ITV was meant to complete its rollout of HD channels on satellite by the end of November.
- Broadcaster now aiming to launch missing HD channels on Tuesday 12th December, ahead of Sky Christmas platform freeze.
- HD rollout completion means every ITV1 region broadcasting in HD on Sky satellite and Freesat, plus every sister channel in HD.
The broadcaster originally planned to launch the missing HD regions in November, but fell behind with tests only appearing at the end of the month.
In an update, ITV says it plans to launch Border Scotland HD and Channel Television HD on Sky satellite and Freesat on Tuesday 12th December.
The timing is crucial, as Sky will shortly freeze its platform for Christmas. As a result, any services wanting to join or leave the platform need to do it by next week or wait until after Christmas.
Once launched, ITV1 will become universally available in HD on channel 103.
In addition to launching the last outstanding ITV1 regions in HD, ITV is also preparing to launch ITVBe in HD on satellite for the first time.
Freeview and Virgin Media viewers are not affected by these changes.
Marc Thornham