ITV1 HD to launch in April

by Parm Mann on 12 March 2010, 12:48

Tags: Sky+HD, Virgin (NASDAQ:VMED), Freeview, Freesat

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3D TV is now on the horizon, but high definition - the buzz word of yesteryears - today took a major step with confirmation that ITV's first dedicated HD channel - ITV1 HD - will launch on April 2nd.

The launch will see ITV1 HD replace ITV's red-button HD service on Freeview and Freesat, and following years of negotiation, the standalone channel will also be made available via BSkyB and Virgin Media.

Arriving in time for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the introduction of ITV1 HD will ensure that the vast majority of the 64 World Cup games - taking place between June 11th and July 11th - will be shown in high definition on either BBC HD or ITV1 HD. Due to the condensed schedule earlier in the competition, eight group-stage matches are expected to be shown in standard definition on BBC interactive or ITV2, ITV3 or ITV4.

Acting as a simulcast of ITV1, ITV1 HD will air the "majority of peak time content" - including popular shows such as Law and Order: UK, The Prisoner, Foyles War, Survival with Ray Mears, and Britain’s Got Talent - in native high definition, whilst other ITV1 shows will be upscaled.

Meanwhile, BSkyB has also today announced that in addition to ITV1 HD, it will make available Sky Sports 4 HD and Hallmark HD to subscribers of its premium Sky+HD service. The channels, expected to launch on April 29th and June 28th, respectively, will raise the number of Sky HD channels to over 40, with the broadcaster planning to reach 50 by Christmas 2010.

As of April 2nd, ITV1 HD will be available on Freeview channel 51, Freesat channel 119, Sky channel 178 and Virgin Media channel 113.


Press releases:
New ITV1 HD channel available on Freesat, Freeview, Sky and Virgin
Watch the World Cup in HD with Virgin Media and ITV
Sky Extends High Definition Leadership with HD Channel Milestone



HEXUS Forums :: 7 Comments

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nice we will have a whole two HD channels on free sat now instead of one and a bit!!!!!!
You can already get ITV HD if you are on SkyHD and have the updated firmware from sky on your box, instructions on how to to this can be found here:

http://www.avforums.com/forums/sky-hd/1112934-itvhd-how-whats.html
Oh nice! I'd just about given up on getting ITV HD to work properly on my Linux Media server. This should make it much easier to setup :)
Still waiting for DVB-T2 card…
Mark@SCAN;1890061
You can already get ITV HD if you are on SkyHD and have the updated firmware from sky on your box, instructions on how to to this can be found here:

http://www.avforums.com/forums/sky-hd/1112934-itvhd-how-whats.html

That's only part time. The new ITV HD will be broadcasting ITV 1 in HD :)

I would of prefered to have a ITV HD which picks out the best of ITV programming to go HD like BBC HD does. There is a lot of good ITV2 stuff which should be available in HD.