Enjoy the more popular HD channel line up including BBC HD, ITV1 HD and Channel 4 HD. Plus, get up to 50 channels and 24 radio stations available with standard Freeview.

Note: as we are in no way connected with Freeview HD we are able to offer impartial and unbiased advice, opinions and reviews.

The majority of viewers will come into coverage at the same time that they go through digital switchover – including viewers in Manchester covering Preston, Blackburn, Bolton, Manchester and Liverpool in December 2009 and those in Cardiff, who will get Freeview HD by the end of March 2010. For the 7% of the UK population who switched before December 2009, a retrofit programme will bring them into coverage before the end of November 2010. 

Remember: To receive Freeview HD you must wait until Freeview HD has been enabled in your area this could happen before your official digital switchover date as the Freesat HD rollout has been accelerated.

Please check your post code with the Freeview HD free tool
before purchasing any Freeview HD product just to be sure!

HD programmes have already begun to be broadcast on Freeview in parts of the country and HD Freeview boxes will be available in the shops shortly.

Ofcom’s consultation asks whether the BBC, through its subsidiary Freeview, should be granted a change to its multiplex licence

According to Ofcom, the BBC’s proposals would allow it to require the use of content management technology in HD receivers to control the way films and TV shows are copied on to Blu-ray and DVDs and shared with others over the internet.

Under the BBC proposals, viewers would still be able to record the BBC’s and other free to air broadcasters HD content on to their digital video recorders.

The BBC argues that this would ensure that rights holders, such as film and TV production companies, provide the widest possible range of HD content on the digital terrestrial TV platform.

The consultation closes on 2 April 2010.

The full proposal can be seen on the Ofcom Website

In order to bring the benefits of HD on Freeview to as many people as quickly as possible, the Freeview HD rollout has been accelerated with an advance network so that viewers in London, Glasgow, Newcastle, Leeds, Bradford and Birmingham receive signals by the end of March 2010.

The majority of viewers will come into coverage at the same time that they go through digital switchover – including viewers in Manchester in December 2009 and those in Cardiff, who will get Freeview HD by the end of March 2010. For the 7% of the UK population who switched before December 2009, a retrofit programme will bring them into coverage before the end of November 2010.

New DVB-T2 technology will deliver an increase in capacity of 67% to the BBC’s Multiplex B, efficiently creating the space needed for UK public service broadcasters’ HD transmissions. The UK will be the first country in the world to launch this new standard, and its successful implementation is the result of pioneering work by the BBC in collaboration with partners including Ofcom, Arqiva, Siemens and receiver manufacturers. To view Freeview HD, audiences will need equipment containing this new technology. Freeview HD receivers (set-top boxes, digital television recorders and integrated televisions) will be available from early 2010.

From January 2010, viewers will be able to use the Freeview website to find out when HD services will be available at their postcode. The BBC is also working closely with Digital UK to ensure that information about Freeview HD is made available as part of digital switchover communications.

Caroline Thomson, the BBC’s chief operating officer, said:

“This is a terrific step forward, and it’s a great achievement that the BBC and its partners have been able to work together to overcome some really difficult technical challenges to bring HD to the Freeview platform through world-leading innovation. We’re really excited about the prospect of seeing BBC HD and HD channels from the other public service broadcasters on Freeview next year.”

Ilse Howling, Freeview’s Managing Director, said:

“This is great news for the millions of Freeview homes and viewers who are looking forward to getting high definition with no subscription next year.”

Richard Lindsay-Davies, Director General of the Digital TV Group (DTG), the organisation that publishes the technical specification for Freeview and Freeview HD, said:

“This is a landmark moment in UK broadcasting history. The launch of Freeview HD consolidates the UK’s position as a global leader in the deployment of digital television services.

While this is a fantastic technical achievement the success of any service is defined by the consumer experience. The World Cup in 2010 will be a key driver for Freeview HD take-up and broadcasters, platform operators and the consumer electronics industry have worked hard to ensure that it can be enjoyed in high definition on the Freeview platform.”

[1] 1.5% of the population are unable to receive any Freeview services; these audience members have the option of using the Freesat service.

Timetable (Freeview HD signal availability commences at switchover unless otherwise stated)

England

Area – transmitter group – date

Manchester, Winter Hill, 2 December 2009
London, Crystal Palace, 2 December 2009 – advance network
Newcastle and Tyneside, Pontop Pike, February 2010 – advance network
Leeds/Bradford, Emley Moor, March 2010 – advance network
Birmingham, Lichfield, March 2010 – advance network
Liverpool, central Lancashire, Cheshire, north Staffordshire, Winter Hill relays, March 2010 – retrofit
Exeter, parts of Devon, Somerset, Dorset, Stockland Hill, April 2010 – retrofit
Bristol, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Mendip, April 2010
Devon, Cornwall, and the Isles of Scilly, Beacon Hill, Caradon Hill, Huntshaw Cross, Redruth August 2010 – retrofit
Cumbria and the Lake District, Caldbeck, October 2010 – retrofit

Then Freeview HD rolls out with the rest of the switchover programme, so:

2011 – Bedfordshire, Berkshire (parts), Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, East Anglia, East Midlands, East Yorkshire, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Humberside, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, Shropshire, South Yorkshire, Staffordshire (parts), Stoke-on-Trent, West Midlands (remainder), and West Yorkshire (remainder).

2012 – Berkshire (remainder), County Durham, Greater London (remainder), Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Northumberland, North Yorkshire, Surrey, Sussex, Teesside, Tyneside.

Wales

Cardiff, Newport, Wenvoe, March 2010
Swansea, Kilvey Hill, March 2010 – retrofit
West and central Wales, Blaenplwyf, March 2010
Carmarthenshire, Carmel, April 2010 – retrofit
Rest of Wales, Long Mountain, Moel y Parc, Presely mid-June 2010 – retrofit
Anglesey, Llanddona, July 2010 – retrofit

Wales will have switched over to digital and the roll-out of Freeview HD will be complete by the end of July 2010.

Scotland

Glasgow, central Scotland, Black Hill, February 2010 – advance network
Shetland, Bressay, May 2010
Orkney, Keelylang Hill, May 2010
Caithness, North Sutherland, Rumster Forest, mid-June 2010
Lewis, Wester Ross, North West Sutherland, Western Isles, Eitshal Skriaig, July 2010
Angus, Dundee, Perth, and parts of Fife, Angus, August 2010
Aberdeenshire, Durris, September 2010
Morayshire, Strathspey, and parts of Easter Ross, Knockmore, October 2010
South West Scotland, Caldbeck Scotland, October 2010
Inverness and the Great Glen, Rosemarkie, October 2010
South West Highlands and Islands, Torosay, October 2010
Scottish Borders, Selkirk, November 2010 – retrofit

Then Freeview HD rolls out with the rest of the switchover programme so that the whole of Scotland is switched over to digital and will be able to receive Freeview HD by the end of Q2, 2011.

Northern Ireland

Freeview HD rolls out with the rest of the switchover programme so that the whole of Northern Ireland is switched over to digital and will be able to receive Freeview HD by the end of 2012.

Other areas

Isle of Man, Douglas, October 2010 – retrofit
Channel Islands, Fremont Point, end 2010

Source: BBC Press Release

Ofcom’s decision to award a HD licence to Channel 5 is subject to it resolving certain key criteria related to its application. These must be resolved by the 31 December 2009.

Today’s announcement follows a tender process which attracted two bids; one from Channel 5 and the second from Channel 4 and Welsh-language broadcaster S4C. Ofcom considered that both bids were of high quality but that after careful consideration decided that the application from Channel 5 fulfilled the various criteria more fully than the application from Channel 4 and S4C.

This decision should mean that Channel 5 will join the other public service broadcasters, the BBC, the Channel 3 licensees (ITV, stv and UTV), and Channel 4 and S4C, in launching four HD services on DTT in total.

In April 2008, Ofcom announced that it would instigate the reorganisation of the DTT platform to allow the broadcasters to free-up capacity in order to enable the upgrade of one Multiplex to new and more efficient technologies, to offer new HD services.

The initial first three HD services are expected to begin with the Granada region from late 2009. The rest of the UK will follow as each region switches to digital with nationwide coverage by 2012.

Ofcom is also talking to the BBC with a view to allowing HD services to be launched in other parts of the UK in advance of this timetable by the use of temporary frequency assignments at a number of main transmission sites.

To access these new HD services on DTT, viewers will need a HD ready TV set and a HD ready set-top box. By the end of the first quarter of 2009, the number of households with access to a HD service via cable and satellite rose to an all time high, with over 1.8 million in total.

BEST OF FIVE IN HD
Channel 5’s application initially involves simulcasting its main public services channel programmes at peak time on HD. This means that popular programmes such as The Gadget Show, UEFA Europa League, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and blockbuster movie premiers could become available in HD from late 2010.

In the future, Channel 5 predicts sharing its HD channel with another broadcaster during daytime hours and supplying other services, such as Video on Demand in HD overnight.

AVAILABILITY OF HD PROGRAMMES AND DIGITAL SWITCHOVER
HD services on DTT will start to become available across the UK as digital switchover happens in each region. We expect that the first region in which the HD services will become available will be the Granada region in late 2009.

As part of their applications all the broadcasters who have been awarded capacity, including Channel 5, have committed to ensuring that viewers are suitably informed about the new services as switchover takes place.

Regions that have already switched to digital such as Border, the West Country and parts of Wales will be upgraded retrospectively.

UPGRADING DTT FOR HD
The upgrade includes using two new broadcasting standards, known as MPEG-4 and DVB-T2 which are not available on current DTT devices. Many of the leading UK and international manufacturers are now developing receivers that include these new standards.

Although compatible receivers are not yet available we are aware from discussions with manufacturers that they are now developing suitable equipment with the intention of launching initial products in time for digital switchover in the Granada region in late 2009.

Digital terrestrial TV programmes are broadcast on six distinct sets of airwaves called multiplexes. Ofcom will facilitate the reorganisation of existing services onto five of the multiplexes, freeing the sixth multiplex to be upgraded to MPEG-4 and DVB-T2 for the new services. This multiplex is currently licensed to BBC Free to View Ltd (known as Multiplex B).

Philip Graf, Chairman of Ofcom’s Content Board said:

“This gives Channel 5 the opportunity to join the other public service broadcasters in providing new services for viewers. It means more choice for TV viewers who will be able to watch in high definition popular programming, free to air through their television aerials.”

Source Ofcom