LATEST INDUSTRY NEWS - HIGH DEFINITION (HD)

Sky HD `on track' for May 22 launch

BSkyB has said that the first installations of its high definition receivers will take place on May 22. Speaking at the satellite broadcaster's third quarter results, CEO James Murdoch said the company was completing the final preparations for the launch of Sky HD, which would be followed in the summer by the first residential broadband services.

Sky, which has begun rounding off its subscriber numbers, said that 40,000 new customers were added in the first three months of 2005, bringing the total to 8,099,000. The figure was at the lower end of analyst expectations, which also expressed concern at an increase in churn to 11.4%. There was positive news from the Sky+ personal video recorder, which added 149,000 subscribers, the highest number of new homes in a non-Christmas quarter.

9 May 2006

HD for Sky Italia

SKY Italia has unveiled its planning for the launch this month in Italy
of its new SKY HD package.

In order to support its expansion into HDTV, SKY Italia began leasing
an additional HOT BIRD transponder taking its total capacity used across Eutelsat's HOT BIRD satellites to 18 transponders. The new service will launch on 17 May with live coverage of the European Champions League Cup Final.

In June, SKY Italia will provide full coverage of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Broadcasting in DVB S2 with MPEG4 compression, SKY Italia will be able to accommodate up to five HDTV channels in a single HOT BIRD transponder.

Following World Cup, SKY Italia will launch its HD bouquet, with channels dedicated to movies, sports and general entertainment. Access to the SKY HD package will cost E7 per month, in addition to the main subscription. Subscriptions will be available from 8 May.

3rd May 2006

Sky HD on sale from April 12

Sky has announced that its high definition television service will be
made available to the general public next Wednesday (April 12). The broadcaster has launched a website and a dedicated phone line to take orders for the installation. Customers will pay £299 for the Thomson-manufactured box and an additional £10 per month on top of their regular Sky subscription.

In addition to its HD capability, the terminal will also be equipped with
160GB storage space, allowing for 30 hours of HD programming or 80 hours of standard definition recordings.

13 april 2006 at 14:00

BBC confirms HD World Cup and Wimbledon

The BBC is to broadcast its 2006 World Cup football coverage and major Wimbledon tennis matches in high definition this summer as part of technical and audience evaluation trial, which begins with the BBC's allocation of World Cup matches up to and including the final. World Cup 2006 will be the first major sporting event to be broadcast in HD in the UK. The trial will continue with Wimbledon matches from Centre Court and Court One.

BBC HD will start broadcasting on Monday 15 May with a test stream previewing forthcoming programmes. The first live HD programme will be the opening World Cup match. In all, trial will last for about twelve months. It will enable the BBC to test technical delivery of HD and to understand how the audience values a BBC HD service. Any ongoing BBC HD service will be subject to approval by the BBC Trust.

BBC director of sport Roger Mosey said that high definition worked particularly well for sport, adding that although only limited numbers of people will be able to see this trial, the BBC hoped it would be a glimpse of the future." Head of BBC HD TV, Seetha Kumar, expressed her belief that in the long term, the BBC could help provide the benefits of HD to everyone, free to air, in the same way that it backed colour, stereo, widescreen and online in the past. "With this trial, the BBC is taking the first crucial steps to support the development of HD broadcasting in the UK,"

The BBC will provide its HD trial stream on all technically capable platforms, including satellite and cable, once available, from commercial providers. Although it is not currently possible to provide HD transmissions on digital terrestrial service Freeview because of limited spectrum, the BBC will run a simultaneous technical on the platform. That trial will be confined to few hundred trial households in London.

29 march 2006 at 19:00

United Kingdom - ITV to join HD/DTT trial

Broadcaster ITV has announced plans to participate in this summer's DTT HDTV trial to take place in London. Other broadcasters participating in the trial include BBC, Channel 4 and Channel Five.
The six-month HD/DTT trial will try to gain a better understanding of
terrestrial HD broadcasting given the limited amount of frequencies available and will test a range of consumer equipment. The trial will use local frequencies in London based on a test and development licence allocated by the broadcast regulator Ofcom.

Five hundred volunteers will participate in the trial and be able to access a selection of specially recorded HD programming, including live World Cup coverage from Germany.

According to Simon Fell, controller of emerging technologies at ITV, "ITV is already commissioning and recording a wide range of HD programming. This trial will allow us to evaluate the technology and give us valuable insight into viewer attitudes to HD, helping to show the possibilities for HD broadcasts over DTT post-switchover."

www.digitag.org
13 april 2006 at 14:00