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Latest TV News - TheWatcher - 02-05-2010 10:07
Received by email yesterday, info on Freeview HD, Sky Sports, Sky on Humax etc.
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Freeview HD News
The rollout of Freeview HD across the UK continues - recent areas to get Freeview HD include Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester and much of Wales. The target is for 50% of the UK to be able to get Freeview HD in time for the World Cup.
Freeview HD viewers in Wales will find a new channel on Freeview channel 53. S4C HD launched today, 30th April 2010 from Welsh Freeview transmitters.
It also looks like the Freeview HD PVR is only a few weeks away from becoming available. We're expecting the first box to be the 3View Box, which has a pretty impressive spec. We has a play with this at the Gadget Show Live exhibition in Birmingham, and covered it in a recent podcast. You can see our "first look" at the 3View box on our dedicated 3View page. Keep an eye on our news page for the latest on new Freeview HD boxes and recorders.
More on Freeview HD: http://www.radioandtelly.co.uk/freeviewhd.html
3View PVR info: http://www.radioandtelly.co.uk/3view.html
Latest news: http://www.radioandtelly.co.uk/news
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Sky Sports coming to BT Vision and Top Up TV
According to reports in The Guardian, it looks like BT Vision and Top Up TV will be launching an enhanced sports service for the 2010/2010 football season. Good news for football fans not keen, or not able, to have a satellite dish.
Until now, Sky has clung on tightly to their crown jewels, their rights to the majority of the Premier League match coverage, but following a recent ruling by the regulators Ofcom, Sky's been forced to make their Sports channels available to competitors at a more reasonable rate. Here's what we know of the proposed offers:
BT Vision: It's understood that BT Vision plans to offer Sky Sports 1 to subscribers of its on-demand TV service for £15 a month for the 2010/2011 football season. BT Vision customers can also subscribe to ESPN, for matches not covered by Sky. ESPN is currently free to BT Vision Value pack subscribers.
Top Up TV: We understand that Top UP TV would like to offer both Sky Sports 1 and 2 for around £20 a month from later this year.
We'll update you as we get more information on the plans to bring Sky Sports to providers other than Sky.
More on BT Vision: http://www.radioandtelly.co.uk/btvision.html
More on Top Up TV: http://www.radioandtelly.co.uk/topuptvanytime.html
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Sky coming to Freeview HD
In the coming months, you'll be able to get premium Sky content on Freeview HD boxes. Sadly, this doesn't mean that a bunch of Sky channels will actually be coming to Freeview (the Sky "Picnic" proposal), Sky content will be delivered to Freeview HD set-top boxes made by Humax in the form of Sky's online service, Sky Player.
The Sky Player service is already available on the PC and Mac, and Sky's keen to expand this service to games consoles and Internet-enabled TV hardware. Deals are already in place with Fetch TV and the 3View box, but the new deal between Sky and the leading Freeview HD box manufacturer Humax is a great step forward for getting Sky's premium channels out there. It's likely that the Humax Fox T2 Freeview HD box will be getting a software update in the next couple of months to enable it to access Sky Player.
Griff Parry from Sky says: "In providing both new and existing customers with more choice and control over how they access Sky content, we continue to harness secure and high-quality distribution platforms like Humax.
We know that many Sky homes also have Freeview in other rooms, and this provides a great way for them to enjoy Sky away from their Sky box. And for new customers, particularly those in Freeview homes, it provides an innovative new access point to Sky’s high-quality pay TV content." Sky Player content is delivered via Broadband, and you'll need to connect your Humax Freeview HD box to your Broadband router to get Sky's content on your telly.
The service is set to become available "within months", according to Sky.
Want to get news updates from Radio & Telly? Follow us on Twitter at http://www.radioandtelly.co.uk/skyplayer.html
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Digital Switchover Update
The Switchover for Wales is now complete, and attention is shifting to Scotland. The Shetland and Orkney Islands will switch in May with other parts of the STV North region switching later this year. Affected transmitters: Bressay, Keelylang Hill, Rumster Forest, Eitshal, Skriaig, Angus, Durris, Knockmore and Rosemarkie.
Switchover Help and Advice: http://www.switchhelp.co.uk/
Switchover Events in Scotland http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/when_do_i_switch/stv_north/stvnorth_events
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ITV 1 HD now on Sky and Virgin
ITV's HD channel, ITV 1 HD, is finally available on Sky Digital and Virgin Media.
ITV HD launched in June 2008 as an exclusive to Freesat, but now is available to a wider audience. The ITV 1 HD channel has recently become available on Freeview HD, and from last month, ITV 1 HD appeared on Channel 178 of Sky, and on channel 113 on Virgin Media.
ITV 1 HD also gets its own channel on Freesat, channel 119, after previously only being available via the Freesat red button.
The channel Men and Motors will cease to broadcast, to free up resources for the ITV1 HD channel.
ITV 1 HD in Scotland and Northern Ireland: ITV does not have a licence to broadcast in Scotland or Northern Ireland -The companies STV and UTV hold the Channel 3 licences for those regions (respectively). STV will apparently be launching their own HD channel in the future. As a result, ITV 1 HD is not available on Freesat Channel 118 in Scotland and Northern Ireland. The workaround appears to be to put in an English postcode into your Freesat receiver (postcodes decide which regions you'll be assigned). You'll lose regional programmes, but gain ITV 1 HD.
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