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HD Ready viewers expect HD TV on Freeview - joint release from 91Èȱ¬, ITV, Channel 4 and Five
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Joint release from the 91Èȱ¬, ITV, Channel 4 and Five
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Successful first trial of high definition services on digital terrestrial platform reveals HD ready households expect HD on Freeview in the future
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Encouraging findings from the UK's first ever trial of high
definition (HD) television over the digital television platform (DTT) were
issued today by the joint trial broadcasters 91Èȱ¬, ITV, Channel 4 and Five.
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The trial, which set out to prove that HD broadcasts over DTT were feasible and
investigate their appeal to viewers, was a technical success.
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And quantitative
research amongst the panel homes indicated that HD ready viewers expect high
definition broadcasts on Freeview in the future.
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The four broadcasters have been running the trial since June 2006 to a small
closed sample group of 450 selected households in the London area, under a non-operational licence from Ofcom.
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High definition provides a step change in
television technology which produces clearer and more detailed pictures than
normal standard definition TV.
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In a report published today, the broadcasters
have outlined feedback from the sample group, all of whom were issued with a
prototype HD set top box that could also receive Freeview broadcasts.
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Nearly all (98%) triallists stated that it was important to have HD services
on Freeview (the UK DTT platform) in future, with 86% of those surveyed
expecting to see these services within three years.
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And nine out of ten (90%)
believed that the 91Èȱ¬, ITV, Channel 4 and Five (together the public service
broadcasters - PSBs) should be at the forefront of HD developments.
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When asked about which programme genres would benefit most from being broadcast
in HD, wildlife and sport lead the way with scores of 9.4 and 8.9 out of 10
respectively.
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Triallists also, on average, felt that there should be at least
six or seven channels of HD content available on Freeview, with an ideal of 10.
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Overall, the experience of DTT HD exceeded most triallists' expectations, with
all but 5% reporting that it looked as good as or better than they had hoped.
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Charles Constable, Director of Strategy, Five, said: "This is a landmark
collaboration between the leading UK broadcasters.
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"All of us are exploring the
possibilities for HD programming, and this trial set out to eliminate technical
concerns about HD on Freeview and establish demand for services.
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"Both of these
objectives were achieved."
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Seetha Kumar, Head of HD TV, 91Èȱ¬, said: "It's clear even from this small trial that
audiences increasingly expect us and the other major broadcasters to offer high
quality HD programming on Freeview in the future.
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"All triallists experienced our
HD programmes first hand. Many of them liked what they saw, and wanted more of
it.
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"We would like to be able to provide that level of quality to Freeview
viewers, alongside other platforms, in years to come."
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Simon Fell, Director of Technology, ITV Consumer, said: "Technically, the trial
has more than fulfilled our expectations.
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"With the help and co-operation of our
transmission partners and the consumer electronics industry, we have
conclusively demonstrated that HD services can run effectively alongside
standard Freeview broadcasts.
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"All major technical hurdles are behind us, and
collectively we can focus on potentially providing services for the forecasted
sales of 10 million flat screen TVs by 2010."
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Jonathan Thompson, Director of Strategy & Research, Channel 4, said: "Both the
broadcasters and Government need to ensure the ongoing strength of the DTT
platform as we approach switchover.
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"The trial has raised important questions
about how the platform needs to evolve in order to support the delivery of the
HD services required to ensure its future appeal."
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Programmes from all four broadcasters featured in the trial, including Planet
Earth, Bleak House, Poirot, the 2006 World Cup, Desperate Housewives, CSI: Crime
Scene Investigation and Later with Jools Holland.
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The broadcasters have worked with the Digital Television Group, set top box
manufacturers Humax and ADB (Advanced Digital Broadcast) and transmission
companies National Grid Wireless (NGW) and Arqiva.
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Playout providers were Red
Bee Media and Grass Valley (Thomson).
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Siemens Business Services provided
technical support for the 91Èȱ¬.
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TNS handled triallist research.
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Notes to Editors
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The broadcasters
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The 91Èȱ¬
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The 91Èȱ¬'s trial DTT HD broadcasts mirror its current HD trial on satellite and
cable.
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It has included some of the 91Èȱ¬'s best sport, documentaries, drama and musical
performances, such as the 91Èȱ¬'s World Cup coverage, major Wimbledon matches,
dramas Robin Hood, Torchwood and Bleak House, stunning natural history series
Planet Earth and concerts from The Proms to Beyonce Live at the 91Èȱ¬.
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See bbc.co.uk/hd or bbc.co.uk/pressoffice for further details. A PDF copy of
the is available on About the 91Èȱ¬.
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ITV
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ITV provided a range of content for the trial, including its share of the 2006
World Cup matches alongside drama such as Agatha Christie's Poirot specials
Death on the Nile and Murder in Mesopotamia, documentaries such as Jean-Michel
Cousteau's Ocean Adventures and classic films including All Quiet on the
Western Front The Big Sleep and the Space 1999 series, restored from 35mm film
to HDTV format as part of Granada's ongoing archive restoration process.
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A PDF copy of the report can be found at itv.com/hd.
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Channel 4
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Channel 4's HD trial broadcasts included hit US drama Desperate Housewives,
classic FilmFour films and home-grown commissions from drama, history, science
and entertainment.
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Five
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Five's contribution to the trial included episodes of popular US series CSI and
House, plus commissioned programmes such as Tim Marlow at MOMA and movies such
as Cocktail.
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Trial methodology
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The trial sample of 450 homes were volunteers recruited through publicity, and
selected based on three basic criteria.
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First, a postcode checker was used to
ensure respondents were within the expected London reception area.
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Second, the
triallists needed to already own their own HD Ready TV sets, as these were not
provided as part of the trial.
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Third, all triallists already had to have DTT
installed in their homes, which maximised the chance they would be in a good
DTT reception area.
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Research agency TNS also captured a spread of homes with
different HD screen sizes, to investigate the difference that screen size made
on appreciation of HD.
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Feedback from the trial was captured in two ways. Online questionnaires were
used to ask detailed questions about triallists' experiences of HD, and their
opinions and expectations for HD in the future.
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Three waves of research were
conducted between June and October 2006.
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Triallists were also encouraged to post
their views online on a forum set up for the trial, enabling triallists to give
feedback at any point they liked, and also giving them access to information
about the trial including programme schedules from the broadcasters.
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The trial suppliers
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ADB
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Advanced Digital Broadcast provides a range of high-quality products and
services to the digital television market worldwide and has deployed more than
seven million set-top boxes since 1997.
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ADB is headquartered in Geneva,
Switzerland with main offices in Poland and Taiwan and representation in eight
other countries around the world including the UK.
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Arqiva
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Arqiva has a 50-year history in transmission and has helped pioneer the
technologies of the digital age.
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The company's Terrestrial Media Solutions
division provides national transmission for UK commercial television including
ITV, Channel 4, Five and associated digital multiplexes, and is playing a leading role
in the digital switchover.
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Transmission services are also provided to
the vast majority of UK independent radio stations, both analogue and digital.
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Humax
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Humax is one of the world's largest manufacturers of digital set-top boxes,
exporting its products to over 90 countries across the globe.
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The company is a
leading supplier of high quality, feature-rich digital TV products, including
Personal Video Recorders (PVRs) and HD-Ready Integrated Digital TVs.
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The
company headquarters and R&D facility are based in Korea, with offices in
Dubai, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US.
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NGW
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National Grid Wireless is a wholly-owned subsidiary of National Grid and one of
two UK providers of terrestrial infrastructure for the transmission of analogue
and digital television and radio broadcasts in the UK.
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National Grid Wireless
has a strong position in the growing digital television market, owning two of
the six digital terrestrial television licences and providing infrastructure
services to all the Freeview channels, the 91Èȱ¬ and BSkyB.
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NGW is also the
leading independent provider of infrastructure to the mobile telecommunications
operators in the UK.
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Red Bee Media
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Red Bee Media provides the distribution and promotion of multimedia content,
offering a comprehensive range of services to playout, publish, promote and
provide media access for content across all media, from television to mobile
phones.
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Red Bee Media is owned by Creative Broadcast Services, which is in turn
owned by Macquarie Capital Alliance Group (65%) and Macquarie Bank (35%).
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Siemens
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Siemens Business Services is an international leading IT service provider.
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This
Siemens Group offers services all along the entire value chain - from
consulting to systems integration, right through to the management of IT
infrastructures.
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Siemens Business Services is among the top ten providers of
outsourcing worldwide. With around 39,000 employees, the Group posted sales in
fiscal 2005 (ending 30 September 2005) of EUR 5.4 billion, 75% of which
was achieved outside the Siemens organisation.
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Thomson
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Thomson's Systems and Equipment division develops video and film technologies,
products and services sold to all major Hollywood studios, all major
television, satellite, and cable broadcasters under the Grass Valley brand-name
for the delivery of analogue and digital entertainment.
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The division also
includes Thomson's Access Platforms and Gateways Business, which develops
technologies and products for broadband and telecommunication networks to
deliver digital entertainment and data to consumers and businesses.
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The Group
includes the Technicolor, Grass Valley, RCA and Thomson brands.
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TNS
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TNS is a market information group.
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It is the world's largest provider of custom
research and analysis, a leader in political and social polling and a major
supplier of consumer panel, media intelligence and TV and radio audience
measurement services.
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TNS operates across a global network in over 70 countries, allowing it to provide internationally consistent, up-to-the-minute and high quality information and analysis.
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91Èȱ¬ Press Office/JB3
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