By Spring next year, viewers in England will be able to receive ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ One HD for their region and not have to tune away to watch their local news and programming. This, coupled with upgrades to ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ channels that aren’t currently available on some devices in HD, will mean viewers will get a more easily accessible, better quality experience when watching ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ programmes from early next year.
People will soon be able to watch ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ One in high definition without having to switch over to the current standard-definition versions for their local programming, following the roll-out of ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ One HD in England.
Where possible, the regional version of ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ One HD will also be easier to find, in the top slot (1/101) of the electronic programme guide (EPG).
The ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ aims for the rollout of ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ One HD in England for Freeview, Sky, YouView and Freesat viewers to be complete by April 2023. And for satellite viewers on Sky and Freesat, the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ will be completing the HD upgrade to the rest of its channels - adding HD versions of ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Two Northern Ireland, ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ ALBA and ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Parliament. The ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ already broadcasts ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ One in HD in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland on the digital terrestrial (Freeview, YouView) and digital satellite platforms (Sky, Freesat).
Kieran Clifton, ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Director of Distribution says: “By Spring next year, viewers in England will be able to receive ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ One HD for their region and not have to tune away to watch their local news and programming. This, coupled with upgrades to ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ channels that aren’t currently available on some devices in HD, will mean viewers will get a more easily accessible, better quality experience when watching ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ programmes from early next year.â€
Today’s news follows the roll-out of regional versions of ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ One HD on newer internet-connected platforms including Sky’s Glass, Virgin Media Cable and Stream platforms and more recently BT’s TV Box Pro and TV Box Mini.
In order to deliver the HD improvements to viewers with Freesat and Sky devices, the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ will be making some changes which will mean local programmes will no longer be available in standard-definition. More information can be found here and at a special website URL set up in association with Freesat, the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½â€™s joint venture satellite platform.
IW