BBC HD launches in Australia

http://idents.tv/blog/2008/06/22/bbc-hd-launches-in-australia/

I knew BBC Worldwide were planning to launch BBC HD across the world but do they really have enough HD content to fill up a whole channel (presumably this will be on longer than BBC HD UK which is on for 10 hours a day isn't it?)? It's strange that they've chosen to launch in Australia where only BBC World News is screened and not BBC Entertainment etc (though I know they have a share in UK.TV).

it will be nothing but repeats only in HD I guess, they can't show sports events, probably be a few programmes in a loop or something.

http://www.bbchd.com/Australia/

Here's the website. Very little information but the design is far superior to ours.

Presumably BBC HD in Australia, like BBC America, will be buying in other UK HD productions, and not just showing BBC Productions? (BBC America shows loads of programmes originally produced for ITV or C4 in the UK)

Also - they may upscale 16:9 SD content as well I suspect - particularly if there are few or no 16:9 SD satellite channels in Aus. (There are next to none in the US - it is HD 16:9, or SD 4:3 over there)

Is After You've Gone even filmed in HD? (Noticed it on the BBC HD schedule and on that promo video)

The majority of programming on Foxtel is in standard Freeview-style 16:9 SD, probably at a similar bitrate too since it looks absolutely awful compared to over-the-air channels. Quite a few channels of theirs are still in 4:3 but most have moved over now.

The quality on the HD channels though are meant to be pretty impressive, although certainly priced accordingly - more than $100 a month, quite a lot given that just under 20% have pay TV here. I'm sure their 15-20 viewers will be wrapt

BBC HD in the UK is usually four hours a day and mainly full of repeats!!

Euro 2008, Wimbledon and the Olympics of course increase the transmission hours.

Varies... the bitrate on a lot of the muxes do rapidly go up bitrate wise to cope with fast motion scenes, unless it's a 544x576 channel.

From either the end of this year or earlier next year the plan is to generally increase the daily amount of programmes. So it's looking like a 3.00pm start-up will happen and probably a few CBBC and CBeebies programmes are going to be shown too.

BBC America HD is due to launch soon aswell.

Yes - After You've Gone like Not Going Out and The Green Green Grass are all shot in HD. Sitcom is one of the cheaper genres to shift to HD. (Multicamera studio shows are more cost effective to switch to HD)

Yep - and BBC HD only stopped being a trial service about 6 months ago. It is aimed to move to 9 hours a day over the next 12 months - once the HD commissions kick in.

After the formal trial finished in July, and the service was on an extension until the PVT (Public Value Test) result was announced. It wasn't until November that BBC HD gained a budget to fund the additional costs of HD commissions that weren't funded to be in HD via other routes - hence the relatively small amount of HD knocking around at the moment.

The content that is now in HD is stuff with a relatively short lead-time (sport, live studio entertainment etc.) with drama lagging a bit.

There is also the spanner in the works that BBC HD will not accept Super 16 as an HD format - so any drama shot on Super 16 film (which was the main BBC drama format for many years), even if post produced in HD, will not air on BBC HD. (Because the graininess hammers the compression system delivering it with sub-HD quality) Thus any drama on BBC HD either has to be shot on 35mm (not an option on a UK drama budget), and HD Camcorder (DVC Pro HD was used for Robin Hood, HD Cam for Hustle and Hotel Babylon I believe) or a Digital Cinema camera (Viper, Genesis, Arri D20, Red One etc.)

Silent Witness has shifted from Super 16 to the Arri D20 I believe, Last of the Summer Wine from Super 16 to Viper, and Cranford was shot using a Genesis AIUI.

BBC Knowledge and CBeebies are also headed to Foxtel next year; BBC Worldwide will also be taking full control of UK.TV (which it currently owns about 20% of - the other two stakeholders are Fremantle Media and Foxtel itself). That makes five channels down under when you include BBC HD and World News.

More at http://www.mediaspy.org/forum/index.php?s=&showtopic=8755&view=findpost&p=490172 and http://report.mediaspy.org/index.php?p=1817

..and a video blog from their website: http://hd.foxtel.com.au/blog/2008/06/foxtel-and-bbc-announce-strate.html