RTVE will broadcast the 2026 World Cup in Ultra High Definition

Adriana Vázquez, Director of Production and Media of RTVE, announces in the 4K HDR Summit of Seville, which takes place from November 11 to 14, that public radio and television will take a step further and broadcast the 2026 World Cup, which will be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico, in its entirety in Ultra High Definition.

To this will be added the Benidorm Fest 2026 and some Copa del Rey football matches, including the final and semi-finals, which will be broadcast in UHD through La 1 de TVE. “UHD is not only an improvement in image and sound, but an audiovisual experience from which RTVE cannot be left out,” said Adriana Vázquez.

Next to her were Javier Sanchez, director of the Audiovisual Policy and Public Service Area of ​​RTVE, who defended the promotion of Digital Terrestrial Television in Spain: "If we turn off DTT in Spain, the audiovisual sector would not survive in our country. Without DTT we lose the ability to reach citizens in an integral way." For its part, Jesus Garcia, director of the Technical Area of ​​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, the on-demand television platform of Canal Sur Televisión, and the experience with the FAST (Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV) channels, which "allow digital linear programming. A service that is booming in Spain, since "more than 75% of users access free content with advertising."

New National Technical Plan for DTT

The first day of the 4K HDR Summit 2025 was inaugurated by Matias Gonzalez, Secretary General of Telecommunications, Digital Infrastructures and Digital Security of the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Service, who highlighted “the importance of radio and television as vital elements for citizen security.” “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.

Matias Gonzalez, Secretary General of Telecommunications, Digital Infrastructures and Digital Security of the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Service.

For his part. Juande Mellado, general director of RTVA, highlighted that the Andalusian public broadcaster “places innovation at the center of decision-making.” For its part, Victor Sanchez, as president of UHD Spain, announced that “the association's big project for 2026 will be to present content so that the population really knows what Ultra High Definition is.”

Julia Criado, Deputy Director of Planning and Management of the Radio Spectrum of the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Service, spoke again about the 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 the new spectrum opportunities for audiovisual: “The jump to UHD/HDR is not only more pixels, but a better dynamic range and color is equivalent to a greater perceived value in Premium content,” highlighted the ministry representative, for whom she detailed the conditions of the contest opened by the Ministry to grant a new license.

I remember Ricardo Medina and José Manuel Menéndez

The opening day included an emotional posthumous recognition of Ricardo Medina and José Manuel Menéndez. UHD Spain recognized the work of two essential references in the promotion of Ultra High Definition in Spain, who were remembered by colleagues from the association that Ricardo Medina himself promoted in 2021. His two daughters, Maria Medina, CEO of Medina Media Events and CEO of Medina Media Global; and Sonsoles Medina, Director of Operations at Medina Media Global, accompanied by Rossana Rompato, general director of Medina Media, collected a plaque in her honor after watching an emotional video.

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 Cristobal, member of the Board of Directors of UHD Spain, collected the plaque on behalf of the professor.

UHD Spain study

Xavi Redon, vice president of UHD Spain, presented for the first time the results of a market study on the knowledge, understanding and perception of UHD in Spain by viewers carried out in 2025, from which it was concluded that “the UHD concept generates confusion” among users, for whom “the 4K concept (75% of those surveyed) is the best known.” And he concluded that "65% of those surveyed have the sofa less than 3 meters from the television that is 44" or larger, which means having a good environment and good conditions to enjoy UHD."

The vice president of UHD Spain moderated the panel UHD reaches Spanish regional television stations in which it was explained how television stations such as Canal Sur, EiTB, Televisión de Galicia and Telemadrid face the future of UHD television, the first simulcast broadcasts and the technical challenges that exist regarding this technology. Pedro Espina, Technical Director of RTVA, regretted the lack of resources and spectrum that prevent greater deployment of UHD. Amaya Remon, deputy director of Engineering at EiTB, a channel that broadcasts in UHD through HbbTV, advocated “having the entire value chain ready for when the spectrum opens up.” For its part, Sara Gonzalez, director of Technological Support of Television of Galicia, the only region that broadcasts in UHD simulcast through DTT, added “the complexity of maintaining the simulcast.” Finally, José María Casaos, technical director of Telemadrid, pointed out that, without underestimating UHD, the idea of ​​​​Madrid regional television "is to make native production in HDR, which also involves its complexity, but not as much as 4K in terms of resources."

Michele Gosetti Di Sturmeck, VP, Sports & Events & New Media en SES, compartió las últimas innovaciones de la compañía en materia de distribución satelital y nuevos servicios audiovisuales, entre ellos AstraTv, una propuesta que pone al alcance de todos los principales canales de la TDT de ámbito nacional: “Con el satélite tenemos la oportunidad de brindar una señal similar a la que se disfruta con la TDT, pero nuestra posición no es la de confrontar con la televisión terrestre. Nuestro objetivo es mejorar la tecnología UHD en España a través de nuestros satélites”, sostuvo.

Cristina Leon, head of Audiovisual Services at Axión, spoke about the importance of technology in emergency situations, which shows that “we cannot depend on a single technology or a single infrastructure, but there must be support among all of them.”

Pablo Rodríguez de Tembleque, Sales Director de Appear, junto con José Luis García Cabrera, Broadcast & Media Manager en Telefónica Servicios Audiovisuales, hablaron de la nueva era de la distribución de los deportes en directo y el último proyecto en el que han trabajado para LaLiga que otorga “flexibilidad y densidad para el ahorro de cables de red y una operativa más sencilla”.

The Cisco company had the participation of María Martín Jódar, Account Manager Broadcast, y Maria Isabel Arias, Head of Security in Iberia for Broadcast, who participated with the presentation Ensuring change: Navigating the tipping 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 require an urgent reassessment of the role of security.” The presentation argued that “security must go from being a secondary concern to becoming the fundamental pillar” of this new era. “The IP network is driving change and the massive migration to IP is causing a great convergence of infrastructures,” highlighted María Martín Jódar, while María Isabel Arias highlighted how determining “trust” is in the sector.

Emili Planas, CTO of Grup Mediapro, spoke about screen manufacturers and content producers as a link to build the future of the business and presented Grup Mediapro's 360º project, as he indicated, “the first company in the world to regularly produce UHD in HDR” and that in recent years has been adding technological components to improve the image. "OTT platforms and demand have multiplied by eight, which means that the cost of production has to go down, while always adding quality."

Eric Ellenbogen, former CEO of Wildbrain, Dreamworks International Television, and Ivan Glasovac, CEO of Resolute Consulting, talked in an interview about where the television industry is headed. “The segment that is growing the most is free streaming television with advertising,” said Ellenbogen, who pointed out that in 2030 the income from these platforms in the United States will exceed $200 billion.

For its part, Alberto Fernandez, director of RTVE Play, and Alberto Leon Gonzalez, Deputy Director of Product and Operations at Mediaset España, participated in the panel The platforms: new audiences, new consumption, in which 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” was discussed.

Jordi Joaquim, Distribution Manager Spain and Portugal at AJA Video Systems, spoke about the possibilities they offer to be the “bridge between the world of streaming, IT and video”. For its part, Fernando García Calvo, CEO of The Channel Store, closed the first day talking about AI in the audiovisual industry and the democratization of visual art. “Today anyone can manage Artificial Intelligence from home,” he indicated before referring to the era that is to come around AI.