Posted 17th October 2011 by Paul
BBC Two HD is set to replace BBC HD.
The move was announced by the BBC’s Director General Mark Thompson to save money at the corporation as part of their plan to cut 20% from their budget over the next 5 years.
It’s not known when the BBC HD channel will be replaced with BBC Two HD as the announcement simply said “the BBC HD channel will close and be replaced with a single version of BBC Two in high definition” but no timescale was given.
Tags: bbc hd, bbc two, bbc two hd, Cable (Virgin Media), hd, Satellite (Sky Digital)
Posted 14th September 2011 by Paul
Cartoon Network HD has launched exclusively on Sky today.
The new HD channel is a simulcast of the standard definition channel.
Cartoon Network HD is available on Sky channel 601 for all Sky+ HD customers who subscribe to the appropriate package.
Non Sky+ HD customers will still receive the standard definition version on channel 601.
Tags: cartoon network, cartoon network hd, hd, Satellite (Sky Digital)
Posted 5th September 2011 by Paul
Sky Sports will be free to all Virgin Media TV customers for one weekend this month.
From 6am on the 24th September through to 6th on the 26th September Sky Sports 1-4, Sky Sports News and Sky Sports HD 1 & 2 (only for customers with an HD box) will be free to all TV customers.
For more details see the September issue of the Electric newsletter by clicking here.
Tags: Cable (Virgin Media), hd, sky sports
Posted 16th August 2011 by Paul
Cartoon Network HD will launch on the 14th September.
The new HD channel will be available exclusively to Sky+ HD customers.
Tags: cartooon network hd, hd, Satellite (Sky Digital)
Posted 15th August 2011 by Paul
Virgin Media has sold its stake in UKTV to Scripps Networks Interactive. The deal, worth £339m, sees Scripps Networks Interactive take Virgin Media’s 50% stake in UKTV.
Scripps Networks Interactive already own other channels such as Food Network which recently made its Freeview debut.
The other 50% share of UKTV is still owned by BBC Worldwide – the BBC’s commercial arm.
Kenneth W. Lowe, chairman of Scripps Networks Interactive, says “making a solid investment in UKTV and entering into a strong partnership with BBC Worldwide reinforces our core international strategy which we believe will create significant long-term value for our shareholders”.
It was originally thought Discovery would get the UKTV stake, but Scripps pipped them to the post.
What will this change mean for the UKTV channels? Will we see more UKTV channels on Freeview? Will certain channels close such as Good Food which has the same remit as Scripps’s own Food Network channel?
Tags: Cable (Virgin Media), hd, Satellite (Sky Digital), Terrestrial (Freeview and Top Up TV), uktv
Posted 4th August 2011 by Paul
Disney Channel HD will launch on the 16th September. It will be available on Sky channel 609.
Tags: disney channel hd, hd, Satellite (Sky Digital)
Posted 3rd August 2011 by Paul
UKTV will be launching three new HD channels on Sky in the coming months.
Watch HD and Dave HD are due to be launched in October this year and Alibi HD will be available some time next year.
The new HD channels will join UKTV’s existing high definition offerings Eden HD and Good Food HD on Sky.
In addition to the new HD channels, UKTV have also announced a selection of their programme catalogue will be made available on demand for the first time as part of Sky’s Anytime+ service (available to Sky broadband customers through their set top box).
On demand content will start appearing on Sky Anytime+ this September.
The official UKTV press release says:
“Initially launching with hundreds of hours of programming throughout the year cherry picked from across its network, UKTV’s VoD service which will be refreshed on a monthly basis and nine box sets will be made available to Sky Anytime+ viewers every year. UKTV’s service will offer crown jewels from the BBC archive, well regarded third party acquisitions and high-profile UKTV commissions, such as: Fawlty Towers and Fry and Laurie: Reunited on Gold; Doctor Who and Total Wipeout USA on Watch; New Tricks and Murdoch Mysteries on Alibi; Top Gear and Argumental on Dave; Planet Earth and The Long Way Round on Eden; Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and My Flat Pack Home on Home; and Rick Stein’s French Odyssey and Rachel Allen: Bake! on Good Food”. Click here to read UKTV’s press release in full.
Tags: dave, dave hd, hd, Satellite (Sky Digital), sky anytime, uktv, watch, watch hd
