ITV1HD

Surely it would make more sense to run London as the "HD" region rather than Granada, given that they'd have to equip both London and Leeds with the appropriate kit if Granada's feed went HD?

Freeview HD is being statmuxed and distributed by the BBC so the feeds don't touch the D3/4 distribution system. I presume this is being done in White City so the content would need to be delivered there, relatively simple these days using fibre I suspect.

ITV 1 HD on D-Sat has always up until now carried Granada area ads, I was told by one of ITV's senior management this is because Granada is ITV Ltd's largest revenue region, beating London because for internal auditing reasons that's still split between old weekday/weekend arrangement, despite the branding for the punters being unified of course.

The new ITV1 HD logo, as shown on the ITV Press Office website

http://www.itv.com/img/150x113/ITV1-HD-LOGO-42e859f2-d856-46a2-b131-dfe5f6a507ab.jpg

About time they did something fancy with the ITV1 logo.

Yep - delivering a single uncompressed HD feed to multiple locations for others to compress is no longer a massive challenge with fibre. Depending on how mission critical ITV take their HD service, it wouldn't be that difficult to have HD circuits from both Chiswick and Leeds (and I assume that the SD - and possibly HD - content for both sites is mirrored on both sites for DR purposes)

The BBC (or their outsourced partners) are, AIUI, handling all compression and statmuxing (not sure about distribution) for the Freeview HD mux (isn't it still being described as a BBC Mux?), and will be doing this in more than one location I suspect...

Yes, the soon to launch service from Black Hill (Glasgow area) will not AIUI have ITV1-HD included, but instead null packets waiting for STV to get their act together.

ITV HD on DSAT changed to an ITV1 London simulcast a few months ago.

Shows how much I watch it !!

Interesting. Are those null packets replacing the statmuxed ITV1 HD packets, or are they having to run separate statmuxes in the non-ITV plc areas to allow for Freeview HD STV HD, UTV HD and I guess Channel HD?

And me. Last time I watched it there were definitely non-London ads. But then I can't remember the last time I watched ITV1 SD - apart from Harry Hill on Sky+ (when I skip the ads)

Actually, that Press Office Article is quite interesting, provides a greater list of all the programmes to be shown in 'Native HD', as well as channel numbers for all platforms:

New ITV1 HD channel available on Freesat, Freeview, Sky and Virgin

ITV launches its new channel, ITV1 HD, on April 2nd 2010, which will broadcast ITV1’s schedule in high definition for the first time.

ITV this week reached commercial agreement with Sky and Virgin Media for carriage of the new channel. ITV1 HD will also launch on Freeview*; and Freesat, where it will move from a red button service to a standalone channel for the first time. The new deals mean that ITV1 HD will be available on all major high definition platforms ahead of this summer’s World Cup.

The ITV1 schedule will be simulcast on the new channel, with the majority of peak time content available in ‘native’ HD, including all live football, and an increasing range of drama, factual and entertainment programming. Other ITV1 content including GMTV and the daytime schedule, will be ‘upscaled’ – giving viewers a better than ever experience of the nation’s most popular commercial channel.

Upcoming highlights on ITV1 HD will include the final stages of the UEFA Champions League and The FA Cup as well as England internationals and the FIFA World Cup 2010. HD dramas include Father & Son, Law and Order: UK, Identity, The Prisoner, Foyles War and Lewis. In factual programming there’s the chance to see Joanna Lumley’s Nile, Greatest Cities of the World with Griff Rhys Jones, and the brand new Survival with Ray Mears all in pure HD. And, for HD entertainment there’s The Whole 19 Yards, 71 Degrees North, Soccer Aid and the UK’s biggest TV show, Britain’s Got Talent. ITV1’s Prime Ministerial debate will also be shown in HD.

Peter Fincham, ITV Director of Television, Channels and Online, said: “The availability of high definition content is something viewers have come to expect as standard and, as we approach the 2010 World Cup, I’m delighted that we are able to launch our new channel, ITV1 HD, on all major platforms.

“All of our output will benefit from the stunning picture quality that high definition offers, whether it’s ITV’s original drama, landmark factual shows, entertainment events or our live football.”

Notes to Editors:

ITV1 HD will be available on the following EPG numbers:

Freesat 119
Freeview 51
Sky 178
Virgin 113

For further details on the availability of Freesat HD see www.freesat.co.uk

For further details on the availability of Freeview HD see www.freeview.co.uk

*The Freeview HD service is now rolling out across the UK and will reach up to 50% of the UK by the World Cup, 60% by the end of 2010 and 98.5% by the end of digital switchover (equivalent to analogue coverage). Viewers should check they can receive Freeview HD by using the coverage checker at www.freeview.co.uk.

For further details on the availability of Sky+HD see www.sky.com/hd

For further details on the availability of Virgin HD see www.virginmedia.com



For further press information james.macleod@itv.com