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News taken from BBC Trust website

The BBC is to launch a high definition (HD) version of BBC One on DTT, cable and satellite later in the year, following the BBC Trust’s approval of proposals from the Executive.

In addition, the Trust also agreed an extension of daily hours on the existing, dedicated BBC HD channel from an average of nine hours to 12 hours a day. These changes are reflected in amended service licences for BBC One and the BBC HD channel, published today.

BBC Trust Chairman Sir Michael Lyons said:

The launch of a high definition simulcast of BBC One is great news for audiences. As we move towards digital switchover, this is a high-profile commitment to the provision of HD services, which will help to fulfil the BBC’s public purpose of delivering to the public the benefit of new technologies. And this is possible within existing channel budgets, meaning excellent value for licence fee payers.

In taking this decision, the Trust took careful account of the implications of the proposals, including noting that adverse impact on other broadcasters was likely to be minimal, that neither change represents a new area of activity for the BBC, and that the changes can be made within the agreed budget range for each channel.

Despite the overall benefits of a universally available HD simulcast of BBC One for audiences, the Trust also recognised that technical and financial constraints currently prevent additional variations, and asked the BBC Executive to take steps to minimise the effects of this on viewers in the nations and regions.

(Thanks to member ‘Soul4real’ for the link)

Good news for all you car fans, Top Gear will be available in stunning high-definition on BBC HD from November 15th.

The announcement was made today by Danielle Nagler, Head of BBC HD on the popular and pleasantly honest BBC Internet Blog.

The decision follows an amazing response to a question Danielle asked a couple of months earlier on which programmes we’d like to see most in HD; going to show that some heads of broadcast do indeed listen.

Press release from Freesat – 27th July 2009

ON YOUR MARKS…GET SET…GO! Introducing IAAF World Athletics Championship in HD on Freesat

Reach for your running shoes and sprint to the sofa, because this year’s World Championships in Athletics is coming to Freesat in high definition and subscription free. From Saturday 15th to Sunday 23rd August, the 12th IAAF World Athletics Championship airs on the BBC HD channel.

Olympic Champion Michael Johnson will join the BBC commentary team to report on the nine days of athletics action – disciplines ranging from Relay to Triple Jump and Javelin Throw to 5,000 Metres. Some of this year’s hopefuls include British runner Christine Ohuruogu, as well as American-born Allyson Felix and LaShawn Merritt.

Berlin Olympic Stadium is the host of these prestigious games and for the first time in its history the marathon and walking competitions will take place in Berlin’s city centre – all in brilliant high definition.

HD is perfect for watching all the high-speed athletic action, with a picture that is five times the quality of normal digital TV. This amazing event in pin-sharp HD has a staggering 1,800 athletes, 47 competitions and 24 disciplines, there should be no need for photo finishes. Freesat + also enables you to record, fast forward and rewind live TV, in case you want to re-live any of the best moments.

We were recently given the opportunity to present questions to Freesat on those topics we felt were of most interest to you; it was a little bit of rush to send them in so didn’t have the opportunity this time to ask what you wanted to know, but from reading through comments, we came up with the questions below which Freesat have kindly answers. No ground breaking responses unfortunately, especially on those questions related to the broadcasters as we’d need to hear from them directly; but worth a read anyway.

We had requested this FAQ session from noticing the change in viewers perceptive on what they now required from Freesat one year on; more HD content being top of most viewer’s wish lists, as well as increased product lines with new exciting products. We made the point to Freesat that the next year will be even more important than the first, not only in obtaining new customers but retaining existing ones too; we are sure they’ll be doing all they can to make Freesat even better, but don’t forget they are actively visiting this site so by all means leave your comments.

ITV HD had been promoted as “exclusive to Freesat” to help encourage uptake; what are Freesat’s thoughts on Sky now having access to ITV HD via the new EPG software? Have ITV HD decided upon a more open policy or should this not have been made possible? What are the potential impacts on Freesat uptake?

ITV HD remains an exclusive red button service on freesat. It is not listed on any Sky EPG and is only available to a small number of boxes via a complicated manual tune / scan.

HD sales have been a large percentage of all Freesat sales (approx. 80%). Could the reason for this as well as the obvious be that SD boxes have been so hard to obtain from Alba Group? Have Freesat been made aware of such lack of availability and are you doing anything to assist?

HD receivers have made up the majority of freesat sales from day one. We work closely with both manufacturers and retailers to try and ensure sufficient stock of all Freesat approved products is readily available. We are aware that recent demand for SD boxes has been high, particularly in some rural areas and those places to receive Freeview. As mentioned on Join Freesat, we are confident that increased volumes of stock will help meet the demand.

Are any other manufacturers in the frame for developing Freesat products (except Sony)? What restrictions are on current manufacturers?

All freesat products go through a strict product development process that enables freesat and partner manufacturers to maintain the highest quality of freesat approved receivers. We are in regular conversation with manufacturers across the industry and plan to launch new products later this year.

What was the original target figure for sales in the first 12 months? What is the target for the next 12 months?

Our sales targets are not public but we can confirm that we exceeded first year forecasts and are on course for continuing this strong growth through 2009.

Why wasn’t 200 channels reached when originally suggested for the first year?

The economic outlook has changed significantly since the early part of 2008 and it’s a challenging market for channels, retailers and manufacturers. We’ve already grown our line-up from around 80 channels at launch a year ago to over 140 today. We’re continuing to add channels all the time and will be launching IPTV catch-up and on-demand services in the future.

Why content of HD programming remains relatively small, especially from ITV?

HD TV production and distribution still remain expensive for broadcasters. Despite this Freesat shows up to 70 hours of HD programming per week for free. BBC HD has increased its scheduled hours twice since launch and is planning to increase them further in 2009. ITV shows peaktime programming in HD most nights of the week and is increasing the amount of HD programming available this year.

What are Freesat doing to pursue the possibility of additional channels joining, especially those such as C4HD, Fiver and Five US?

Freesat works tirelessly to bring more channels onto the platform. We’re committed to growing the amount of HD programming on Freesat and are in regular contact with broadcasters including Channel 4 and Five.

BBC have today added the Interactive service on their high definition channel (BBC HD channel 108).

Accessed via the red button, this service should allow for more features such as multi-screen of major HD events, plus text, information and much more.

As soon as we have confirmed uses for this service, we’ll let you know. Maybe Wimbledon multi-screen court action in HD?

The BBC have increased their high-definition content on BBC HD (channel 108) to 9 hours per day, 7 days per week. This combined with ITV HD means you will now be able to enjoy an average of 70 hours per week in glorious high-definition on Freesat.

Speaking on the BBC blog, Danielle Nagler, Head of BBC HD and BBC Vision said;

Those paying close attention may have noticed that for the first time today outside of a major event, the BBC HD schedule is up at 9 hours. That’s the full service that we have permission for from the BBC Trust, and from now on (until there is any extension to the service) the channel we plan to deliver to you.

We’ll start daily at 4pm, and run through to between 12.30 and 1.30 7 nights a week although we will of course still extend the channel hours when there are sporting or other events that fall outside those hours.

Danielle is known and respected for giving very honest reports of the goings on at BBC HD, and often welcomes comments, questions and suggestions to help improve BBC HD in the future. Danielle’s latest BBC blog post can be found here; an interesting read as always.

It’s great to see the BBC have increased their HD hours right up to the limit in which they are allowed at present, and goes a long way to prove the continued investment the BBC have in high-definition content. Well done to all concerned, keep up the good work.

I’ve been meaning to get around to this for ages, Snoods, a member of digitalspy, has been posting up screen-shots from BBC HD, ITV HD and Luxe HD since May 2008, showing just how amazing our high-definition channels can look when they make the effort.

I’d whole heartedly recommend you visit Snoods Freesat HD site on Flickr and see for yourself, a lot of effort goes into taking these screen-shots and uploading them, so the more people that see them, the better, and it may just encourage more avid television viewers to buy Freesat.

At present, BBC HD offer the most high-definition content on channel 108, with ITV HD still showing on average 2 hours per day via the red button on ITV1. Luxe HD is an FTA channel but presently not included on the Freesat EPG, you will have to add in ‘non-freesat’ mode. C4 HD will be a great addition once available hopefully this year.

(Sorry, couldn’t resist included an image of Torres rolling around on the floor!!!)

Great news for Freesat sports fans, the 2009 RBS 6 Nations home matches featuring England, Wales and Scotland will be available live and in high-definition (HD) from the BBC HD channel.

Kicking off on Saturday 7th February, the RBS 6 Nations tournament sees top teams from across Europe battle for the coveted silverware. With the BBC HD channel on Freesat, viewers can catch every scrum, kick and maul of the home matches in vivid HD, offering pictures five times the quality of standard definition.

The BBC HD channel (Freesat channel 108) will be showing all of the home matches including:

Saturday 7th February 2009 – England versus Italy
Sunday 8th February 2009 – Scotland versus Wales
Saturday 14th February 2009 – Wales versus England
Saturday 28th February 2009 – Scotland versus Italy
Saturday 14th March 2009 – Scotland versus Ireland
Sunday 15th March 2009 – England versus France
Saturday 21st March 2009 – England versus Scotland
Saturday 21st March 2008 – Wales versus Ireland

Make sure you buy your Freesat HD Digital Box in time, available from just £97.

For all those Formula One fans out there, it has been confirmed by Roger Mosey, BBC’s Director of Sport that the 2009 coverage on the BBC will not be available in high-definition.

In discussion with a number of comments made on his blog, Roger confirmed that whilst they’d very much like F1 in HD, it’s not available yet.

F1 won’t yet be available in HD though we’d very much like it to be. I’ll keep you posted.

When quizzed further into the reasons why, Roger stated that no HD world feed is presently available.

I’ve just spoken to our F1 team and they confirm that no HD world feed is available, though they say there may have been one or two experiments in the past and/or some “upconversion”. But we promise we’re not wilfully avoiding HD.

It’s a shame that F1 won’t be in HD this season, especially given how popular F1 has become over the last 2 years and it’s prominent place on BBC’s flagship channel for all races and qualifying, with red button interactive services for the practice days. It would have been great promotion for both BBC HD and Freesat, but some good news at least is that Roger Mosey hopes to have all BBC sports coverage in HD by 2012.

With 2009 fast approaching, what can we expect from Freesat in the new year? Our poll which continues on the left hand side would suggest that more than 50% of you want C4HD as a priority, but in reality will that happen? We know that C4HD is currently tied into agreement (encrypted) with Sky so unless they can terminate early, or the contract concludes in 2009, can we expect this channel at all in the coming year! We will continue to try and find out the in’s and out’s of the contract, but if anyone knows linked to C4 or Sky, let us know.

So what is more likely to appear in 2009? Well BBC are still promising the on-demand iPlayer, directly linked to your Freesat digital box via the Ethernet port. This seems likely to go ahead around spring time, assuming no further delays. Kangaroo looks dead in the water at this point.

Will we see more manufacturers on board? Possible, talks are on-going with a number of large manufacturers although given the current economic climate, this could be a little longer than expected. It’s certain that Metronic will have their HD digital box out soon, although retailing at £150 wouldn’t result in many sales. Metronic’s PVR receiver is also due within the first quarter of 2009, although again, this could be delayed given that the HD receiver from them already has. Alba Group are said to be developing a PVR too, but no timescale as yet, and rumours of Panasonic working on a combined PVR and Blu-ray player/recorder just won’t go away, although the official PR release at this stage is that nothing is in the pipe-line.

So what about other channels? Well Freesat’s target of 200 channels has not yet been reached, so the remaining FTA channels can certainly be expected in the coming months, although will this include FTA channels such as Sky News, we are still awaiting confirmation (don’t forget Sky News and others can be added in non-freesat mode). Will channel Five manage to find space on 2D to bring us Fiver and Five US, lets hope so. As for other channels, well many still expect that the line-up should/will match Freeview, but that’s highly unlikely, as channels such as Dave, UK Gold etc are tied into subscription contracts on DSAT with Sky, so unless these channels/networks can find ways of raising revenue through advertising rather than subscription, it’s not going to happen unless Freesat’s viewing audience substantially increases.

Most will no doubt agree that ITV HD need to drastically improve the quality and quantity of HD programming, at the very least to match a constantly improving BBC HD. Would ITV HD benefit from having a separate channel than using the existing red button facility? Maybe, but the possible downside of this would be access to the channel via Sky, which in-turn could reduce Freesat’s potential viewing figures.

Rather than expected, we hope that BBC and ITV can improve the quality of sound on Freesat, with many, if not all programmes being broadcast in stereo, rather than Dolby 5.1 allowing us to enjoy films etc in surround sound quality. This must surely be a priority?

The platform thus far has been largely successful, but lets hope for an even better year ahead for Freesat, with increased popularity and exposure.

Happy new year from all involved with joinfreesat.co.uk and thanks to all of you that have contributed over the past year.