CNBC is the latest channel to cease standard definition distribution on Freesat as viewers encouraged to make the switch to HD compatible receivers.
- Comcast-owned business news channel upgrades Freesat signal to HD on Freesat channel 210
- Older Freesat receivers will no longer be able to select CNBC from the channel list.
- Further standard definition (SD) switch-offs coming up on Freesat.
CNBC has become the 11th channel in Freesat’s news section to go HD this week.
In the process it has directly migrated to HD without offering a SD simulcast. As a result, viewers still using older Freesat boxes currently can now only receive four news channels. Over the past five years, news broadcasters have led the way in dropping SD channels, or launching without ever having had a SD outlet.
CNBC is the Comcast-owned global business news channel with round-the-clock coverage of the markets during the week. At the weekend, CNBC showcases a range of executive sports and NBC late night shows. The UK/Ireland feed shows Late Night with Seth Meyers in place of The Tonight Show, as Sky has the UK/Ireland rights.
Viewers with an HD-compatible Freesat device, which is broadly every Freesat receiver built in the last decade, should have been automatically upgraded.
SD switch-off
But viewers still using an older Freesat box will no longer see the channel. There are now just four channels in the Freesat news category still broadcast in SD: BBC News, BBC Parliament, Sky News and TRT World.
The two BBC services will cease to be available in SD within months, as the BBC will be ending SD satellite broadcasts in early 2024.
The broadcaster is currently running a helpscheme in conjunction with Freesat to encourage viewers to switch to a Freesat HD receiver.
Further broadcasters are also expected to confirm arrangements to close SD simulcasts in due course.
Sky
Sky has offered CNBC in HD on Sky+HD and Sky Q receivers for a number of years. For the time being, CNBC is still broadcasting in SD off the Electronic Programme Guide (EPG) on the Astra 2G satellite. This is for the benefit of older Sky SD boxes. A date for the removal of CNBC SD on Sky hasn’t yet been disclosed.