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ITV1 HD is a British
free-to-air
Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscripti ...
high-definition public broadcast television network operated by
ITV plc
ITV plc is a British media company that holds 13 of the 15 regional television licences that make up the ITV network (Channel 3), the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom.
ITV plc is listed on the ...
, the company which is contracted to provide 13
ITV1
ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the Channel 3 public broadcast service across all of the United Kingdom except for t ...
services across the UK. ITV1 HD simulcasts them in high-definition (excluding former
Channel Television
ITV Channel Television, previously Channel Television, is a British television station which has served as the ITV contractor for the Channel Islands since 1962. It is based in Jersey and broadcasts regional programme for insertion into the ...
region which still broadcasts only in SD). ITV1 HD is available to view in England, Wales and the Scottish Borders on
Freesat
Freesat is a British free-to-air satellite television service, first formed as a joint venture between the BBC and ITV plc and now owned by Digital UK. The service was formed as a memorandum in 2007 and has been marketed since 6 May 2008. Free ...
via channel 103,
Freeview Freeview may refer to:
* Freeview (Australia), the marketing name for the digital terrestrial television platform in Australia
* Freeview (New Zealand), a digital satellite and digital terrestrial television platform in New Zealand
*Freeview (UK), ...
channel 103,
Sky
The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space.
In the field of astronomy, ...
channel 103,
Virgin Media
Virgin Media is a British telecommunications company which provides telephone, television and internet services in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are at Green Park in Reading, England. It is owned by Virgin Media O2, a 50:50 joint ventu ...
channel 103 and in
Switzerland on
SwisscomTV.
From 2 April 2010, ITV1 HD relaunched as a standard channel available on all digital platforms. It now identifies on-air simply as ITV1, without "HD" in a logo.
History
2006 trial
The channel originally existed on a trial basis from June until November 2006, primarily to show the
World Cup
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
games to which
ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
had the rights.
The channel was available to subscribers of the
Telewest
Telewest (previously Telewest Broadband and Telewest Communications) was a cable internet, broadband internet, telephone supplier and cable television provider in the United Kingdom. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange, and was also onc ...
TV Drive cable service and was also broadcast as a low-power digital terrestrial (
DVB-T) channel from London's
Crystal Palace Transmitter
The Crystal Palace transmitting station, officially known as Arqiva Crystal Palace, is a broadcasting and telecommunications site in the Crystal Palace area of the London Borough of Bromley, England (). It is located on the site of the former t ...
as part of a terrestrial HDTV trial involving 450 homes. ITV HD did not broadcast on
satellite television
Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location. The signals are received via an outdoor parabolic antenna comm ...
, unlike
BBC HD
BBC HD was a 24-hour high-definition television channel provided by the BBC. The service was initially run as a trial from 15 May 2006 until becoming a full service on 1 December 2007 before its discontinuation on 26 March 2013. It broadcast ...
. It was available on Telewest channel 118 and Freeview channel 503 in homes which were involved in the HD trial.
In addition to the World Cup games, ITV HD showed classic films remastered in HD (such as ''
All Quiet on the Western Front'' and ''
The Big Sleep
''The Big Sleep'' (1939) is a hardboiled crime novel by American-British writer Raymond Chandler, the first to feature the detective Philip Marlowe. It has been adapted for film twice, in 1946 and again in 1978. The story is set in Los Angel ...
''), documentaries (such as ''
Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Ocean Adventures'') and dramas such as ''
Poirot
Hercule Poirot (, ) is a fictional Belgian detective created by British writer Agatha Christie. Poirot is one of Christie's most famous and long-running characters, appearing in 33 novels, two plays ('' Black Coffee'' and ''Alibi''), and more ...
''.
The original ITV HD stopped broadcasting on 30 November 2006.
2008 launch
High definition broadcasts from
ITV plc
ITV plc is a British media company that holds 13 of the 15 regional television licences that make up the ITV network (Channel 3), the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom.
ITV plc is listed on the ...
launched exclusively on
Freesat
Freesat is a British free-to-air satellite television service, first formed as a joint venture between the BBC and ITV plc and now owned by Digital UK. The service was formed as a memorandum in 2007 and has been marketed since 6 May 2008. Free ...
, the new digital satellite service from the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
and
ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
on 7 June 2008, just in time for the start of
UEFA Euro 2008
The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...
. ITV plc planned to spend £10m during 2008 on the launch of ITV HD.
Freeview and 2009 rebrand
ITV HD became ITV1 HD when it relaunched for
Freeview HD
Freeview is the United Kingdom's sole digital terrestrial television platform. It is operated by Digital UK Ltd and DTV Services Ltd, a joint venture between the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Sky. It was launched on 30 October 2002, t ...
on 2 December 2009. It continued to operate on Freesat as a red button service on select programming.
ITV1 HD aimed to include 35% 'native HD' content at the start of 2010, rising to at least 60% at the start of 2012 and at least 70% at the start of 2014. In the early years, the service will focus on sport and drama content, over time it is expected that the majority of other genres to convert to native HD.
ITV1 HD operated from 18:00 to 23:00 seven days a week.
From August 2009, ITV began testing a HD simulcast of
ITV Granada on satellite, before later switching to
ITV London
ITV London is the on-air brand name used by ''ITV Broadcasting Limited'' for two broadcast franchises of ITV, Carlton Television (weekdays) and London Weekend Television (weekends) in the London ITV region. Its terrestrial digital signal is ...
.
On 26 November 2009, the ITV1 HD logo appeared as a
digital on-screen graphic during programming and the off air
station identification
Station identification (ident, network ID or channel ID or bumper) is the practice of radio and television stations and networks identifying themselves on-air, typically by means of a call sign or brand name (sometimes known, particularly in th ...
.
2010 launch as a standard channel
On 12 March 2010, it was announced that ITV1 HD would become a standard channel on 2 April 2010, simulcasting the main ITV1 channel, and launching on
Sky
The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space.
In the field of astronomy, ...
and
Virgin Media
Virgin Media is a British telecommunications company which provides telephone, television and internet services in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are at Green Park in Reading, England. It is owned by Virgin Media O2, a 50:50 joint ventu ...
, as well as switching from a red button interactive service to a full-time channel on Freesat. It continues to only be available in ITV plc owned ITV franchise areas, covering England, Wales and the Scottish Borders area, though red button access on ITV1 London (Freesat channel 977) remains in place. The launch coincided with the closure of
Men & Motors
Men & Motors was a men's lifestyle television channel in the UK. It was the last remaining station operated by the former Granada Sky Broadcasting joint venture, set up by Granada Television (now part of ITV plc) and satellite broadcaster Brit ...
.
During March 2010, Ofcom issued broadcast licences for six regional variations of ITV1 HD, with Central, Granada/Border and Meridian/Anglia regions joining London/LWT on air in June 2010. Two of these variations were initially only available on a
free-to-view
Free-to-view (FTV) is a term used for audiovisual transmissions that are provided free without any form of continual subscription . It differs from free-to-air (FTA) in that the program is encrypted.
Free-to-view vs. free-to-air
The free-to-vi ...
basis on satellite, requiring a Sky viewing card to access; Freesat viewers in those regions were instead given either the Granada/Border or London variation. However, Meridian became free-to-air in September 2012 with Central following in October 2012.
On 14 January 2013, ITV1 HD received a new logo and went back to its former name, "ITV HD", as part of a rebranding of ITV's television channels and online services.
On 25 August 2015, ITV Cymru Wales became available on HD on all platforms, viewers in Wales having previously received either the London or Central variant (depending on their TV provider).
More regions go HD on satellite, 2016–2020
On 31 March 2016, a further three ITV regions were made available in HD via satellite, ITV Anglia (east), ITV Tyne Tees, and ITV Yorkshire (west).
From 20 October 2020, further ITV subregions began broadcasting in the clear on satellite – these being Central (East), Anglia (West), Yorkshire (East) and the South and Thames Valley feeds of Meridian. Once formally added to Sky and Freesat, all ITV regions in England and Wales will have their correct variant of ITV available in HD (channel 103 on Freesat and channel 103 on Sky with the HD swap enabled.) Of the ITV plc-owned regions on the GB mainland, only Border Scotland is now not available in HD in any way.
These additional subregions launched since 2016 are broadcast solely on the Sky and Freesat platforms, with Freeview users continuing to receive the same regional variants as in place since Wales' split in 2015 – so, for instance, viewers in the Border region see Granada in HD. This is due to the limited regionalisation of the Freeview multiplex which carries the main HD channels (with
BBC One HD currently broadcasting a single all-England service with no regional splits).
, the ITV HD service is still not available in the Channel Islands. This is a legacy of the
ITV Channel Television
ITV Channel Television, previously Channel Television, is a British television station which has served as the ITV contractor for the Channel Islands since 1962. It is based in Jersey and broadcasts regional programme for insertion into the ...
service having been independent of ITV plc prior to 2010, a status which also meant ITV2 and other ITV plc digital services were unavailable over Freeview on the islands until 2012.
Technical problems
''Harley Street''
ITV HD's first HD drama broadcast of ''Harley Street'' reportedly suffered technical problems including picture and sound quality and failing to revert to the normal ITV broadcast after the programme had finished. Also, several Digital Spy forum members reported that they could not access HD content via the red button due to the ITV HD service "only being available through the London region".
2010 World Cup
On 12 June 2010, ITV HD cut off
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
's first
2010 FIFA World Cup
, image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg
, size = 200px
, caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...
game inadvertently into an advert break for 25 seconds, as a result, missing their first World Cup 2010 goal. This interruption also caused the remaining transmission to be in standard-definition. The standard definition ITV broadcasts did not miss the goal, scored by
Steven Gerrard. ITV had already said it was not to blame for the problem, which was pinned on human error at
Technicolor
Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades.
Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...
, the firm which provides transmission. On 23 August 2010,
Ofcom cleared ITV over the "unfortunate error", despite receiving 823 complaints. After reviewing the situation, Ofcom acknowledged the frustration of ITV HD viewers at the transmission break, but decided that ITV's actions to resolve the situation had been sufficient.
''The X Factor''
On 12 November 2011, a power failure at the
BT Tower
The BT Communication Tower is a grade II listed communications tower located in Fitzrovia, London, owned by BT Group. Originally named the Museum Radio Tower (after the adjacent Museum telephone exchange), it became better known by its unoff ...
resulted in the loss of ITV HD, the channel froze during ''
Harry Hill's TV Burp
''Harry Hill's TV Burp'' (also known as just ''TV Burp'') is a British television comedy programme broadcast between 2001 and 2012 on ITV. The show was produced by Avalon Television and was written and hosted by comedian Harry Hill. Each ep ...
'' and continued throughout ''
The X Factor
''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...
'' live show. ITV in standard definition was unable to show live footage and instead aired re-runs of participants' auditions until the problem was fixed 15 minutes later. Although the standard definition channel began to work after 15 minutes, ITV HD Granada was still frozen although ITV HD London seemed to work.
Champions League
On 25 April 2012, a technical fault during extra-time in the
2011–12 UEFA Champions League semi-final between
Real Madrid and
Bayern Munich resulted in the Meridian and London versions of the channel cutting to
Mark Austin preparing to read the 10 pm news bulletin.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Itv1 Hd
English-language television stations in the United Kingdom
ITV television channels
Television channels and stations established in 2006
Television channels and stations disestablished in 2006
Television channels and stations established in 2008
Television channels and stations established in 2009
Television channels and stations established in 2010
Television channels and stations disestablished in 2010