Three years after the BBC became the first national public broadcaster to shut down its standard definition (SD) services on satellite, the UK’s fifth network will follow on Tuesday.
- SD simulcast continued despite mass HD switchover in 2023-24
- Switch-off expectedly to be barely noticed by satellite viewers
- Just two public service broadcasters continue to distribute main services in SD on satellite
Sky will remove the standard definition version of 5 from its satellite platform on Tuesday 3 March, almost ten years after 5 made its HD channel available on a free-to-air basis.
The move takes place three years after the BBC began to transition viewers to HD-only broadcasting on the digital satellite platform. ITV and Channel 4 followed in late 2024.
5 SD has continued to be available on Sky Q and Sky+HD channel 805, with the primary service on channel 105 in HD. However, the service has served next to no purpose in recent years. In 2024, ITV estimated no more than 1% of homes still relied on SD services. Sky subsequently made changes to its own services that rendered its first generation receivers unable to receive its pay TV channels.
Freesat already only carried 5 in HD. Although it never officially dropped support for older SD-only boxes, many of which were distributed to vulnerable and elderly viewers as part of the digital switchover helpscheme between 2008 and 2012, SD receivers effectively became redundant after the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 made changes to their satellite broadcasts.
Offshoot channels remain SD-only on satellite
Unlike the BBC and ITV, 5 only transmits its main channel in HD via satellite. HD access to its offshoot channels, including 5ACTION and 5USA is exclusive to internet-based TV services, including Sky Stream.
Paramount-owned 5 is also the last major broadcaster to continue broadcasting its services in the older DVB-S broadcast standard. Its competitors have already switched to the more efficient DVB-S2 standard. This has allowed broadcasters to either migrate more services to HD or to reduce satellite capacity, reducing distribution costs.
Last remaining PSB SD channels
STV and S4C are the last remaining public service broadcasters (PSBs) offering their main channels in SD on satellite. ITV’s timeshift channels and Channel 4 and 5 offshoots in SD do not count as PSB channels under current rules.
Why STV has retained SD broadcasts on satellite
STV continues to offer two regional variants of its channels (serving the Dundee and Edinburgh areas) in standard definition for Freesat users.
This is because the more bandwidth-intensive HD versions of both regions can’t currently be accommodated on UK spotbeam satellite capacity. To avoid broadcast rights issues incurred by Europe-wide free-to-air transmission, both channels are encrypted and only available on Sky. STV’s planned reduction of regional output for Dundee and Edinburgh may solve this anomaly by making the two SD regions redundant.
Why is S4C still in SD on satellite?
The rationale behind S4C’s ongoing SD satellite transmission is less clear.
In 2024, S4C warned Ofcom about the cost of broadcasting on Freeview as more viewers switched to internet-delivered TV. In its submission to Ofcom, it said it would be difficult to justify responsible use of S4C’s public funds as viewing declined.
Despite this concern over the use of public funds, S4C continues to transmit in SD on satellite for the benefit of zero SD-only satellite homes. That’s because S4C SD is broadcast on satellite using the DVB-S2 broadcast standard. SD satellite receivers don’t support DVB-S2.
S4C is HD-only on Freesat. On Sky Q and Sky+HD, S4C SD duplicates the service available in HD on channel 104 (134 in England/NI, 135 in Scotland).
By: Marc Thornham | Image: Paramount