Freeview viewers will be able to watch Channel 4+1 and 4seven in HD from next week.
The high definition versions of these channels will be available for over 70 per cent of the population and will sit in the HD section of the Freeview EPG at channel numbers 110 and 111. The channels will also appear on the EPG on YouView set-top boxes as well.
The channels will start airing in 1 July. Over a third of Freeview viewers now watch in HD and analysts predict this number will increase to over 80 per cent by 2018.
They join a roster of HD channels on the digital terrestrial platform including BBC One, Two Three and Four, plus ITV and Channel 4, BBC News HD and Al Jazeera English HD. The two channels join the COM7 multiplex that broadcasts using DVB-T2.
Keith Underwood, director of Strategy and Technology at Channel 4, said the additions would bolster Channel 4’s Freeview HD proposition.
Mike Finchen, director of Digital Terrestrial Television at Arqiva, said: “The continued roll-out of HD channels on to the Freeview platform provides audiences a richer and higher-quality viewing experience and will continue to provide a major incentive to the uptake of Freeview HD TVs.
This brings the total number of HD channels on Freeview to ten – the number touted by Freeview boss Ilse Howling last June.
While the number of HD channels expands, the BBC is already trailing 4K Ultra HD over Freeview with the broadcast of several matches from this year’s World Cup in Brazil.
Image: Channel 4
Leave a Reply