December 17, 2011

No Five HD on Freeview - what will the BBC do?

Strange one this:
"Ofcom has been notified by Channel 5 Broadcasting Limited that it does not wish to proceed with its application for the fifth HD capacity slot on digital terrestrial TV at the present time.
"Subject to any future Ofcom decision to re-advertise the slot, the capacity will remain with the Multiplex operator BBC Free-to-View Limited and can be used by it for BBC services or services provided by a third party via a commercial arrangement."
Currently, Freeview HD has HD versions of BBC1, BBC HD (soon to be BBC2), ITV1 and C4. So will the BBC add a third HD channel of its own or look for someone else to take advantage of the slot? The BBC could perhaps introduce BBC News HD or revive a BBC3/4/News HD channel, or other channels such as the HD versions of ITV2, E4, Dave or Film4 (still, surprisingly, a VM exclusive). Or maybe the Beeb will temporarily fill the slot with an Olympics/Wimbledon sports channel for next summer, possibly in 3D?

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I'd like to see BBC 4 HD personally. Although some BBC 4 content is in HD on BBC HD, plenty of it isn't.