Digital TV News

24 million Brits will enjoy the World Cup in HD

Friday 11 June, 2010

By Becca Talbot - becca@consumerchoices.co.uk

Over 24 million homes in the UK now have high-definition TV and are gearing up to watch the World Cup in super sharp HD, revealed regulator Ofcom.

UK consumers purchased over 24 million HD ready TVs by the end of March this year, according to figures from the regulator.

Millions of homes will be watching high-definition programmes on Freeview, as its HD service is now available to 50% of the UK - just in time for the first whistle of the World Cup later today.

Freeview began rolling out its high-definition digital terrestrial TV service in December last year, with 7% of the UK initially being covered. However Ofcom confirmed that Freeview HD is now available to 50% of the UK population, including homes in Manchester, London, Leeds, Newcastle, Liverpool, Birmingham and most of Wales.

Jon Ingram, operations director at Digitalchoices.co.uk, said: “Programmes in high-definition have up to five times more detail than programmes in standard definition, with clearer images and sharper sound.”

Households in the area covered by Freeview HD will be able to watch the World Cup in high-definition on ITV1 HD and the BBC HD channel.

“For those that cannot currently receive Freeview HD, there are plenty of other options for watching your favourite programmes in high-definition,” added Ingram.

Over 2.5 million homes now have a subscription to Sky’s HD service, while Virgin Media’s V+ HD service is in just under one million homes. Unlike Freeview, both services come with a monthly subscription, but they have a lot more HD channels.

Ingram added: “Watching the World Cup in HD will be magnificent - you’ll be able to see every goal, penalty and red card in superb quality. Let’s just hope England’s football standards are of the same quality.”

Following the end of the football tournament, Freeview HD will continue to roll out across the UK, and will available to 98.5% of the country by the end of 2012.