Fox Sports’ maiden run on the World Cup coverage field didn’t match up ratings-wise to the prior World Cup tournament, but it still drew decent audiences for Fox and FS1 over its month-long run.

Fox Sports’ coverage of Sunday’s France-Croatia World Cup final averaged 11.3 million viewers across Fox broadcasting and streaming services, and 11.8 million with digital viewing added -- the most watched game of the tournament. 

Unfortunately for Fox, the numbers were well below the 17.3 million numbers ABC generated from the 2014 Germany-Argentina World Cup final, according to Nielsen.

The good news for Fox is that France’s 4-2 win over Croatia was the most watched, non-NFL telecast on the network so far this year.

Overall, Fox Sports’ coverage of the World Cup drew an average of 2.7 million viewers, down 20 percent from ESPN’s coverage of the 2014 World Cup from Brazil but up 9% from the 2010 World Cup from South Africa (all excluding Team USA matches), according to Fox. 

Fox executives acknowledged early that they had tempered ratings expectations, given the absence of the US Team in the tournament as well as the time difference between Russia and the US. Yet several games – particularly during the knockout rounds – delivered strong ratings for Fox Sports.

RELATED: Fox Sports Hoping For World Cup Ratings Rebound 

Fox Sports also reported that Fox broadcasting and FS1’s coverage – which aired primarily in the morning and early afternoon time slots in the U.S. -- accounted for all 20 of the top-20 shows among Men 18-49 in English-language TV over the last month, and delivered the 15 most-watched soccer matches since the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup, according to the network. 

Croatia’s dramatic 2-1 win over England in Wednesday’s World Cup semifinal game averaged 5.5 million viewers on Fox broadcasting, the network said Thursday.

The game was off less that 1% of the audience drawn by the 2014 Netherlands-Argentina match, which drew 5.51 million viewers on ESPN, and was up 61% over the Spain-Germany match in 2010, according to network officials.

Online, the game was the most streamed World Cup semi-final match in history, with the average minute audience finishing at 830,000 for the live match.

The England-Croatia game also bested the 4.4 million viewers that tuned into Tuesday’s France-Belgium contest on Fox.

Fox on Sunday will broadcast the France-Croatia World Cup final, as well as the England-Belgium consolation game on Saturday.  

Live-streaming video service YouTube TV suffered a service disruption this afternoon causing its viewers to miss portions of Fox broadcasting’s live telecast of the England-Croatia World Cup semifinals match, but restored service before the end of the contest.

YouTube TV’s live streaming signal went down during the second half of the England-Croatia game. The service posted a tweet around 3 pm (ET), calling the timing of the streaming issues “horrible.”

[embed]https://twitter.com/YouTubeTV/status/1017121393857556485[/embed]

Within an hour, YouTube TV sent out a second tweet stating that the service was restored. YouTube TV subscribers were able to watch Croatia defeat England to advance to the World Cup final Sunday against France.  

[embed]https://twitter.com/YouTubeTV/status/1017136092041043978[/embed]

While people were tweeting about the outage, sports-centric virtual MVPD FuboTV got into the act, replying to one Twitter user looking for an alternative to "Come to @fuboTV, we have cookies.. and all games in Full HD." 

YouTube TV subscribers pay $40 a month for a lineup of more than 60 channels, including national sports services ESPN, FS1, MLB Network and NBA TV, as well as most regional sports services. As of Thursday the service had not publicly offered an explanation for the glitch.

Fox Sports is hoping to ride some serious ratings momentum coming out of this past weekend’s World Cup quarterfinal matches into the international soccer tournament’s version of the Final Four set to begin today.

After struggling from a ratings perspective in the early rounds without the USA team, Fox Sports has scored some big ratings numbers in the later rounds. This past Saturday the network drew a whopping 6.3 million viewers for the Croatia-Russia match quarterfinal match (6.6 million including streaming viewers), making it the most watched World Cup quarterfinal in English or Spanish language since at least 1990, according to Fox.

England’s defeat of Sweden, also on Saturday, drew 5 million viewers across the network and digital streaming platforms, according to Fox.

“The first week of the tournament, which is when we were most impacted by the time difference between Russia and the U.S., was challenging, but since then we have exceeded our own expectations,” said Fox Sports executive vice president of research and content strategy Michael Mulvihill. “The overall audience figures have been strong, we’re seeing strong contributions from both streaming and out-of-home television, and the World Cup is delivering the most affluent audience in sports to our advertisers."

While the numbers are still down from the previous World Cup telecast – Fox and FS1’s 2.5 million viewers through the World Cup Russia quarterfinals is down 18% from the 2014 Brazil World Cup tournament, excluding team USA matches -- Fox Sports has drawn large pockets of viewers for several big games throughout the tournament, according to network executives.

Even with the elimination of marquee team draws like Germany, Brazil, Mexico and Argentina, Mulvihill said Fox is bullish about its ratings prospects heading into the final rounds of a very unpredictable, action-packed and suspenseful World Cup tournament. France and Belgium square off today, with Croatia and England battling tomorrow. The winners will play Sunday in the World Cup final.

“I think it’s been a bit surprising that the World Cup has not been very reliant on recognizable stars or traditional powers,” said Mulvihill. “In the end it hasn’t mattered much that Germany failed to get out of the group, or that both Messi and Ronaldo lost in the round of 16. The two most-watched games have been Croatia-Russia and Croatia-Denmark; who would have predicted that? I think we’re finding that stars don’t make the World Cup, the World Cup makes stars.”

Telemundo has also pulled in some record-setting numbers for its Spanish-language coverage of the World Cup. Through 60 matches, Telemundo Deportes’ 2018 World Cup presentation has reached 34.7 million TV viewers. Overall, Telemundo has reached nearly 55% of the U.S. Hispanic population.

Telemundo’s TV coverage has also set records for the network’s most-watched daytime windows 67% of the time on their respective days of the week (14 of 21 match days), according to the network.

Pictured, top: Luka Modric of Croatia and Daler Kuziaev of Russia compete for the ball during the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Quarter Final match between Russia and Croatia at Fisht Stadium on July 7, 2018 in Sochi, Russia. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

Altice USA and ad agency Y&R have teamed up on a digital series and social media campaign aimed at promoting the World Cup soccer tournament on cable and explaining the event to Americans unfamiliar with the sport.

The three-minute webisodes feature three "Soccer Moms" – Carolyn, Kyle and Isa – to explain rivalries, top teams and underdogs, fan traditions, and other aspects of the tournament.

“There’s a cliché assumption that Americans don’t care about soccer, and we wanted to prove that wrong during this year’s World Cup,” said Y&R North America executive creative director João Coutinho in a statement. “Millions of soccer moms live this sport every day, every week; they’re just as dedicated as fans all over the world. So we found real soccer moms that can teach America how exciting soccer can be, while building brand affinity for Altice USA. It’s a perfect way to get Americans involved in who’s winning, who’s not, and why soccer is the rest of the world’s favorite sport.”

The work comes on the heels of Altice’s “Futebol vs. Football” regional Super Bowl spot, which starred Cristiano Ronaldo making his American football debut and bringing soccer to U.S. fans. 

Telemundo Deportes scored a weekday daytime ratings record Monday afternoon with its coverage of the Mexico-Brazil World Cup Round of 16 tournament game.

The contest, won by Brazil to advance into the international soccer tournament’s quarterfinal round, drew a total audience average of 5.5 million viewers across Telemundo, TelemundoDeportes.com, Telemundo En Vivo and NBC Sports apps, according to Nielsen live plus same day fast national ratings and Adobe Analytics digital data. The TV audience was 5 million during the two-hour match window and 4.4 million for the 9:30-noon ET full coverage, per Nielsen.

RELATED: Mexico Loss to Sweden is Still a Win for Telemundo

Mexico-Brazil ranks as Telemundo Deportes’ third-most watched match of the tournament, trailing only the two weekend Mexico matches in the Group Stage, according to the network.

Through 54 matches, Telemundo Deportes’ World Cup presentation has reached 32.8 million viewers, according to the Spanish-language network.

RELATED: Fox, Telemundo Near World Cup Ad Sales Goals

The ratings come on the heels of the Telemundo Deportes announcement Monday that it has teamed with South America soccer ruling body Conmebol to secure U.S. Spanish-language TV rights for the 46 Copa America international men’s soccer championship.

Mexico lost to Sweden 3-0 Wednesday (June 27) in its finale of the group stage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia. Still, Mexico advanced to the knockout phase -- and helped deliver the best weekday audience ever for NBCUniversal-owned Telemundo.

The Spanish-language broadcaster posted an average 4.4 million viewers on TV during the two-hour match window and 4 million for overall coverage from 9:30 a.m. to noon ET, it said, citing Nielsen. Adding in web and app views, the match audience rose to 5.2 million viewers, which was the third-best game performance of the tournament on Telemundo Deportes, it said. (Mexico won its first two matches, on weekend days, against defending champion Germany and against South Korea.)

Overall, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., the average audience of 2.6 million made for Telemundo's most-watched weekday ever, the broadcaster said.

Read More MCN Coverage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia

Telemundo also said the 6.9 million livestreams of the Mexico-Sweden match was the most-watched livestream event in Spanish-language history. El Trinext faces Brazil on Monday, July 2, at 10 a.m. ET in what shapes up to be a massive TV event for U.S. Hispanics.

Fox Sports, meanwhile, said Wednesday was the most-watched World Cup matchday 14 since 2006, averaging 1.523 million viewers on Fox and FS1. Fox Sports also enjoyed its best day ever in authenticated streaming with 140 million minutes streamed and 1.8 million unique streamers across all sports, it said.

Brazil's 2-0 win over Serbia drew the day's biggest audience, with a combined linear and digital audience of 2.61 million viewers on Fox and Fox streaming sources. On TV alone, the match drew an average audience of 2.32 million, Fox said. 

The Mexico-Sweden match delivered a combined linear and digital audience of 2.404 million viewers on Fox and digital outlets, per Fox Sports, or about half the size of the reported Telemundo Deportes audience.

Fox said Wednesday was the best day yet of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in terms of streaming, with 135 minutes across the four live matches, shoulder programming and video-on-demand replays.

Fox and Telemundo have U.S. rights to World Cup tournaments through 2026, when the games will be played in the USA, Mexico and Canada.

Pictured, top: Hector Moreno of Mexico fouls Marcus Berg of Sweden inside the box to concede a penalty during the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia group F match between Mexico and Sweden at Ekaterinburg Arena on June 27, 2018 in Yekaterinburg, Russia.

NBCUniversal-owned Telemundo, the Spanish-language rights holder to the FIFA World Cup 2018 in Russia, said it had its best-ever Monday daytime (7 a.m.-5 p.m. ET), averaging 1.4 million viewers for World Cup coverage, or 31% more than the record set last Monday (1.1 million). 

The Telemundo Deportes weekend coverage, with six group-stage matches, led the FIFA World Cup newcomer to an average 1.68 million viewers over the total day (6 a.m.-2 a.m. ET) viewers, compared with 846,000 viewers for Univision, Unimas, Azteca and Estrella, citing Nielsen figures. Telemundo Deportes said that through Saturday (29 matches) that its World Cup coverage had reached 25.7 million viewers.

Among other milestones thus far, Telemundo Deportes said the June 17 match when Mexico defeated Germany, 1-0, delivered 7.12 million viewers (7.41 including digital) for a Spanish-language U.S. record (since 1994). Mexico 2-1 win over South Korea on June 23 was close behind that with 6.6 million viewers -- and was "the most-watched livestream event in Spanish-language history," per Telemundo.

Mexico's presence, and the USA's absence, are key factors for Telemundo and Fox in this tournament. The lack of the U.S. team led to an overall ratings decline here compared to the numbers for ABC/ESPN and Univision in 2014. Telemundo and its advertisers will be depending on interest in the Mexico team and the relative youth and soccer passion of U.S. Hispanic homes, demographics that Nielsen recently noted. Update: despite losing its final group stage match, 3-0, to Sweden, Mexico is advancing to the knock-out stages of the tournament, having won its first two matches. Sweden and Mexico advance from their group, with Germany crashing out.

Related: Fox Sports Hoping For World Cup Ratings Rebound (blog)

Fox Sports, also presenting its first World Cup, said previously its coverage of the men's soccer tournament peaked on Saturday, when Germany beat Sweden on a dramatic stoppage-time goal by Toni Kroos. 

The three Saturday group-stage games on Fox broadcast averaged 3.875 million viewers, solidly above the the 2.125 million viewers Fox and FS1 telecasts had averaged through Game Day 10 of Fox's first FIFA World Cup.

Defending champion Germany's 2-1 come-from-behind win averaged 5.397 million viewers (5.636 million when streaming is added in) on Fox. At its peak the game hit 6.736 million viewers on Fox. The Mexico-South Korea match was second-best thus far for the tournament, averaging 4.433 million viewers (4.646 million including digital views), Fox Sports said, citing Nielsen. Belgium's 5-2 defeat of Tunisia 5-2 in the early morning averaged 1.951 million viewers, the biggest early morning match of the 2018 tournament so far. 

Related: World Cup Coming to North America in 2026

Fox and Telemundo share U.S. rights to FIFA World Cup games through the 2026 finals, which will be played in Canada, the United States and Mexico.

On the streaming front, Fox Sports said that through Day 10 it had racked up 906 million total minutes of streaming content, including matches, shoulder programming and VOD). The Germany-Sweden match was the top-performing streaming match of the day, with an average minute audience of 239,000 and 689,000 unique streamers. Saturday was the second-best day of the tournament for Snap, with 10.4 million Publisher Story views. Fox said it had tallied 90.5 million total story views through Day 10.

Read More: 2018 FIFA World Cup Coverage on Multichannel News

Telemundo Deportes said Tuesday that to date the tournament had reached 8.7 million unique viewers, generating 81.4 million livestreams (a Spanish-language record for a World Cup and 1.24 billion total minutes viewed.

Pictured, top: Edinson Cavani of Uruguay scores his team's third goal during the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia group A match between Uruguay and Russia at Samara Arena on Monday (June 25) in Samara, Russia. The match was one of three that led Telemundo to its its best-ever Monday daytime ratings.

fuboTV, the sports-focused OTT TV service, plans to launch a 4K offering in beta form this summer, according to co-founder and CEO David Gandler.

fuboTV hasn’t specified how much content in the pixel-packed format it might offer on a linear or on-demand basis, but the company expects to announce more details “in the coming weeks,” Gandler said.

The move will put fuboTV in some select company as a few traditional pay TV providers, such as DirecTV, Dish Network, Altice USA and Comcast have offered a limited amount of content in 4K. Layer3 TV, a managed, market-level, managed IPTV service now owned by T-Mobile that’s also working on a national OTT offering, offers a mix of linear channels and on-demand content in 4K.

RELATED: Altice USA Offering World Cup Matches in 4K

Among pure-play OTT services, DirecTV Now is working on upgrades to its streaming platform that will support 4K.

“This is a big push that we have,” Gandler said of fuboTV’s 4K initiative. “For us, [4K] is a big part of our future. Obviously, sports fans who buy expensive TVs certainly want to get the best picture quality.”

In addition to a 4K-capable TV, fuboTV customers that want to take advantage of the future offering will also need to have the app running on a streaming device, such as a Roku player, Apple TV or Fire TV box, that also supports the format.

fuboTV announced last fall that it had more than 100,000 subscribers, and expects to provide updated figures later this year.

While fuboTV’s core focus is the U.S., the company also offers a basic pay TV service  in Canada. fuboTV is also developing a version of its service for Western Europe that is expected to launch “very soon,” according to Gandler.

More from the discussion with Gandler and about industry trends and fuboTV's plans will be featured in an upcoming issue of Broadcasting & Cable. 

Three cable-based awards shows drew huge audiences on social media last week, according to Nielsen.

BET’s annual BET Awards live telecast airing last night was the most popular entertainment-based show on social media during the week of June 18-24, generating 2.1 million combined Facebook and Twitter interactions, according to Nielsen’s weekly social media report.

MTV’s June 18 MTV Movies & TV Awards garnered 1.9 million social media interactions, while Disney Channel’s June 23 telecast of the 2018 Radio Disney Music Awards finished third with 816,000 interactions, according to the network.

MSNBC’s June 19 episode of The Rachel Maddow Show and USA Network’s June 18 Monday Night Raw episode rounded out the top five list, according to Nielsen.

Fox and Telemundo’s coverage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup tournament scored the top five most social live sports telecasts for the week, led by the June 21 Argentina-Croatia telecast which drew 607,000 combined Facebook and Twitter interactions, according to Nielsen.

After posting decent ratings for the first week of its FIFA World Cup 2018 coverage -- without the presence of Team USA -- Fox Sports scored its strongest World Cup ratings this past Saturday, with three Saturday match telecasts averaging 3.8 million viewers, according to Nielsen.

Fox Sports’ coverage was paced by its Germany-Sweden telecast, which generated an English-language, FIFA World Cup 2018 tournament-high 5.3 million viewers, said Nielsen. The German victory was the most-watched non-U.S. Men’s World Cup Group Stage match on English-language television since at least 1990, according to Fox.

Prior to this weekend’s coverage, Fox Sports averaged 1.8 million viewers for the first eight days of World Cup telecasts across Fox broadcasting and FS1, which was down 27% from the 2014 Group Stage average on ESPN and ABC networks, not including matches featuring Team USA, which did not qualify for the 2018 Russia World Cup tournament. 

With Team USA telecasts included for prior World Cup tournaments, Fox Sports’ ratings are down 44% compared to 2014 and 30% when compared head-to-head with 2010’s tournament coverage. 

I had a chance to speak to Fox Sports executive vice president of research and content strategy Michael Mulvihill about the first eight days of Fox Sports’ World Cup ratings performances as well as the company’s expectations for the remainder of the tournament.

Has Fox Sports’ World Cup coverage performed up to expectations?

Look I think overall we're pretty pleased with the first now eight days of the tournament. I think we've been especially happy with the numbers we're seeing on the cable side from FS1. I would say in general the FS1 matches have exceeded my expectations and our expectations. Last week more people watched FS1 than any other sports cable network for an entire week. That's the first time that's ever happened, and that was on the back of not just the World Cup but also the U.S. Open. On the broadcast side we're about where we expected to be. I think things will get better as we get through the group stage and into the knockout round where the stakes of the matches become a little bit higher.

While you say you’re satisfied with the early ratings numbers, they are down from previous World Cup performances, with and without Team USA games included. How much has the absence of Team USA influenced ratings for the tournament thus far? 

Look, obviously it makes a significant difference. We've known that since the night that the US was eliminated last fall, so that doesn't come as any surprise. Clearly the two big challenges of this tournament are the absence of the U.S. team and the fact that it's being played on the other side of the world. In 2014 when the cup was played in Brazil, that was really an advantageous time zone for North American audiences. It's all a little bit of a challenge on two fronts, and because of that the declines that we're seeing from 2014 don't really come as any surprise. If you're willing to look a little further back compared to the group stage matches excluding the [Team USA game telecasts] in 2010 we're actually up 1%, and that was a World Cup played in South Africa. You can parse these numbers in a lot of different ways but it is a fact that we're down versus 2014. It's also a fact that everybody associated with this event knew that we would be down versus 2014 -- we knew it and the advertisers knew it. We all were going in with realistic expectations, and I think given the context of where the games are being played and the fact that U.S. isn't there, we're actually getting really good results.

You mentioned the stakes growing as you get into the knockout stage – are you guys personally rooting for any particular teams to help boost the numbers?

You can probably guess the teams that would be the most likely to drive viewership. Like in any sport, the traditional powers and traditional brands are probably going to be the greatest drivers of audience, which would mean Germany, Brazil, or France. I think England would be helpful. I think Mexico would be really helpful, and I think it would obviously be more than helpful to [2018 World Cup Spanish-language rights holder] Telemundo as well. So I think we've got some rooting interests, and I think the results that we've seen so far point to most if not all of those traditional brands getting through to the knockout stage.

Pictured, top: Anibal Godoy of Panama vies with Kyle Walker of England during the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia group G match between England and Panama at Nizhniy Novgorod Stadium on June 24, 2018 in Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia. (Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

World Cup 2018 has become a showcase for 4K, as several MVPDs are offering tournament matches in that format.

RELATED: World Cup 2018 Sets Stage for Video Tech Showcase

However, Intelsat and Latin American broadcaster Globo will be taking it up a notch by demonstrating live 8K video transmissions during the big soccer tourney.

Starting today through July 15, the companies will work together on an 8K exhibition at the Museu de Amanhã in Rio de Janeiro’s science museum, showing off signals that support 7680 x 4320 pixel resolution. 

Altice USA Offering World Cup Matches in 4K

The demo signal, transmitted in a 200 Mbps video stream, will travel quite the route to its end destination at the demo site.

The signal initially will be generated at the International Broadcast Center in Moscow and be transported to Tokyo. From there, it will be carried to Intelsat via the company’s point of presence in New York and sent via the Intelsat One terrestrial network to the company’s teleport in Atlanta, where it will be re-encoded at 90 Mbps using a special NTT 8K HEVC encoder.

Once the video is compressed, it will be modulated by a Newtec MDM-6100 modem in DVB-S2 and uplinked to the Intelsat 14 satellite, a new video neighborhood for Latin America that specializes in HD and 4K content distribution.

The World Cup demo enters focus as 8K-capable displays just start to trickle into the market. According to a forecast from IHS Markit, just 1% of displays in the 60-inch and larger category will support 7680x4320 pixel resolution this year, and climb to 9% in 2020 and 19% by 2024.

RELATED: 2018 to Mark Starting Point for 8K Displays: IHS Markit

“While 8K technology is still evolving and further advancements in compression technology standards are needed, Intelsat’s premier video neighborhoods have proven that they are equipped to distribute 8K content to millions of viewers around the world,” Rob Cerbone, Intelsat’s VP and GM, media, said in a statement. 

Add Altice USA to the mix of pay TV providers that are offering 2018 World Cup games in the pixel-packed 4K format.  

Altice USA said the majority of World Cup matches will be offered in 4K on channel 200. Subs will need a 4K TV as well as the MSO’s recently launched Altice One all-services box. That device is available in Altice USA’s Optimum footprint (formerly Cablevision Systems) and is starting to make its way into the Suddenlink service footprint.  

RELATED: World Cup 2018 Sets Stage for Video Tech Showcase

Speaking on the company’s Q1 call in early May, CEO Dexter Goei estimated that about 100,000 subs in the Optimum footprint are on the Altice One platform, with 80% of video gross adds connected to the new device on a daily basis.  

RELATED: Altice USA Unveils ‘Altice One’ 

 Altice One users will also be able to call up World Cup features and coverage with the device’s integrated voice remote.  

Additionally, all World Cup matches on Fox and FS1 in HD will also be restart-enabled, meaning they can be accessed even if they aren’t being recorded.  

Among other U.S. MVPDs, DirecTV, Layer3 TV and Dish Network are also offering live World Cup matches in 4K, or in 4K and HDR.

As part of its update, DirecTV said it will deliver the 4K HDR feeds on channel 105 and 106. DirecTV is also offering a four-day free preview of “marquee” FS1 content, including six World Cup matches, to subs who don’t currently get that network in their subscription packages. 

Dish Network shed a few more details about its plans to offer all World Cup 2018 matches in 4K and High Dynamic Range.

RELATED: World Cup 2018 Sets Stage for Video Tech Showcase

Dish said its coverage in the format, which started today with the matchup between Saudi Arabia and tournament host Russia, is being delivered on channel 540. World Cup signals in 4K HDR from Dish are supported on its Hopper 3 DVR. Viewers, of course, will also need a 4K HDR TV to watch the World Cup fixtures in their full glory.

Among U.S. MVPDs, Layer3 TV and DirecTV are also delivering World Cup games in 4K. Comcast X1 subs with 4K-capable boxes will have access to Telemundo’s 4K coverage of the World Cup on a VOD, next-day basis.

RELATED: Layer3 TV to Offer Live World Cup Matches in 4K

Dish is also helping subs keep tabs on the matches – and how to view or record them – via its Soccer Zone app. The app, available through July 15 on all internet-connected Hopper devices, also lets customers select favorite countries, view scores and stats, and track how teams make their way through the group stages and brackets.

Dish said Soccer Zone is featured in the Apps menu, Dish’s GameFinder app, and can be accessed on channel 835.

Among OTT TV providers, Hulu announced this week that it will offer live and on-demand coverage of all World Cup matches across Fox and FS1 (99% Fox coverage – 96% local affiliates, 3% national) and Telemundo (100% coverage), along with recaps and highlights.

Hulu also has added a World Cup Hub that highlights all live and upcoming games, as well as a “Team Collection” area where viewers can find their favorite teams and add them to the service’s “My Stuff” area so those games are recorded as the tournament progresses.

For the semifinals and finals games of the tournament, Hulu will offer a multi-stream experience (five live bonus feeds) to its live TV subscribers.

RELATED: fuboTV Adds Discovery Features Ahead of World Cup

Layer3 TV, the Denver-based MVPD, will be among a select group of pay TV providers that will offer Fox Sports’ live coverage of the 2018 World Cup tournament in 4K.  

Layer3 TV said it will make all 64 World Cup matches, starting with Thursday’s kick-off fixture between Saudi Arabia and host Russia, available in 4K, and will provide that coverage on two 4K channels.   

RELATED: World Cup 2018 Sets Stage for Video Tech Showcase  

Layer3 TV, acquired by T-Mobile in January, supports 4K on every set-top box and doesn’t charge extra for 4K content. To enjoy that content in its full, pixel-packed glory, Layer3 TV customers will also need a 4K-capable TV set. 

“The World Cup is one of those events that the entire world tunes in for, and our subscribers expect the best quality picture possible for every corner kick and goal,” Jeff Binder, executive vice president of T-Mobile Home + Entertainment, said in a statement. “Fox’s passionate soccer fans can get closer than ever to the fields this year with 4K resolution on Layer3 TV.”  

Layer3 TV began to offer live and VOD content in 4K in March 2017, and today offers channels in the format such as Insight UHD and Nasa TV UHD.  

RELATED: Layer3 TV Adds Live, On-Demand 4K Fare 

Layer3 TV currently offers a managed, in-home-focused IPTV service in markets such as Washington, D.C.; Dallas; Longmont, Colo.; Los Angeles, Calif.; and Chicago. T-Mobile is also working on a national, OTT-delivered version of the service that’s expected to launch later this year.  

RELATED: T-Mobile’s Jeff Binder: 5G Is ‘Perfect Delivery Mechanism for Video’ 

Among other U.S.-based MVPDs, DirecTV will offer live 4K HDR coverage of World Cup 2018 to customers with the right tech set-up. Dish Network will offer the games in 4K format, according to TVAnswerman.com. Comcast X1 subs with 4K-capable boxes will have access to Telemundo’s 4K coverage of the World Cup on a VOD, next-day basis.  

fuboTV, the sports-focused OTT TV service, said it is introducing a new home page with new discovery features ahead of World Cup 2018, the global soccer tourney that kicks off this Thursday (June 14) when ost Russia takes on Saudi Arabia in group action.

RELATED: Comcast Brings World Cup Content Hub to X1

The new discovery capability is designed to highlight tournament fixtures as well as other sporting events piped in from channels on fuboTV’s lineup, including CBS, Fox, NBC and The CW, alongside entertainment and news programming.

RELATED: U.S., Latin American Networks Tap CenturyLink for Live World Cup Feeds

The updated home page will include “blended” content that spans those different programming areas, rather than just sports content.

A new “Featured” section provides a fuboTV-curated view based on popularity among sports, series and movies, While Recommendations will be tallied based on viewing history. That personalization element will be offered to each user profile within a subscription (fuboTV’s baseline service offers two simultaneous streams and the ability to purchase an additional stream) in the “coming months,” the service noted.

Following a similar effort around the 2018 Winter Games in PyeongChang, Comcast has kicked off a content hub on its X1 platform dedicated to the 2018 FIFA World Cup that will feature integrated access to live matches in English and Spanish, full-game replays, real-time analytics and game and team stats.

RELATED: Comcast: 76% of X1 Homes Tuned Into the Winter Games Programming

The X1-facing initiative for the big soccer tourney will feature Telemundo’s and Fox’s live World Cup coverage, as well as web-delivered video, and the ability to navigate and search for that content using the X1 voice remote (Comcast noted that more than 1.5 billion voice commands were generated on X1 in Q1 2018). Via the Xfinity Stream app, Comcast subs will also be able to view live matches offered on Telemundo, Universo, Fox and FS1 and access game replays and highlights on an on-demand basis.

Comcast said it will also, for the first, time, let its pay TV customers receive notifications on TVs and smartphones when their favorite team is about to hit the pitch. In the smartphone setup, users can receive text messages with the alerts and a direct link to the Xfinity Stream app, Comcast said.

For X1 boxes, the integrated Sports App will provide a way for viewers to set up recordings and watch live matches and access real-time stats from matches.

Taking advantage of its deep metadata capabilities that can distill and decipher what’s occurring inside a TV show, movie or sporting event, viewers who record World Cup games to the DVR will have the ability to jump to goals and other high-impact plays during the match.

RELATED: Comcast Acquires Watchwith

Comcast said X1 subs with also be able to view Telemundo’s 4K coverage of the World Cup on a VOD, next-day basis, similar to how the service provider handled 4K fare tied to the 2018 Winter Games. To view those games in those advanced formats, Comcast subs will need a 4K-capable X1 box and a 4K television.

Among the elements, the World Cup Home hub will serve as the umbrella for all World Cup content offered via X1. A World Cup Channels feature will provide curated highlights from the tournament, including top goals, trending highlights, interviews and match analysis.