Perhaps it's a knock on effect of the global rescession, but the latest report by the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising has found that TV viewing is at the highest it has been in 18 years.
Viewers watched an average of 3.75 hours of TV a day last year, the highest figure since 1992, according to IPA research.
As one would expect to find, the first and last quarters of the year, with less daylight and fewer people away on holiday, tended to show the highest television viewing figures.
Interestingly, the IPA revealed that only 8.2 % of UK households relied on an analogue signal to catch their favourite shows, showing that the digital switch-over is almost complete.
While ITV and GMTV gathered 19% of the total television audience in the last three months of 2009, likely thanks to the popularity of the X-Factor, BBC1 continued to achieve the highest share of all the terrestrial channels, at 21%. All five analogue channels continue to lose ground however, as multi-channel satellite options grow in prominence.
All the scrum crunching, drop kicking action of the 2010 6 Nations Rugby tournament will be broadcast in high-def, free of charge, thanks to Freesat HD and the BBC HD channel.
This year's 6 Nations rugby tournament will be broadcast on BBC HD from February 6th until the 20th of March, with Ireland and Italy squaring up in the first match.
It's a good year for Freesat HD-owning sports fans. They can also look forward to The World Cup on the BBC HD channel and ITV1 HD, as well as Winter Olympics, Golf Masters, Wimbledon, FA Cup and UEFA Champions league matches.
For more info, check out www.freesat.co.uk.
UK based TV manufacturers Cello launched their new iViewer TV range today.
Available in 32" and 26" sizes, the TV's are the first in the country to have BBC's iPlayer built in. Through a wireless or Ethernet connection, users can stream content straight from BBC's online platform onto their televisions, as well as offering widgets for news feeds, various web TV channels and YouTube content.
Web TV channels currently supported include Disney Movies Preview, Movie Rush, Autocar Magazine, Sky Sports Boots and All, the CNN daily video podcast, Jamie's Ministry of Food, Delicious TV Veg, Revision 3 Diggnation and the Larry King video podcast.
Users can also stream video and other media content directly from a networked PC to the Cello iViewer TV.
In terms of picture quality, the 32" 16:9 model will be capable of displaying full HD 1080p video, with a contrast ratio of 3000:1, and will include a pre-installed Freeview tuner. The 26 incher will also have a built in Freeview tuner, with a 1080i HD ready video output and a contrast ratio of 800:1.
I got to have a quick play around with the 32" model this morning and was impressed by the clear UI and simple navigation controls. The iViewer software has a dedicated remote button, and with plenty of connectivity options on the back, including two HDMI slots, two USB slots, composite/component inputs and a built in DVD player, £499 seems a very reasonable price. £399 will bag you the 26" model.
Though it's not a feature Cello are keen to officially promote (as they cannot guarantee its quality), the industrious among you can even hook up a keyboard and mouse and access a modest web-browser hidden within the iViewer software.
If Cello can keep updating the onboard Onyx software with content and fresh widgets, the iViewer TV could be the perfect bedroom telly.
Keep an eye out for these Marks and Spencer's exclusives within the next week.
The first technical transmissions of Freeview HD have begun today.
The Winter Hill transmitter group is currently beaming broadcasts to select areas of Manchester, with the Crystal Palace group doing the same for pockets of London. They are the first in the world to adopt the DVB-T2 standard and MPEG-4.
James Jackson, BBC head of broadcast infrastructure carried out a demonstration live at the BBC Media Centre. Promotional cuts from BBC HD and ITV HD broadcast by the Crystal Hill group were displayed using brand new IDTV's manufactured by Sony and Panasonic. Both channels were fully incorporated into the Freeview electronic programme guide.
Though the BBC broadcast was the same as is currently available on Freesat, ITV's offering was currently just an upscaled broadcast of the ITV1 channel. ITV have committed however to broadcast most of their top peak programme scheduling in full HD as the service becomes more widespread.
The BBC hope to have a national coverage of 50% for Freeview HD in time for the 2010 World Cup, reaching its maximum 98.5% national coverage by late 2012. Channel 4 also hope to launch a Freeview HD channel in the new year, with as many as five other HD channels in the wings from the network.
For news of when your area will be receiving Freeview HD broadcasts, click here.
With Freeview HD content just around the corner, we we're starting to worry whether or not we'd get our hands on a Freeview HD set-top box before the end of the year. Humax are now set to be first out of the starting blocks with their Fox-HD-T2 being unveiled on December 9th (though they won't be available to buy until early 2010).
Featuring an integrated DVB-T2 tuner (a must for picking up the HD Freeview signal), the box will not be compatible with the DVB-T system currently used by Freeview broadcasts.
Humax are also readying BBC iPlayer for the FOXSAT-HDR before Christmas.
Though details are scarce, Humax are also looking to roll-out a brand new EPG across its range of set-top boxes.
Looks like Humax are keeping themselves very busy. We'll have more details on these new developments after the December 9th launch date.
The BBC has announced that Sky, Virgin Media and Freesat users will now be able to access its interactive "red button" services direct from the BBC HD channel.
"We've launched it in time for Wimbledon so BBC HD viewers can now benefit from the full Wimbledon 2009 service, including live scores, news and a choice of live action from the All England Club. But of course it's not just Wimbledon - under the red button you'll find our text service including news, sport, weather, children's and more, as well."
The BBC has announced a new daytime drama featuring a stellar cast of British actors.
Land Girls is a five-part drama following the lives and loves of four girls away from home, doing their bit for Britain in the Women's Land Army.
Cast include Nathaniel Parker (The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, Bleak House), Christine Bottomley (Hope Springs, Massive, Early Doors), Sophie Ward (Holby City), Summer Strallen (Hollyoaks), Mark Benton (The Street), Danny Webb (Our Friends In The North), Jo Woodcock (Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, All The Small Things) and Becci Gemmell.
The BBC's high definition channel is set for a range of sporting and musical entertainment this summer, with initial details being published today.
Three major sporting events will have high definition coverage, along with two musical feasts.
The Queen's Tennis Championship takes place from 8th-14th June, followed by Wimbledon from 22nd June-5th July.
The BBC Proms season begins on 17th July and runs right through to the Last Night spectacular on 12th September.
Glastonbury festival weekend is 26th-28th June, while the Athletics World Championships runs from 15th-28th August.
The BBC has announced that a fourth series of Hotel Babylon will begin this June, broadcast in high definition on the BBC HD channel.
Regular cast members Dexter Fletcher, Emma Pierson, Michael Obiora, Martin Marquez, Ray Coulthard, Danira Govic and Alexandra Moen are joined by Nigel Harman as the hotel's new charismatic owner, Sam Franklin. His ex-wife and Babylon's General Manager, Juliet, is played by Anna Wilson-Jones.
New cast includes Amy Nuttall and Max Beesley.
Hop over the jump for full cast information.
As part of the BBC's coverage of this season's Last Night of the Proms and the associated "proms in the park", violinist Nicola Benedetti will perform at Glasgow's Proms in the Park 2009.
Nicola won the BBC Young Musician of the Year award in 2004 and Young British Classical Performer Award at the 2008 Classical Brits, and now performs across the globe. However, this is definitely a homecoming performance, as she was born in Ayrshire.
The BBC's ongoing commitment to high definition content across the genres continues with the news that two high-profile comedy shows will return in high definition.
Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow, due to begin on Saturday 6th June, is a new entertainment show featuring the best in stand up comedy.
From the team behind BBC One's Live At The Apollo, Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow travels around Britain, visiting six of the UK's most prestigious and iconic venues to introduce comedy's brightest new talent and finest comedians.
In each episode, Michael introduces a special guest headline act, plus three of the best stand ups from the UK comedy circuit, who will be new to a BBC One Saturday night audience. Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow keeps its finger firmly on the pulse of the booming UK comedy scene.
Other headline acts making an appearance across the series include Jason Manford, Shappi Khorsandi, Sean Lock, Patrick Kielty and Al Murray.
The first press release for Hope Springs, a new eight-part drama series for the BBC, came out at the end of April, but I've only just found out that this has been filmed in high definition and will air on the BBC HD channel from the first week of June.
Following the fortunes of Ellie, Hannah, Shoo and Josie, Hope Springs is a funny new family drama for the BBC about four fabulous ex-cons trying to go straight, starring acclaimed international actress Alex Kingston alongside Sian Reeves, Christine Bottomley and Vinette Robinson.
Other well-known stars include Annette Crosbie, Ronni Ancona, Paul Higgins and Alec Newman.
The BBC's new South Pacific documentary series for the first time captures super slow motion shots of big wave surfer Dylan Longbottom in a 12-foot monster barrel wave.
The BBC Natural History Unit has used a specially modified $100,000 TyphoonHD4 camera that can film at up to twenty times the frame rate of a standard high definition camera.
It required a special housing unit designed and built by German specialist high speed cameraman/technician Rudi Diesel. Until this film no one had ever tried using this type of camera underwater before. The film shows the awesome power of the waves from underwater and the spiraling vortices created by these huge waves.
If you're a Eurovision nut, you'll be pleased to hear that this year's Song Contest will be broadcast in glorious high definition.
Yes, all those glitzy glammed up costumes and amazing tunes will be available on the BBC HD channel from 8pm on Saturday, 16th May.
Graham Norton takes over from Terry Wogan to commentate the 54th contest, live from Moscow, as Jade Ewen flies the flag for the United Kingdom with Andrew Lloyd Webber's "It's My Time".
Following the BBC's recent upgrade of its iPlayer to incorporate high definition content, Virgin Media has announced that its customers can now get access to this additional HD content.
Executive director of content acquisition at Virgin Media, Katharine Burns Rivington, said, "As more households become HD Ready, we're keen to ensure that Virgin Media customers benefit from the most advanced digital TV service possible. BBC iPlayer has been a huge success on our TV platform and we're thrilled to be expanding the service with HD content. We're looking forward to increasing our line-up of broadcast HD channels over the next few months and combining the very best of HD and on demand TV."
Virgin Media customers will require the HD V+ set-top box as well as high definition TV in order to access the on demand content.
Classic British sitcom The Fall And Rise Of Reginald Perrin, originally starring the great Leonard Rossiter, has been revived by the BBC and begins showing this Friday on the BBC HD channel (9pm).
Starring Martin Clunes as Reggie Perrin, Fay Ripley, Wendy Craig, Geoffrey Whitehead, Neil Stuke and Lucy Liemann, and written by Simon Nye and David Nobbs, the six-part series follows Perrin, a sales executive on the edge.
Adobe has announced that a version of its Flash runtime software will be integrated into various Internet-connected televisions, set-top boxes, Blu-ray players and other home devices, with the intention of bringing partner content via the web into the home.
Partners will include Atlantic Records, Broadcom, Comcast, Disney Interactive Media Group, Intel, Netflix, STMicroelectronics, The New York Times Company, NXP Semiconductors and Sigma Designs.
Adobe claims that "consumers will be able to enjoy rich, interactive viewing experiences and amazing new ways to engage with HD content on televisions. Flash technology-based applications will allow users to quickly switch between television programming and Web content outside the Web browser."
A leading UK broadband comparison service has warned that users taking advantage of the BBC's new HD iPlayer could run into trouble with their Internet service provider.
Even on many unlimited broadband packages, fair usage policies apply which could see users either charged, speed throttled or facing dropped connections if they exceed certain download limits, particularly during peak times.
While the iPlayer certainly isn't the only application that can use a large amount of bandwidth over a short period of time, its move to high definition format means that more data needs to be shifted over an Internet connection.
In January, the BBC's head of digital media technology, Anthony Rose, said that the iPlayer would get high definition content later this year.
Today that's been confirmed.
Rose said that, "the new adaptive bitrate technology and speed diagnostics page help optimise the viewing experience, while the resizable window gives users flexibility to switch between different quality streams, hopefully leading to a more satisfying experience overall."
An exact launch date for the upgraded iPlayer service isn't specified, but we'll keep an eye out and let you know when it's ready.
Ahh, a four-day weekend beckons. Here's a look at some of the high definition highlights available across the UK channels this weekend.
Don't forget, you need Freesat in order to watch ITV HD, and either Sky or Freesat to watch BBC HD or Channel 4 HD.
Animation
Good Friday
10 April | Chicken Run
Classic Aardman Animations comedy with the voices of Mel Gibson, Julia Sawalha and Imelda Staunton | 4.20pm | BBC HD |
Good Friday
10 April | Wallace & Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death
Follows the plasticine pair running their own bakery business. | 8.30pm | BBC HD |
Easter Saturday
11 April | Finding Nemo
Animated underwater comedy | 5.10pm | BBC HD |
Easter Saturday
11 April | Persepolis
Animated drama based on graphic novel of Marjane Satrapi. | 11pm | Channel 4 HD |
Perhaps it's a knock on effect of the global rescession, but the latest report by the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising has found that TV viewing is at the highest it has been in 18 years.
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