BBC and ITV to offer HDTV via satellite in 2006?
Yesterday’s big satellite story was that the BBC and ITV are to team up to offer a satellite delivered free digital service for all those who can't access the Freeview digital terrestrial signals. Freesat is likely to launch in the early part of next year which oddly enough should see it hitting the space birds at the same time that Sky’s HD service debuts. It doesn’t take too much of a genius to realise that the chances of the BBC and ITV putting high definition programming on the satellites are pretty high. Both companies have plenty of HD footage to screen and both are dead keen that Sky doesn’t grab all the HD limelight and the public knows that they are into the format too.
It seems I am not the only person thinking this way. Barry Flynn over at IDTV makes the same point but adds that ‘The BBC and ITV also be able to piggy-back on BSkyB's HDTV decoders, since by law Sky set-top boxes have to allow "free passage" to free-to-air signals - and that includes HDTV. What will be interesting to see is if a UK market in free-to-air HDTV satellite decoders emerges alongside free-to-air standard-definition ones, separate from BSkyB HD boxes.'
Until there's a compression system that makes HD via digital terrestrial a real possibility or HD via the web gets up and running, HD via satellite is the only option for the BBC and ITV. I expect them to grab it with both hands.
if sky have to let free to air signals pass via there satellite, then how come you can see channel4 e4 etc and channel 5, unless you have a receiver with one of there cards in the slot? i have a humax hdci2000 and i cant get 4 or 5. its pretty annoying, although it means i cant get big brother, which is a bonus
Posted by: dave smith | June 21, 2006 1:44 PM