Broadcasters scream for more HD channels
The broadcasting industry is embracing high definition in a big way – but is desperate for more free-to-air HD channels, writes Dominic Dawes.
As things stand, we've been assured of getting a number of free high-def channels on the Freeview service, once the digital switchover is complete.
The trouble is, according to current Government plans that number is... four. And industry experts are convinced that isn't enough.
However, new plans for distributing bandwidth – including a nifty scheme to combine the use of SFNs (Single Frequency Networks) and MFNs (Multiple Frequency Networks) – could allow us an eventual total of up to 40 high-definition channels on Freeview. Now, that's more like it.
And forty, by the way, is far closer to the total number of channels offered by Freeview when it launched.
The point is: to drive mainstream demand for a new technology – rather than leaving it as a specialist niche – you need a large and diverse range of content. And to make it truly popular, forty channels is a more realistic figure than four.
Despite the problems, the industry is bullish that high-def is the future. Toby Syfret, senior analyst at Enders Analysis, predicts that all TV broadcasts in the UK will be high-def by 2017.
What we need is for the Government and Ofcom to listen carefully to what broadcasters and content creators are saying: if high definition is to be a success, we need plenty of content free-to-air – and plenty of channels for us, the consumers, to choose from.
Otherwise, there's always the lingering danger that high-def could end up in a specialist ghetto, sharing cans of cheap lager with SACD or DVD-Audio, and muttering, 'I could have been a contender, I could have been somebody...'
And none of us want that, do we?
Technorati Tags: Freeview, HDTV, high definition, high-def, Ofcom, HD
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Hi,
The country that invents TV gets left behind in the advance for the future.....does this sound familiar to anyone?
Cheers,
Cofnchtr.
It's not the number of channels that matters, it's the quality of the programming.
Not true, unfortunately. Of course quality matters to us, but if high-def is going to go really mainstream – and it was clear at the DTG summit on Friday that the broadcasting industry absolutely needs it to – then people are going to need quantity (or to put it another way, choice) as well as quality.
dominic dawes - absolutely. If we dont get more hd channels, we've invested (tho i havent - ha! - in Tellys that just dont look very good. i know people like me keep on droning on about that, but ive not seen an example to the contrary yet.
Well said al7478;
Sky have an impressive NOT.... Wait for it..... 17 HD channels currently available now.
And we spend all this money for fancy HD televisions, just to end up viewing a maximum of 17 poxy HD channels.
Unless you have an XBOX 360, PS3 or some other form of HD device to play with.
Oh well atleast Sky are doing better than Virgin, with them only having a single HD channel
Unless i am very mistaken.
its the same story if you want hi-def pay for it goverments dont do wot people want ! theres no money in it for them !
toggle - thtas fine, except we are forced to go hd ready - at least - if we want a new telly. i luckily have a place near me that sells second hand CRTs, but i bet many dont.
im actually tempted to get a flat panel in the foreseeable future, but i do take objection to the fact that i have to if i want a brand new telly, and that itll only look its best with an hd feed, which there isnt enough provision for.
It is not the channels it is the equipment to receive them. At the moment you have to pay SKY £10 per month for the privilege on top of the existing subscription. For me that is £36 +£10 = £46*12per months=£552 per year. That is a lot of money for most people to spend to watch telly.
Until free to air HD is readily available, it is going to be slow take up.
im just not going to upgrade from sky + to sky HD as there are offers for Sky Hd for £99 ...BUT if your a existing customer like me 15 years now then you have to pay £249.99. Sky does not care about there existing customers as long as they get new customers. Im waiting for freesat and see what that will be like when its released.