Ahead of January’s standard definition switch-off, ITV is now preparing to broadcast the full complement of its ITV1 regions in HD, as well as one new HD channel.
- Border Scotland and Channel Television ITV regions preparing to switch to HD.
- Offshoot channel ITVBe launching in HD on Sky and Freesat.
- ITV will switch off some SD services in January.
Within days every ITV channel will be available in HD on satellite for the first time ever.
Border Scotland, Channel Television and ITVBe HD have started testing on the Astra 2G satellite ahead of their addition on the Freesat and Sky satellite channel guides.
Similar to the rollout of BBC HD regions earlier this year, only a short test period is planned before the channels are added to Sky and Freesat.
Once live on Sky satellite and Freesat, ITV1 HD will be available on channel 103 as standard in all ITV regions via satellite. And ITVBe will officially upgrade to HD, nine years after launching.
ITV Channel Television has been HD ready for some time, but hasn’t had an outlet for its HD service.
ITVBe gets HD upgrade
ITVBe is the last remaining ITV offshoot service to have never broadcast in HD via satellite. This has previously given cable and streaming services an advantage.
The imminent launch of ITVBe in HD completes the portfolio of ITV’s satellite TV channels in HD. The impending launch comes just over a year after ITV made ITV2 HD, ITV3 HD and ITV4 HD free-to-air.
Following the test period, ITVBe HD will automatically appear on the current ITVBe channel slot on Sky Q, Sky+HD and Freesat HD receivers, replacing the standard definition version. The date for the change hasn’t yet been confirmed.
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ITV/STV/UTV satellite manual tuning frequencies
The launch of the two remaining ITV1 HD regions is a pre-requisite for the closure of the SD versions of Border Scotland and Channel, plus Wales and Ulster (UTV) in January. ITV confirmed the move late last month.
The SD closure will result in three further slots being cleared from Astra 2E transponder 53 (10891 H). This is an addition to the slot formerly used by CITV. Meanwhile, one slot is removed from Astra 2E transponder 54 (10906V), with the removal of Channel TV.
ITV hasn’t yet confirmed when its other SD services will be switched off.
According to ITV, the switch-off affects a very small number of people with SD-only set-top boxes. Around 98% of digital satellite homes across Sky and Freesat can already receive HD channels. The BBC is turning off all of its SD channels on satellite in just over a month’s time.
Freeview
For terrestrial TV viewers, ITV1 HD is still not fully regionalised. This means some viewers will see different regional news programmes. Currently, ITV1 HD is not carried on Freeview in the Channel Islands, leaving a blank slot on channel 103.