Spoiler alert: New technology brings TV sports moments to viewers in record time, and before others see it first
Ever find out what happened before you got to see it on TV? Comcast's new Realtime 4K solves that by bringing the action to streaming viewers faster than over-the-air broadcasts.
Joe Krell still remembers getting a call from his brother celebrating after Brandon Graham sealed an Eagles victory with a strip-sack of Tom Brady in Super Bowl LII.
Krell, the vice president of engineering at Comcast, had not seen the play when his brother called. His feed of the game was delayed, and the surprise of the play was spoiled.
Now, Krell is leading the team of software engineers that helps some fans watch games with as little delay as possible.
This summer, the company’s Realtime 4K technology is delivering live action from matches at the FIFA World Cup to Xfinity customers’ TVs roughly 17 seconds after it takes place on the pitch. The broadcast is 20 seconds faster than a standard high-definition stream and two seconds faster than an over-the-air signal, according to Vito Forlenza, Comcast’s vice president of sports entertainment.
“It’s about how we limit that amount of buffering and get those video segments to the device as fast as possible,” Krell said Wednesday from the Comcast Technology Center.
» READ MORE: France and Paraguay will meet on July 4 in Philadelphia’s last World Cup game
The technology debuted ahead of Super Bowl LX in January, and Krell’s team has continued to develop it (alongside other sports initiatives) in an effort to create a spoiler-free viewing experience.
“Now I don’t have to worry about turning my phone over, or turning it off,” Forlenza said. “Nobody’s going to spoil it on me. I could actually be on social media if I wanted to be and not have the experience ruined. I could have all my notifications on; I could be in all my chats with my friends and family [and] not have the experience ruined. Maybe I’ll ruin it for them.”
New for the World Cup is a feature called “Smart Boost” that allows Xfinity internet customers to automatically prioritize their TV on their server when watching a Realtime 4K broadcast of a World Cup match.
Forlenza said the company got good feedback from customers who used the technology to watch the Super Bowl and the Winter Olympics in February.
» READ MORE: Rob Stone has spent half his life broadcasting World Cups. This summer, he leads what could be Fox’s last.
During the group stage of the World Cup, the customizable multiview function, which was developed by software engineers in Philadelphia, allowed Xfinity customers to take in multiple matches at once. When it launched in 2024, the multiview platform was not customizable, but Krell’s team, after feedback from customers, has engineered it to allow viewers to watch any combination of games across traditional broadcast options and streaming.
“You get something out there, you learn from it, build into it,” Krell said.
Instead of having preset combinations for multiview options, the technology assembles the combination of channels a viewer wants to watch as they request them, allowing Xfinity to offer the service with more channels on a larger scale.
The National Association of Broadcasters recognized Xfinity’s multiview as one of its products of the year for 2026 in April, and in June it won a Stream TV award in the category of innovation in content delivery and distribution.
Nine nations will compete in five group stage matches this summer, plus two more in a knockout game on July 4. Here’s what you need to know about those countries — and what those fans need to know about Philly. Click here for more.
