European Sky channels showing Pope’s canonisation in 3D

Sky’s dedicated 3D channels in Italy, Germany and the UK will broadcast the upcoming canonisation of Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II.

The event is being produced by the Vatican Television Centre and will go out live on the Sky channels on Sunday, April 27, starting at 9.30pm.

It will also be filmed in 4K as part of a trial with the technology division of Sony.

The event will also go out in selected movie theatres in Europe, the US and Latin America.

Andrea Zappia,  CEO, Sky Italia said: “It is a real honour for Sky to participate to such an important production of Centro Televisivo Vaticano, by putting our experience and technological know-how at the service of a historic event such as the canonization of two much-loved Popes who marked the history of the 20th century.

Brian Sullivan, CEO, Sky Deutschland added: “In all faiths there are unique moments which join communities together in a very special way. One such event is upon us, the double canonisation of Pope John Paul II and Pope John Paul XXIII, and for the first time ever it will be broadcast live in 3D on Sky. It’s the closest thing to being there in St. Peter’s Square in Rome.

Separately, satellite operator Eutelsat has been contracted by the Centro Televisivo Vaticano (CTV) to deliver capacity across nine satellites for the April 27 canonisation of Popes John XXIII and John Paul II.

The HD broadcast by CTV in DVB S2 and MPEG-4 will be uplinked by Globecast from St Peter’s Square to the Eutelsat 5 West A satellite. In order to ensure global distribution, Eutelsat will coordinate redistribution across nine satellites: a Hot Bird satellite, Eutelsat 5 West A and Eutelsat 8 West A for Europe, Eutelsat 36A and Eutelsat 16A for Africa, Eutelsat 70B and Eutelsat 172A for Asia and Australia and Eutelsat 12 West A and Satmex 8 for the Americas.

All feeds will be transmitted from 07:00 UTC to 12:00 UTC on a free-to-air basis so that broadcasters can benefit from live and edited coverage.

Dario Edoardo Viganò, director of CTV said: “Satellite has always been an invaluable platform for overcoming geographic constraints and taking the Papal message across the world. For this event, thanks to the significant mobilisation of Eutelsat’s satellites, we will deliver a truly global live broadcast using the highest quality of image, creating an historic moment in the story of communications.”