Eutelsat says France Télévisions will broadcast the 2026 Winter Olympics live in 4K-UHD on France 2 UHD, distributed nationwide on Fransat. The Games run from 6 to 22 February 2026 with some disciplines getting underway Wednesday.
The broadcaster’s UHD service will be carried free-to-air on Fransat using Eutelsat’s 5 West B satellite. Eutelsat and Fransat are pitching satellite as a resilient complement to DTT for reaching all homes, particularly where terrestrial UHD coverage or compatible reception is limited.
France Télévisions has said the Olympics will be produced in native UHD HDR on France 2 UHD, with the 2026 output using HDR10+ and Dolby Vision, plus an audio option delivered via Dolby AC-4 on compatible TVs. Three mixing options will be available for owners of Dolby AC-4-compatible televisions: ambient sound only, without commentary; traditional mixing, with a balance between commentary and ambient sound and mixing where the commentary is increased by 6 dB to improve the intelligibility of human voices
“Following the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, France Télévisions continues its commitment to UHD for its viewers and is proud to offer the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in native UHD,” said Jacques Donat-Bouillud, Director of Distribution at France Télévisions. “With exceptional image quality and more immersive sound, experience these Olympic Games as if you were on the track or ice rink with the athletes, and enjoy this exceptional spectacle.”
France’s DTT platform (TNT) features UHD versions of France 2 and France 3 that were introduced over a dedicated DVB-T2/HEVC multiplex rolled out ahead of Paris 2024. Transmission provider TDF currently covers 70% of the population.
