BeIN LaLiga announced on Thursday that former players Raúl and Michael Laudrup will be commentators for the channel. The pair will join Jorge Valdano and Andoni Zubizarreta, with the objective of offering "the vision of four professionals from the football world." They "will provide commentary for games and various beIN LaLiga programs." The channel is "exclusively dedicated" to Spanish football and carries eight La Liga games per matchday (EP, 7/14).
A BETTER OFFER: Sky TV is to begin offering a range of its channels and programs in Ultra HD definition -- "picture quality that can be up to four times that of High Definition." Sky said that more than 120 Premier League games, including the first of the new season between Hull City and champions Leicester, as well as 70 movies, "will be shown in the format in its first year." Virgin Media "is also believed to be planning to introduce Ultra HD channels this year, BT Sport already has an Ultra HD channel available to customers and many TV manufacturers now also offer televisions capable of supporting the format" (PA, 7/14).
OPEN FOR BUSINESS: SKYY Digital Media Group, which has one of the world’s largest real-time content aggregator and social media platforms, "is opening a new office in Brazil, ready for Rio 2016 Olympics." SKYY "is expanding its Latin American operation ahead of the launch of its sports media technology vertical, SPORTTU, with a leading telecommunications partner in the region." The new office is "located in San Paulo" (RAPID TV NEWS, 7/14).
Peshawar Zalmi of the newly created Pakistan Super League T20 announced the launch of Peshawar Zalmi Fans, a social network on Vixlet. The platform will host exclusive team content and serve as a hub for fans to follow the team players and connect with each other and players (Vixlet).
