ITV1 HD to join Sky and Virgin from April 2 – in time for the World Cup
ITV1 HD will be coming to Sky and Virgin from April 2nd, in plenty of time for the World Cup in June.
The addition of ITV1 HD from April means viewers with Sky+ HD or Virgin Media's V+ service will be able to watch World Cup matches live in HD, as well as other big ITV shows such as Law and Order: UK, The Prisoner, Foyles War, Lewis, Survival with Ray Mears and Britain's Got Talent.
For Virgin Media, Cindy Rose, executive director of digital entertainment, says: "This year's World Cup promises some unforgettable games and Virgin Media TV viewers will be able to enjoy every nail-biting, heart-stopping, breath-taking moment in stunning high definition."
Some of ITV's HD content will also be available on demand via the ITV Net Player on Virgin.
For Sky, the ITV1 HD deal is part of the satellite broadcasters ambitious plans to reach its target of 50 high-definition channels by this Christmas.
Hilary Perchard, Sky's director of product management, says: "While other TV platforms are only now recognising the growing demand for HD, we're excited to extend our leadership even further and look forward to reaching our next milestone, of 50 HD channels, by Christmas."
And on April 29th there'll be even more joy for sports fans with the introduction of Sky Sports HD 4. This will allow Sky to increase even further its live sport coverage in high-definition, with the schedule including The Ryder Cup, The Ashes, Barclays Premier League, UEFA Champions League, Heineken Cup, Guinness Premiership rugby and US Open tennis.
The third new HD channel coming to Sky is Hallmark Channel HD, bringing the total number of high-definition channels it currently broadcasts to 40.
Hallmark Channel HD wil showcase a range of its most popular titles including Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Without a Trace. It will join the Sky platform on June 28th.
ITV1 HD is also available on Freeview HD and Freesat HD.
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Comments
Having watched HD football on ITV many times i have to say that most of the time it's a complete shambles with loss of sound, picture and numorous ongoing problems throughout the broadcast coverage. Be warned.
I added this to my Sky+HD box early last year. I must say I did not think the HD picture or sound was on a par with other channels. There is far too little content as many people have said, but it is good to know that it will be on the full planner in time for the world cup, and also to be able to record off it. COme on ITV, catch up with some more content though!!
Itv HD is useless. Vertualy non existant most day's of the week. And when it is on it's bloody football.
No reason why all tv channels are not HD ...
In general .... do you think SKY do not know that if they dropped their prices .... they'd make a bundle MORE money than they do at present ?
I added this channel to my Sky months ago. Since then I have only watched 2 football matches and one film in HD.
ITV you need some decent HD content or what is the point?!
A welcome move and long overdue! ITV (Digital) thought they could take on the might of Sky before and withheld ITV from Sky Digital until they realised that they needed be on the satellite platform. History repeating itself!
Unlike the USA, we only have limited choice, terrestrial (Freeview), cable, Sky / Freesat (satellite). There's no ABC, Fox, NBC etc.
Given this lack of competition, it would be nice if all the UK players, BBC, ITV, Sky, CH4 etc., could all work together. Maybe the bureaucrats from Brussels wouldn't be happy, but open competition (in limited markets) rarely works for the customer!
Maybe it's just a coincidence that ITV has a new chairman in Archie Norman, who appears to be quite level headed and not anti-Sky. He doesn't like the BBCs dominant position, but that's another issue!
david123456 Most of the best channels already have an HD channel so i don't really see the problem. Personally I think there are too many low rent HD channels like Luxe HD,Bio HD etc that are hardly essential. Apart from C5 all the main channels and some of their additional ones all have HD output.
No need to Google it, TobesEtc, we've had a 'How to' thread on adding ITV HD to Sky since last April:
http://community.whathifi.com/forums/t/234685.aspx
But the 'other channels' options doesn't allow Live Pause, Recording, Scheduling info etc - from April 2nd you'll get all that, on Sky and Virgin.
You can already add ITV HD to SkyHD under Other Channels. Just Google it for instructions. Very easy.
Sky have hardly added to their HD channels since we joined Sky HD in March 2009. It has been a real disappointment, especially after we were led to believe that HD channels would be added constantly. Fifty Sky HD channels by Christmas? Which Christmas, I wonder??
about time too... good news about SS4 as well...