BBC rollout Freeview HD from as early as March 2010

[chris]

The BBC has confirmed that areas across the UK can expect Freeview HD as early as March 2010. The BBC hopes that 50 per cent of the population will be able to watch the 2010 football World Cup in HD.

The regions that will receive the first phase of the HD rollout will be London, Glasgow, Newcastle, Leeds/Bradford and Birmingham. If you don’t live in one of these areas, fret not, because the BBC aims to have a 98.5 per cent coverage for the service by the end of 2012.

To tune in to Freeview HD, you will need to buy a new HD set-top box which can handle the beefed-up transmission. For the early adopters out there, the BBC estimates that dedicated Freeview set-top boxes will hit stores early next year.

Here’s the Freeview HD rollout schedule in full:

ENGLAND
Manchester Winter Hill - December 2, 2009
London Crystal Palace (advance network) - December 2, 2009
Newcastle and Tyneside Pontop Pike (advance network) - February 2010
Leeds / Bradford Emley Moor (advance network) - March 2010
Birmingham Lichfield (advance network) - March 2010
Liverpool, central Lancashire, Cheshire, north Staffordshire Winter Hill relays (retrofit) - March 2010
Exeter, parts of Devon, Somerset, Dorset Stockland Hill (retrofit) - April 2010
Bristol, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire Mendip - April 2010
Devon, Cornwall, and the Isles of Scilly Beacon Hill, Caradon Hill, Huntshaw Cross and Redruth (retrofit) - August 2010
Cumbria and the Lake District Caldbeck (retrofit) - October 2010
Following this schedule, Freeview HD will then be implemented in line with the rest of the switchover programme:
2011 - Bedfordshire, Berkshire (parts), Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire,
East Anglia, East Midlands, East Yorkshire, Gloucestershire,
Herefordshire, Humberside, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire,
Shropshire, South Yorkshire, Staffordshire (parts), Stoke-on-Trent, West
Midlands (remainder), and West Yorkshire (remainder).
2012 - Berkshire (remainder), County Durham, Greater London (remainder),
Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Northumberland, North Yorkshire, Surrey,
Sussex, Teesside, Tyneside.

WALES
Cardiff, Newport Wenvoe - March 2010
Swansea Kilvey Hill March (retrofit) - 2010
West and central Wales Blaenplwyf - March 2010
Carmarthenshire Carmel (retrofit) - April 2010
rest of Wales Long Mountain, Moel y Parc, Presely Mid (retrofit) - June 2010
Anglesey Llanddona (retrofit) - July 2010

SCOTLAND
Glasgow, central Scotland Black Hill (advance network) - February 2010
Shetland Bressay - May 2010
Orkney Keelylang Hill - May 2010
Caithness, North Sutherland Rumster Forest - June 2010
Lewis, Wester Ross, North West Sutherland, Western Isles Eitshal Skriaig - July 2010
Angus, Dundee, Perth, and parts of Fife Angus - August 2010
Aberdeenshire Durris - September 2010
Morayshire, Strathspey, and parts of Easter Ross Knockmore - October 2010
South West Scotland Caldbeck Scotland - October 2010
Inverness and the Great Glen Rosemarkie - October 2010
South West Highlands and Islands Torosay - October 2010
Scottish Borders Selkirk (retrofit) - November 2010 retrofit
Following this schedule, Freeview HD rolls out in line with the rest of the switchover programme until the whole of Scotland can receive the service by the end of Q2, 2011.

NORTHERN IRELAND
Freeview HD will rollout in line with the rest of the switchover programme so that the whole of Northern Ireland can receive the service by the end of 2012.

OTHER AREAS
Isle of Man Douglas (retrofit) - October 2010
Channel Islands Fremont Point - end 2010


Source:T3

[ATrainDriver]

Of course, what isn't being mentioned is that the BBC transmissions will be the same reduced-bitrate service (aka 'BBC Enhanced Definition') that has provoked over 1400 posts across a range of blogs on the BBC website since BBC HD bitrates on Freesat/ Sky were reduced in August.

Given how much ill-will the perceived decline in p/quality has provoked, it is to be hoped that the BBC will be ready to produce the correct 'spin' when BBC HD on Freesat is shown to be one upgrade too far...

A train driver. Not striking. Not working to rule. Just resting.

[deesee]

Will a panasonic h/d tv with freeview and freesat be able to receive the h/d channels.

[PaulR]

Possibly. When terrestrial HD TV was first mooted there was talk of manufacturers offering a plug-in module to go in the CI slot. Personally I don't think it's possible in the UK as our HD signals will be DVB-T2 as well as MPEG4.

Best course is to contact Panasonic technical department.