Adoption of 4K TVs has yet to reach a mainstream audience, but even more advanced 8K video is starting to creep into view in the form of some small, limited demos tied to the FIFA Women’s World Cup tournament. 

Fox Sports and NHK, Japan’s national public broadcasting organization, are holding invitation-only demos this week and next of live 8K coverage of two tournament match-ups –Japan vs. Cameroon (June 12), and U.S. vs. Nigeria (June 16) – at the Zanuck Theater on the Fox Studio lot in Los Angeles.

They’re billing it as a first for North America, noting that the live feeds will be presented in 8K/Super Hi-Vision in 22.2 surround sound. The live feed from the stadiums will come with no on-air commentary, “just as if you’re really there,” they noted in the invitation.

Sadly, I won’t be able to check out the 8K demo or enjoy the refreshments, but those who do make it should be in for a treat. I did get a chance to check out the pre-recorded 8K demo Comcast and NBCUniversal put on in 2012 around the London Summer Olympics, and it was worth the trip.

So, when can we expect 8K to be ready for prime time? Phil McKinney, the president and CEO of CableLabs, told the crowd at the recent Cable Congress event in Brussels that he believes it’s “on track to go commercial in 2020.”

With that expecation, the NHK/Fox Sports demos will certainly offer a glimpse into the future of TV.

In the meantime, 4KTV sales are slowly rising, despite a relative dearth of content available in the format. According to a fresh forecast from IHS, shipments of 4K-capable TV panels will reach 40 million units this year, representing a penetration rate of 15%.

With the Women’s World Cup just 100 days away, English-language rights-holder Fox Sports is kicking up the promotional pitch behind the quadrennial event.

21st Century will roadblock a 30-second spot, entitled “It’s Not Over,” flagging the tournament across 34 network. The promo is slated to run around 8 p.m. on Feb. 24 on Fox, Fox News Channel, FX, FXX, FXM, National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo Wild, Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2, Fox Deportes, Fox Soccer Plus, Big Ten Network and Fox Sports’ 22 owned-and-operated regional sports networks.

The promo is a cut-down from the 60-second commercial that bowed on Fox during its coverage of the Daytona 500 and connects U.S. men’s national team member Jermaine Jones, with such women’s team notables Alex Morgan, Abby Wambach and Carli Lloyd.

From Joseph Kahn, a Grammy and MTV Video Music Award-winning directors, who most recently  worked with Taylor Swift’s “Black Spaces” and has collaborated with U2, Katy Perry, Eminem, 50 Cent, Britney Spears and Rihanna, the spot aspires to help transfer the fever inspired by the 2014 World Cup fever from Brazil to the women’s team’s quest to capture the 2015  title in Canada, starting on June 8 versus Australia in Winnipeg.

“The FIFA Women’s World Cup this June is going to re-ignite all the passion and fervor so many Americans experienced this past summer during the men’s World Cup,” said Fox Sports executive  vice president and head of marketing  Robert Gottlieb. “All the excitement and buzz is about to take hold again, and we’re expecting the Women’s World Cup to be the can’t-miss sports and pop-culture moment of the summer.” 

Fox also began touting the tournament with Wambach, Kelley O’Hara and captain Christie Rampone serving as the “honorary starters” of the Daytona 500.

Beginning on Tuesday, the programmer is also running weather- controlled digital billboards in Times Square and LA for four days. The ads, reflecting the tagline “They’re getting ready. Are You?” depicts the squad training in current weather conditions. So if it's night-time snow at the "crossroads of the world," the ad running shows the team training at night in snowy conditions.

Fox Sports.com’s home page will feature the digital billboard ads, as well as100-day countdown clock.

On-air, Fox Sports 1 and 2 will feature a “100 Days to the FIFA Women’s World Cup” animated logo/bug has been designed and begins appearing on the network on Feb. 24

FS1 will showcase a trio of classic Women’s World Cup matches: at 8 a.m., viewers can relive Brandi Chastain’s jersey-baring moment when the U.S. won the 1999 World Cup with the penalty kick triumph in the Rose Bowl; at 10 a.m., the PK decision over Brazil in the 2011 quarterfinals that saw Wambach score the latest goal in World Cup history; and the disappointing 2011 loss to Japan in the championship match from Germany.

Fox Sports is kicking off its term as the English-language rights-holder in the U.S. to the FIFA 2015-22 cycle with comprehensive coverage of the Women’s World Cup, highlighted by an unprecedented 16 matches on the broadcast network.

The programmer will televise all 52 matches of the expanded, 24-nation tourney across Canada. The 2015 Women's World Cup begins on June 6 with the host nation entertaining China in Edmonton and culminates with the final on July 5 from Vancouver on the broadcast network. Fox Broadcast’s World Cup slate -- the most ever for an over-the-air network in the U.S. regardless of gender --  will also include one of the semifinals and the third-place contest on July 4.

The game plan also calls for 30 matches -- including all eight in the round of 16, a pair of quarterfinals and one semifinal -- to air on Fox Sports 1.The other six games are slated to run on Fox Sports 2.

Eric Shanks, president, COO and executive producer, Fox Sports, said all of tournament action from the six venues will also be available on computers, tablets and mobile devices via the Fox Sports GO app and online at FoxSportsGO.com.

Fox’s schedule marks a major step up for the Women’s World Cup, which will be televised in Spanish on Telemundo and NBC Universo, officially converting from mun2 on Feb. 1 The previous five FIFA Women’s World Cup tournaments – 16 teams were in the hunt -- were televised on ESPN/ESPN2/ABC. The 1999, 2007 and 2011 competitions featured 16 teams  and 32 televised matches, while 18 matches aired from the 2003 tourney. Six matches aired in 1995, which like the first event four years earlier, only pitted 12 nations. The 1991 tournament, won by the U.S., which backed up that feat with its transcendent 1999 victory in the Rose Bowl via penalty kicks over China, was not televised Stateside. 

ABC last broadcast FIFA Women’s World Cup matches in 2003, carrying three. ABC combined to air seven WWC matches during the three quadrennials from 1995 to 2003.

In addition to match coverage, Fox Sports will line up pregame, postgame and other related programming over the course of the month-long event. Averaging somewhere between six and seven hours per day, the programmer expects to serve up some 200 hours.

The field, which has expanded from 16 to 24 teams and from 32 to 52 matches, is headed by the United States, FIFA’s top-ranked team, defending champion Japan, two-time WWC winner Germany, and Brazil, home to the inimitable Marta.

The Americans’ passage from the group stage is hardly assured. Other Group D members include No. 5 Sweden and No. 10 Australia. Rounding out the so-called Group of Death is Africa’s top side, Nigeria, which stands 35th in FIFA’s rankings.

Distaff futbol aside, Fox is also scheduled to present FIFA under 17 and 20 competitions, as well as beach soccer championships in 2015.  

Earlier in the day, Fox announced that longtime ESPN soccer commentator Alexi Lalas would join its futbol telecast team in the new year.