ITV HD Regions on Freeview

The Matter of HD emmission is really a matter for Government - hence the Vaizey plan ....
which manadated HD only emission for PSBs
Working back from the TV
The technical issues for this are minor for DSAT (and IP) - just swap out the two dozen or so SD coder for HD
(if you do not do this there is a lot more satliete capacity needed - about another 50%
But likewise swap out the 200 time two SD coders for may be 200 times one HD Coders
this is a lot more expensive .... and has commercial implications as only two muxs are needed.
and requires other channels systems to be changed.
the interconnection is already HD Capable -
but the BBC may be getting rid of its outgoing inter connection - so its more like itv
which removes the need for Studio centre systems to be HD (As it is new centrally)
But itv Studios are HD - the BBC regional studios (other than London, North West and Southwest)
have not been refurbished due to BBC Lack of Money as LF was static for 13 years ....
and to do all of them at once is also rather problematic!

But this should all have been done a 700 MHz clearance came ....
But does need some viewer to have new STB ...
particularly some Sky viewers -

Finally
No broadcaster has really made money out of Going Digital - and HD even less so!

Get ready for a few more decades of that red screen on the BBC 🙄

I thought the BBC were still keen on working on a HbbTV-based regional switching over traditional linear opts - e.g. so BBC One HD's linear stream would switch to an IP stream carrying an English region at the appropriate time?

Back to traditional ways of delivering HD regions: Based on the current BBC-B multiplex regionality used for ITV HD on Freeview, the BBC could put the HD-ready North West and London regions in areas that get ITV HD Granada and ITV HD London now.

Over on satellite, despite the HD transponder parameters being configured in the same way as ITV, the BBC only has five HD channels not six per transponder. Across the BBC's two transponders that means the BBC has room for two more HD channels, although they might want to use one of the slots to get BBC Two NI HD on there ahead of a BBC One HD English Region. Ultimately, Sky needs to get a move on in ending support for SD boxes like it already has done in Germany (all Sky channels over there are MPEG4 regardless of SD or HD status) - this would enable the BBC to turn off SD versions of any channel it is running like-for-like in HD, providing more capacity for HD channels without having to rent any more transponders from SES/Astra. [All new Freesat receivers have supported HD since 2013].

Yes ... IP Hbbtv delivery is the cheapest distribution method for region HD ....
if SD is retained. DSAT is if HD only emission with Sky cooperation.
Which is why DTT should have more T2 HD by now so there is good range
until the current contracts expire / 5G has the capability,
But Hbbtv will be more natural to do ...
as we view more on demand and less on air

As a result of uk today etc the idea of the three BBC regions with little work
to go HD to code and mux did not have much support politically ...

On that subject, here's an interesting article about how the BBC's tech strategy revolving just around iPlayer has affected everything else, including Freeview.
https://www.ibc.org/trends/whats-next-for-the-bbcs-technology-strategy/6816.article

The best bit has to be


This may explain a lot.

except ad minutage and making sure betting ads aren't too close to kick-off

Digitalbitrate has updated to show the last two new ITV HD sat streams that were added after 11:52am yesterday (and mentioned upthread).

11097V
Moved elsewhere :
- Meridian SE HD
- London HD
- Central W HD
- ITV4 HD
Newly added :
- Meridian North HD
- Meridian South HD
- Central East HD
- Anglia West HD
Unchanged :
- ITV3 HD
- Yorkshire W HD

Back to full capacity and six HD channels.
https://digitalbitrate.com/dtv.php?mux=11097&liste=1&live=69&lang=en

My guess is that the BBC don’t want the situation that ITV has with viewers across large swathes of the country getting the wrong region on HD. They must have decided that it’s better to have the red screen across the whole of the north, for example, than have people in Hull and Newcastle getting North West Tonight, even if it would mean NW viewers were able to watch their correct programme on HD.

I have also always presumed this to be the reasoning.

At least the Red Screen Of Death serves to explain where the viewer needs to go in order to see their local programme. If a viewer was getting the wrong regional news and had no understanding why, nor where to go to find their correct programme, they might just begrudgingly sit through the wrong news or switch off/over entirely.

Plus of course its probably better from ITV's point of view that a viewer on HD gets the "wrong" region than no region at all, which is effectively what the red slide gives you on BBC One HD.

In the early days of ITV HD, it was nationally the London version. There was a caption throughout that said words to the effect, 'This is London News, if this is not your expected programme, retune to Ch 3/103

Did that caption clash with namestraps?