ITV HD Channel Gets Sky HD & Virgin Media Release Date
This is big news for those of us who enjoy watching a lot of sport. Football in particular. It has been confirmed that ITV1 will at last be officially broadcast in HD as of this April 2010 for Sky HD and Virgin Media customers. It comes as no surprise seeing as the company have shared broadcasting rights in the UK for this Summer’s World Cup in South Africa.
ITV HD has been airing Freeview and Freesat for a while now, but from next month it will, for the first time, be a standalone channel. Obviously the major news though, is that Sky HD and Virgin Media V+ subscribers will now have access to the high definition channel.
Of course, ITV is more than just a sports channel. A lot more. Although many people may not enjoy all of the shows aired, it is clear that many of us do. Soaps such as Coronation Street and reality/talent shows such as Britain’s Got Talent keep millions pinned to their armchairs for hours upon end throughout the year. Other top shows include Law and Order: UK and Lewis which have become popular more recently.
Cindy Rose, executive director of digital entertainment at Virgin Media, says: “ITV offers some of the UK’s most loved programmes and we’re delighted to add them to our growing HD channel line-up.”
Television broadcasters such as the aforementioned Sky and Virgin Media have also recently announced their new additions to their vast line up of HD channels. Virgin now have gained exclusivity of Film4 HD as of this Summer, and Sky are preparing to launch Hallmark Channel HD and Sky Sports 4 HD on June 28th and April 29th respectively. Also, let’s not forget that Virgin will also be getting Tivo functionality into their hardware too!
Hilary Perchard, Sky’s director of product management, said, “While other TV platforms are only now recognising the growing demand for HD, we’re excited to extend our leadership even further and look forward to reaching our next milestone, of 50 HD channels, by Christmas.”
Some Sky HD subscribers have already set up access to the ITV HD channel through unofficial means obviously (it’s very useful for the ITV-based football games), however for the conventional user, this is certainly an advancement many have been waiting for. I myself am extremely disappointed with the lack of HD content from broadcasters other than Sky. BBC HD features hardly any of the top shows which I would love to have in HD, we only just got Top Gear in HD in the last series after all.
Therefore, I think ITV are right to launch these HD channels. The demand for high definition content is booming across the UK since its inception into mainstream television particularly through Sky. Once viewers have witnessed the sheer difference in quality, they don’t want to be forced back to standard definition terrestrial channels.
In my experience, having bought a Samsung LED HDTV and subscribed to Sky HD a fair while ago, it just seems as though standard definition stands out like a sore thumb on such a display. Comparisons are easily made when switching back and forth between HD and non HD and it’s obvious to me, that there is absolutely no comparison.
ITV1 HD will be available on freesat channel 119, Freeview 51, Sky 178 and Virgin 113 with a release date of April 2010.
Via – Guardian
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is it me or are sky just being greedy,without any thought or the the viewing public.yes they have more hd channels than anyone else ,but to veiw all of them you have to subscribe to everything,and if you have 1 multiroom, the cost is even more. £78+ per month. broken down this is – movies pack,all entertainments pack, all sports pack and multiroom x1, and you have to pay for hd on each box,thats an extra £30 per month to have hd in both rooms,to high a price in my opinion, Of course, you do get an added channel in the guise of MGM hd.
I do however have a better solution to the (sky) high price of sky,-, buy an LED tv, the picture quality is outstanding,and is in fact, to the eye,on a par to HD on either an LCD or plasma tv.Even the difference between BBC SD and BBC HD is hard to notice on an LED tv. Prices may be high at the moment but will in the near future ,come down to near that to equal LCD or plasma,
Tell SKY to shove their hd channels, BUY an LED TV, and stop feeding their pockets