High-definition television in the United Kingdom
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High-definition television in the United Kingdom is available via cable, IPTV, satellite and terrestrial television. The first high-definition broadcasts began in late 2005 and since then the number of channels available to view has grown to a maximum of 87 that can be viewed on pay-TV service, Sky.[1]
The majority of channels in the United Kingdom remain broadcast, and largely viewed, in standard-definition, but most major broadcasters have begun or are soon beginning their initial forays into high-definition television.[when?] Similarly, the vast majority of viewing still takes place in standard-definition, though penetration of high-definition displays and receivers is increasing.[when?]
High-definition broadcasts are available on satellite services: Freesat and Sky; cable services Virgin TV, terrestrial Freeview HD and IPTV EE TV and Freely.
BBC
The BBC initially operated BBC HD on a trial basis on Sky and Telewest (now Virgin Media).[2] Following full approval by the BBC Trust, the service expanded its hours to start at 15:00 and finish at midnight.
On 28 May 2010, the BBC announced that they would launch a simulcast of BBC One in HD to accompany the BBC HD channel, which aimed to show the best BBC programming in high-definition, whereas the new channel was aimed purely at being a HD version of BBC One. BBC One HD launched at 19:00 on 3 November 2010. In July 2011, rumours began to surface about BBC HD being replaced by BBC Two HD. These were originally rejected, but on 6 October 2011 it was confirmed that the BBC planned to replace BBC HD with a single version of BBC Two HD in 2013.[3] BBC Two HD replaced BBC HD on 26 March 2013. Meanwhile, BBC One HD received nations variations for Northern Ireland on 24 October 2012, Scotland on 14 January 2013 and Wales on 29 January 2013.
For the duration of the 2012 Summer Olympics, the BBC operated 24 high-definition channels dedicated to the Olympics on Freesat, Sky and Virgin Media,[4] as well as one channel on Freeview.[5]
On 13 June 2013, the BBC temporarily launched a high-definition red button stream on the Freesat, Freeview and Virgin Media EPGs.[6] A commercial agreement for carriage on Sky was not reached, and the channel was removed from satellite completely on 18 June, with the BBC claiming that it was for "technical reasons".[7] The channel returned to satellite on 24 June after technical work was carried out on Sky's adaptation hub.[8]
On 16 July 2013, the BBC announced they would be launching five new HD channels in 10 December.[9] The proposed channels consisted of HD simulcasts of BBC Three, BBC Four, CBBC, CBeebies and BBC News. The channels would be broadcast on digital terrestrial television and satellite, as well as being offered to cable and IPTV operators.
The BBC stopped offering standard-definition television services on satellite at 10:54 am on 8 January 2024, making BBC services HD-only beyond that time.[10][11]
ITV
The ITV network started broadcasting a trial service on Telewest's digital cable television platform, as well as on the digital terrestrial television trial in London during the 2006 Football World Cup. The service ceased after this period, but a new HD service began to be made available with the launch of Freesat,[12] on 7 June 2008, where selected programmes were offered in HD format, and accessed by the red button on Freesat receivers. ITV plc intended to spend £10m during 2008 on supporting ITV HD.[13] This occasional feed was intended for Freesat viewers, and was not listed in the Sky EPG. However, ITV HD could be tuned in manually on Sky HD boxes via the "other channels" section from the "services" menu.
On 12 March 2010, ITV plc announced its intention to launch a full-time ITV1 HD service, available on Freeview, Freesat, Virgin Media, and Sky.[14] The service launched on 2 April at 06:00. STV followed with STV HD on 2 April 2010, available on Freeview, Virgin Media and free-to-air satellite, while UTV launched UTV HD on Virgin Media on 5 October 2010.
ITV2 HD launched on 7 October 2010, followed by ITV3 HD and ITV4 HD on 15 November 2010. These three channels are available, from November 2022, on Freesat and as part of Sky and Virgin Media's subscription packages. ITVBe HD later followed, although it is only available on Virgin Media's subscription package.
Channel 4
Channel 4 launched its HD service on digital satellite on 10 December 2007.[15] The channel was encrypted on satellite, available with a free-to-view viewing card but as of April 2011 it is available free-to-air on Freesat. The channel is also available on Freeview and Virgin Media.
On 14 December 2009, Channel 4 launched a second HD channel to Sky customers,[16] E4 HD. The channel is a simulcast of E4, with selected programming in HD. Unlike its standard definition counterpart, E4 HD is a subscription channel, part of Sky's HD pack.
Virgin Media subsequently also announced that it was to carry E4 HD, as well as a further new HD channel, Film4 HD, which would be available exclusively on cable at launch.[17]
For the duration of the 2012 Summer Paralympics, Channel 4 operated three high-definition channels dedicated to the Paralympics on Freesat, Sky and Virgin Media, as well as one channel on Freeview.[18]
On 4 February 2013, More4 HD launched on Sky,[19] with Film4 HD being added on 2 September.[20]
In July 2014, Channel 4 +1 HD and 4seven HD services became available on the Freeview HD platform.
Channel 4's carriage agreements with Sky TV and Virgin Media mean that Film4 HD and E4 HD are exclusive to those providers for the immediate future. However, they may appear on Freeview once those agreements lapse.[21]
On 20 February 2018, Freesat announced that Channel 4HD and On Demand service ALL4 would leave the platform.[22] Channel 4 cited rising EPG costs. S4C HD and Channel 5 HD, however, are still broadcasting on Freesat. Channel 4 HD, Channel 4+1 HD and 4 Seven HD continue to broadcast on Freeview, and Freeview Play retains ALL4.[23]
S4C
S4C launched an HD service, S4C Clirlun, on 30 April 2010. The service was exclusive to Freeview in Wales and available instead of Channel 4 HD. However, it was announced on 11 July 2012 that, as part of cost-saving measures designed to deal with the impact of cuts to S4C's public funding, Clirlun would close at the end of the year.[24] The channel closed at 11:59 pm on 1 December 2012, allowing Channel 4 HD to begin broadcasting in Wales on Freeview from 2 December 2012.[25]
It was announced on 20 May 2016 that S4C would relaunch a high-definition service S4C HD on Freesat and Sky in Wales and across the UK from 7 June onwards.[26]
Channel 5
Channel 5 was awarded a licence for HD transmissions on Freeview from 2010,[27] but due to Channel 5 being unable to resolve certain key criteria, the capacity was handed back to the BBC.[28] Five HD launched on Sky and Virgin Media platforms on 13 July 2010.[29] The channel is free-to-view on satellite.
In 2011, Channel 5 HD was the sole applicant for a fifth high-definition channel slot on Freeview,[30] with the aim of launching in spring or early summer 2012.[31] On 15 December 2011, Channel 5 dropped its bid to take the fifth slot, after being unable to resolve "issues of commercial importance".[32] However, Channel 5 HD began broadcasting in HD on both Freesat and Freeview, after the BBC removed BBC Three / BBC iii from all digital TV platforms (apart from its on-line BBC iPlayer service).
UKTV
UKTV broadcasts its channels in HD, under the names of U&Eden, U&Dave, U&W, U&Alibi, U&Gold, U&Drama and U&Yesterday. The channels broadcast on Sky and Virgin Media.
Sky UK
Sky began HD transmissions of several channels in May 2006.
