Ulster Region DSO

Perhaps the extra 5 mins on UTV is for ads at the end.

NI HD added to the regional variations list.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcone/programmes/schedules/2012/10/24

With the schedule from 24 October.

So does this mean that BBC Broadcasting House in Belfast has HD Kit installed already at least to time shift the Network programmes after BBC Newsline at 10:35pm if not the BBC Newsline Studio and Studio A?

According to an article in last weeks Broadcast Now site, not yet,



Perhaps some can confirm eggzackerly what is going on, because other forums are full of speculation that BBC 1 NI HD launches on Wednesday

I don't think that any of the announcements about BBC NI (or BBC Wales) have suggested that their news facilities are being upgraded to HD as part of the move to BBC One National HD variationa have they?

I thought it would be much more about being able to playout other local content (pre-recorded, location-based non-studio shows) which has presumably been potentially available in HD (as Belfast and Cardiff are making networked content in HD) for a while, as well as being able to timeshift network content. This playout area upgrade work is the TSL contract mentioned elsewhere in this thread.

Obviously BBC Scotland in PQ is different as they are in a new HD-capable building, so Reporting Scotland could be made in HD today (in fact AIUI the gallery runs in HD and is downconverted currently - though I may be wrong), though it sounds as if the playout chain at PQ for BBC One was SD (which is understandable as there wasn't a BBC One HD when it was built)

As for launch dates - the BBC have already switched one Astra 1N transponder from DVB-S2 QPSK to DVB-S2 8PSK to increase the capacity to ~44.5Mbs, and it is currently carrying two separate BBC One HD video channels (with separate video PIDs), along side BBC HD (which is only a single video PID shared by BBC HD and 6945 channels) This has been announced as half of the BBC's HD capacity on DSat.

There will be another transponder on 1N (tp 61) which will launch carrying another pair of BBC One HD channels (and with some spare capacity), but I don't think this has started broadcasting yet. I guess it would be worth keeping an eye on - though I'm not sure what frequency and polarisation it is?

Will the BBC One HD versions in NI/Scotland/Wales be available on the Sky EPG, (in the 900s) or will they have to be added manually by those not in the respective nations?

I suppose it'll depend on much dosh Sky will want to do that, I suspect they will be available on 9** on Freesat's EPG, as of course that's much more, 'within the PSB family'.

I was forgetting that the HD versions aren't counted as PSB channels, so may not get any 'discount rate' for EPG inclusion that may apply to the SD nations/regions on Sky.

Would the sensible option not be to put BBC One NI HD on Sky ch 101 for those whose boxes can handle it? (Or would that get too confusing for people trying to find the SD or AD versions?)

It would be incredibly sensible to do that, just as ITV 1 HD Granada could be mapped to 103 on NW postcodes, and when BBC 2 HD launches, map that to 102 in all English postcode areas.

However, those muppets at Ofcom, etc, have decreed that HD services are not PSB services, and therefore cannot be at more prominent EPG positions than the SD equivalents.

I despair, there really are some dogmatic idiots regulating UK broadcasting

Schedules also available for today on BBC 1 NI HD - http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcone/programmes/schedules/ni_hd

I concur regarding 'BBC Two England' (although technically, no such beast exists, does it?).

It would be a sensible to place Network 'BBC Two HD' on 102 for those with HD compatible STBs, surely?