German commercial broadcaster RTL will screen a German free-to-air TV series completely in Ultra HD/HDR for the first time.
All 10 episodes of Sankt Maik will be shown in the new video format in spring 2018 for DTH satellite households via Astra (19.2° Ost) on Ultra HD channel UHD1 by HD+ as well as on RTL’s streaming service TV Now through the Android TV app for UHD/HDR-capable TV sets from Philips and Sony.
The first episode will be broadcast by UHD1 by HD+ in parallel with its SD and HD transmission on the main RTL television channel; on TV Now it will be available on-demand immediately after its TV broadcast. All further episodes will be made available on both platforms following their TV broadcast on RTL.
The series which RTL produced in collaboration with UFA Fiction is the third Ultra HD transmission by Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland. In autumn 2016, RTL Nitro screened three episodes of its car show Nitro Autoquartett in the new resolution on UHD1 by HD+ followed by five episodes of RTL II documentary Die Reimanns in autumn 2017.
With TV Now, RTL will use one of its own platforms for the distribution of Ultra HD content for the first time.
German industry association gfu expects around 5.6 million Ultra HD TV sets to be in German households by the end of 2017.
[Update, January 18, 2018] The first two episodes of Sankt Maik will be shown in parallel by RTL and UHD1 by HD+ on January 23, 2018 at 20.15 CET. All other episides, starting with episode 2, will be aired by UHD1 by HD+ from January 29, 2018 at 20.15 CET.
