, former CEO of Wildbrain, Dreamworks International Television, and Ivan Glasovac, CEO of Resolute Consulting, discussed the direction of the television industry in an interview. “The fastest-growing segment is free streaming television with advertising,” said Ellenbogen, who noted that by 2030, revenue from these platforms in the United States will exceed £140 billion.

On the left, Eric Ellenbogen, former CEO of Wildbrain, Dreamworks International Television, and on the right, Ivan Glasovac, CEO of Resolute Consulting.

For their part, Alberto Fernández, Director of RTVE Play, and Alberto León González, Deputy Director of Product and Operations at Mediaset España, participated in the panel discussion ‘Platforms: new audiences, new consumption’ moderated by María Medina, Managing Director of Medina Media Events, which discussed the evolution and launch of digital platforms focused, in the case of RTVE Play, on ‘attracting young users who have a different type of consumption’.

From left to right, Alberto Fernández, Director of RTVE Play; María Medina, Managing Director of Medina Media Events; and Alberto León González, Deputy Director of Product and Operations at Mediaset España.

Jordi Joaquim, Distribution Manager for Spain and Portugal at AJA Video Systems, spoke about the possibilities offered by being the “bridge between the worlds of streaming, IT and video”. For his part, Fernando García Calvo, CEO of The Channel Store, closed the first day by talking about AI in the audiovisual industry and the democratisation of visual art. “Today, anyone can use Artificial Intelligence from home,” he said before referring to the era that is coming with AI.

Once again, the 4K HDR Summit coincided with the Seville European Film Festival, which will celebrate its 22nd edition in 2025. Manuel Cristóbal, Director of the Seville European Film Festival, participated in the opening day, inviting all attendees to enjoy the screenings.

Exclusive demonstration area

As in every edition, visitors were able to enjoy an exclusive demonstration area. During the two days of the event, visitors were able to watch live productions in Ultra High Definition, such as the Armed Forces parade on 12 October 2025 broadcast by RTVE, or the Euforia concert broadcast by 3Cat, courtesy of UHD Spain. Visitors could also view on-demand content in UHD thanks to the Canal Sur exhibition area and learn how content is managed and produced from a mobile unit thanks to Hurí. Ateme, Elecard, AJA, Aicox with Small Pixels, UWA, Lawo, Alfalite, Gsertel, Synamedia, Netgear, Sapec, Techex and AEQ will also be present in this exclusive demonstration area.

4K HDR Summit 2025 networking area.

This Wednesday, 12 November, the second in-person conference will be held, with Google among other prominent companies in attendance. José Ramón Vázquez, Telco and Media Specialist at Google Cloud, will lead the round table discussion ‘Reinventing high-quality video distribution’, alongside Remi Beaudouin, Chief Strategy Officer at Ateme, and Javier Lucendo, Senior Manager of Video Processing and Delivery at Telefónica. In addition, Jatin Dev, Senior Partnership Lead and Global Sellside at Google, will address the challenges of monetising live and free-to-air broadcasting of sporting events. Other participants will include Jorge de la Nuez, Head of Technology & Operations at Olympic Channel Services; Rémi Tereszkiewicz, CMO in Europe at the UHD World Association; and Ángel García Castillejo, Vice-President of the National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC), among others. Jacques Donat-Bouillud, Director of France Télévisions, and Tonio Di Stefano, Director of Networks and Platforms at Rai and President of UltraHD Forum Italia, will also share the panel with Víctor Sánchez, Director of Media and Operations at TVE. Sevilla FC will present its new Sevilla FC+ project with Álvaro Ramírez, the club’s communications director.

The 4K HDR Summit 2025 is organised by Medina Media Events and supported by RTVE, SES, RTVA, Axión, Appear, Ateme, Google Cloud, Elecard, Aicox con Small Pixels, AJA, UWA, Lawo, Eutelsat, Synamedia, Rohde & Schwarz, Canon, Hispasat, Cellnex, Alfalite, Netgear, MoMe, Datos Media con Telestream, Sapec, AEQ, Gsertel, Techex, Cisco, Avixa, Hurí, Sevilla FC, Vestel, Daewoo, JVC and Toshiba, among others.

All conferences will be available for viewing on demand through ‘The Observatory’, Medina Media Events’ digital platform, where each conference can be viewed throughout the year, 24 hours a day, free of charge.