Rich Fiscus
20 Nov 2007 11:09
Yesterday the BBC Trust announced plans for a high definition Channel to be available on the Sky satellite service. Despite calls from some for the BBC to broadcast 4 hours of Freeview hi-def content per day, the governing body decided against that course because it would require equipment that would likely be obsolete after the official Freeview HDTV standard is complete.
Diane Coyle, BBC Trustee and Chair of the Public Value Test Steering Group said "The Trust is pleased to approve the new HD television channel on all platforms. After considering all the evidence we are satisfied that the public value generated is sufficiently high and there is unlikely to be a negative impact on the market.
"High Definition will eventually become a significant broadcasting standard and, as with all BBC services for which everyone pays, it is essential that this is universally available as soon as possible. This means the Trust will consider in spring 2008 the timing of the launch on Freeview, when there should be greater clarity on HD broadcast standards and the spectrum capacity available for the channel."
"The Trust is very grateful for all the responses we received to our consultation, and in particular to the question we asked about the potential for a four-hour interim service on Freeview. The responses from the public and commercial stakeholders led us to conclude that it was not in licence-fee payers' interests to launch a four-hour overnight service at present. We believe there is currently too great a risk of confusing consumers due to the need for upgrades if an HD service launches before there is equipment which allows viewers to access both the interim service and new services after switchover. An interim service might become an option later in the process of digital switchover when those boxes become available."
Source: Press Release