Entertainment Interactive

Five HD will launch exclusively on Sky this July

Paul — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:19:41 +0000

Sky have announced Five HD will launch exclusively on Sky this July. Sky+ HD customers will be able to watch programming from Five in high definition for the first time. The official Sky press release says “Five HD will be available without additional subscription to viewers with Sky+HD boxes, a Sky viewing card and an HD-ready television set”. This news comes after it was announced that Five HD would no longer launch on Freeview this year.

Click here to read the full Sky press release.

Five HD scrapped on Freeview & slot released to BBC

Paul — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 09:38:11 +0000

It was previously announced last year that Five HD would launch on Freeview this year, but Ofcom have said it won’t be reserving an HD slot for Five on Freeview.

Five will have the opportunity to apply for an HD slot starting in 2012 – bidding will take place next year.

The spare slot has now been released for the BBC to use.

Syfy HD to launch on Virgin Media this April

Paul — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 16:39:18 +0000

Syfy HD will be added to the Virgin Media lineup on the 13th April. This is one of many HD channels already announced for this year. Sci-Fi Channel will be rebranded to become Syfy on the same day (13th April).

Click here to read the full Virgin Media press release.

More HD channels on Sky in the coming months

Paul — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 10:02:53 +0000

Hallmark Channel HD and Sky Sports HD 4 will launch on Sky in the coming months. This is in addition to the previously announced ITV1 HD. ITV1 HD will launch on the 2nd April, Sky Sports HD 4 will launch on the 29th April and Hallmark Channel HD will launch on the 28th June.

ITV1 HD launching this April

Paul — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 19:06:48 +0000

ITV1 HD will will launch on Virgin Media and Sky soon.

The official Virgin Media press release says “digital TV customers will be able to enjoy football’s World Cup in full High Definition (HD) glory as the ITV1 HD channel joins the company’s TV line-up on April 2nd”.

Click here to read the press release in full.

The channel will launch on Sky on the same day, and is also expected to launch on Freeview in certain areas (Freeview HD boxes will be required to view the channel).

Film4 HD and E4 HD coming to Virgin Media

Paul — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 19:01:50 +0000

Two more HD channels will be added to the Virgin Media lineup soon.

The official press release says “Virgin Media today announced the upcoming launch of Film4 HD and E4 HD on its digital TV platform. Virgin Media’s digital TV customers will be the first to watch Film4 in glorious High Definition (HD) as the channel launches exclusively on Virgin Media this summer… E4 HD is expected to launch on Virgin Media in April”.

Click here to read the press release in full.

MTV changes today

Paul — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 11:59:25 +0000

Several changes have come into effect for MTV channels this morning. MTVR has been rebranded as MTV Shows, MTV Two has been rebranded as MTV Rocks and VH1 Classic has been renamed as MTV Classic. These changes have taken place on Sky and Virgin Media TV platforms.

Sky Movies rebranding

Paul — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 11:55:48 +0000

Sky Movies Screen 1 will rebrand as Sky Movies Showcase on the 26th March. The new Showcase channel will air box sets, collections and seasons. Other changes will include Sky Movies Action & Thriller becoming Sky Movies Action & Adventure, Sky Movies Drama becoming Sky Movies Drama & Romance and Sky Movies Screen 2 becoming Sky Movies Crime & Thriller. Changes will come into effect on Sky and Virgin Media TV platforms.

Eurosport HD and Discovery HD

Paul — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:05:59 +0000

Two new HD channels will be added to the Virgin Media lineup soon. Eurosport HD will be added in April and Discovery HD will be added in the spring. Both channels will be free for XL TV customers, as are the rest of the high definition channels on Virgin TV. Virgin Media have promised further HD channels will launch later this year in addition to Eurosport HD and Discovery HD.

ESPN free weekend starts tomorrow

Paul — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 20:16:49 +0000

ESPN will be free all this weekend from tomorrow ’til late on Sunday night. All channels in the ESPN family will be free for Top Up TV (digital terrestrial), Sky and Virgin Media customers.

Sky Sports Xtra rebranded

Paul — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 16:30:47 +0000

Sky Sports Xtra rebranded to Sky Sports 4 this week. The channel is available on Sky channel 404 and Virgin Media.

New HD channels added to Sky

Paul — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 16:28:48 +0000

Two new HD channels have started on Sky+ HD this week. E4 HD (channel 215) and MGM HD (channel 345) are both now available. E4 HD is only be available to viewers with an HD pack subscription. Sky 2 HD is expected to launch either later this month or January next year.

Sky Sports Xtra to become Sky Sports 4

Paul — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 23:56:44 +0000

Sky Sports Xtra will rebrand as Sky Sports 4 on Wednesday 6th January 2010.

E4 HD launching this Monday

Paul — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 09:12:34 +0000

E4 HD will launch on Sky this Monday (14th December). It will launch on channel 215 and is available to Sky customers who have a Sky+ HD box and subscribe to the HD pack. E4 HD will be a simulcast of the normal E4 channel – meaning it will have the same schedule and upscale any non-HD programmes. Click here for more information from the official E4 website.

BBC News Multiscreen and BBC Radio rollouts

Paul — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 16:00:18 +0000

The rollout of the BBC News Multiscreen red button service is taking place across the entire Virgin Media TV network – just press red on any BBC channel to see if your area has the new service. Previously the BBC News Multiscreen service was only available to ex-Telewest areas. Also the BBC London radio station and the BBC Radio 4 LW radio station have launched. BBC Radio 4 LW is available on channel 911 and BBC London is available on channel 937.

Sky Movies Christmas arrives

Paul — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 09:59:42 +0000

Sky Movies Screen 2 has temporarily rebranded as Sky Movies Christmas for the festive season. On Sky it has changed it’s EPG position – it can now be found on channel number 303. Sky Movies Christmas is available in HD if you have a valid Sky+ HD subscription and Sky+ HD box. The standard definition version of Sky Movies Christmas is available on Virgin Media in the Sky Movies Screen 2 channel slot.

Living 2 rebrands as Living It

Paul — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 09:53:11 +0000

Living 2 has rebranded as Living It. The channel is available on Sky and Virgin Media TV services. The channel has been rebranded to liven up the Living brand and make Living It a more separate channel from the main Living offering.

Teletext services to close 14th/15th December

Paul — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 09:51:19 +0000

Teletext services on terrestrial will cease from the 14th/15th December. More details are available on Page 139 on Freeview’s Teletext channel.

Sky coverage coming soon to Entertainment Interactive

Paul — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:06:49 +0000

This website will soon be providing Sky information, including news on the latest channel launches and changes as we already do for DTT and Virgin Media services. Sky coverage will begin from December.

Zone Reality rebranded as CBS Reality

Paul — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:42:09 +0000

Zone Reality has rebranded as CBS Reality on Virgin Media channel 148. Other Zone channels have also rebranded as CBS Action and but aren’t currently available on Virgin Media’s TV service. Zone Horror remains unchanged.

Living 2 to become Living It

Paul — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:27:15 +0000

Living 2 will rebrand as Living It later this month. Marketing Magazine says “the change is an attempt to address viewer misconceptions that the channel is a time-shifted version of sister channel Living… it will feature new idents and programming to make it stand out from its sister channel”.

TMF rebranded as VIVA

Paul — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 09:45:11 +0000

TMF was rebranded as VIVA yesterday. The new name change has come into effect on the Freeview EPG and on Virgin Media. You may need to rescan your Freeview box to get the new channel name, but you should continue to see the channel with the old TMF name without rescanning. VIVA is available on Freeview channel 21, Virgin Media channel 313 and Sky. VIVA is owned by MTV Networks so features many MTV programmes as well as music videos. Please see the official VIVA website for more information.

BBC red button changes next week

Paul — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 09:09:37 +0000

There will be several changes to the BBC red button services on Freeview next week.

From the 27th October, the interactive stream on channel 302 will be removed (please note the interactive stream on channel 301 will be staying) and the BBC News multiscreen service will also be removed from Freeview.

On the official BBC blog for the Press Red team, they say “in order to make space for HD broadcasts in the future we need to now switch off two of the three interactive streams we use to deliver BBC content on Freeview”. BBC News multiscreen is one stream and 302 is the other stream. The BBC News multiscreen service will continue on other platforms such as cable (some areas) and Sky. Click here to read more about the changes from the BBC’s Press Red team and click here for more details of the BBC News multiscreen switch-off.

Welcome changes or not?

TMF to rebrand as VIVA soon

Paul — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 09:48:03 +0000

MTV-owned channel TMF will rebrand as VIVA. The channel – available on Freeview, cable and Sky – will be available on Freeview channel 21, Virgin Media channel 313 and Sky channel 358. The official website for VIVA just states it’s “coming soon” with no launch date mentioned yet. Check out their official website for a (mildly annoying) promo video.

16th October update: The official website now says the launch date will be the 26th October.

Living HD has launched

Paul — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 12:21:49 +0000

Living HD has launched on Virgin channel 110 today as planned. The channel is available to all V+ XL TV customers.