Five HD Channel Gets Sky HD Release Date
Written by Rob Nichols on March 18, 2010 · Filed under Tech
Just this week I wrote about the introduction of ITV HD to Sky and Virgin’s high definition services. But upon browsing the web and checking my e-mails it has now come to my attention that another terrestrial channel, Five, will soon be launching an HD channel as well.
Five HD will start broadcasting to more than 2 million Sky HD subscribers in July of this year, which will put a smile on the face of fans of hit US drama’s such as CSI and FlashForward. In addition to this, in recent months and years Five has acquired the right to show popular australian soap Neighbours along with Home & Away. They also provide a solid line up of blockbuster movies and more importantly to football fans, UEFA Europa league football.
With this addition along with the others i mentioned yesterday and Sky’s current line up of HD channels, they are leading the way in terms of choice when it comes to HD content. By the time Five HD is launched, viewers will have access to all of the UK terrestrial broadcasters in high definition along with all the subscription HD channels. Five will become the 42nd channel to commit to joining Sky’s HD line up after recent introductions such as ITV – Sky News and Hallmark Channel are also going to be launched in the coming months leading up to July.
Charles Constable, Five’s Director of Strategy, said: “This is an exciting opportunity for Five. Our programme schedule is more suited to HD than that any other major free-to-air commercial broadcaster given the wide range of high quality series we broadcast, such as our top-rated line-up of US dramas. We’re delighted to begin our HD journey with Sky.“
Hilary Perchard, Sky’s Director of Product Management, comments: “We’re delighted to announce the addition of Five HD to Sky HD, the UK’s leading high definition service. Sky remains committed to delivering customers the best HD service available, and this means continuing to launch high-quality channels right across the schedule. With the best of free and pay TV now in HD, there’s never been a better time to embrace HD.”
Although Five may not be everybody’s favourite channel in the world, I think it is fair to say that over recent years they have picked themselves up and made gigantic strides into the commercial television market. With shows such as Neighbours and CSI they have built some fairly high ratings and it is a far cry from the early days of the channel where in many places, Five was almost completely inaccessible as viewers were faced with not so much of a TV channel than a display of nauseating static. I think they owe a lot to Sky and other digital TV providers as it has massively increased their ratings and I have high hopes for the future now they will be offering a high definition service.
Via – TechRadar
