BBC Trust begins public value test for permanent HD channel
The BBC Trust has just launched a public value test for the proposal of a permanent high definition BBC TV channel. This will include two periods of public consultation, and aims to determine the public value of such a service, and its market impact.
The current proposal is for a single, mixed-genre channel that takes 50% of its content from BBC One, 30% from BBC Two, and the remaining 20% from the BBC's digital channels.
Initially it would air for 3 or 4 hours per day, increasing to a full 9-hour schedule running from 3pm to midnight.
The BBC seems committed to providing this HD over Digital Terrestrial TV once the analogue switchover is completed in 2012. Until then, it plans to air BBC HD over DTT between 2am and 6am using capacity from a number of its existing standard definition Freeview channels including BBC Four, BBC Parliament, and three BBCi streams. Of course, consumers would require new equipment in order to pick up this new HD channel.
It's another piece in the interesting jigsaw that is, or could be, the future of free-to-air high definition TV. Other possibilities include doubling Freeview bandwidth, and the long-awaited launch of Freesat.
