BBC Trust backs high definition channel
The BBC Trust has provisionally backed plans for the BBC to establish a more permanent high definition channel, after the success of the trial version available to satellite and cable viewers.
Offering programmes from across the BBC’s existing channels, it would initially continue on satellite and cable services, but be delayed on Freeview owing to consumers having to invest in new set-top boxes to decode the high definition signal.
However, the Trust did say that a four-hour service could launch “almost immediately” on Freeview, if a public consultation were successful.
The BBC has been steadily increasing the amount of home-grown content filmed in HD, including the likes of Planet Earth, Bleak House, Robin Hood, and Strictly Come Dancing. It seems likely that some shows would still be upscaled from standard definition, if a 24-hour service began, in order to fill the schedules.
The BBC Trust will publish its final conclusions on 21st November, after a public consultation ending on 23rd October.
(Via BBC News
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