More in store on BBC HD

Welcome back!

South Pacific has been superb (apart from the DOG(!)), also really enjoying Incredible Human Journey, and the Armando Iannucci programme on Milton was great. And we like the cat and shark idents - any more planned?

Looking forward to Glastonbury, and Wimbledon.

Will the Proms be in HD?

BBC HD website is useful, but would be a lot more useful if the schedule calendar worked for dates more than a week ahead - the links are active but just go to an 'Oops! That page doesn't exist...' page.

Sounds good.

Any news on BBC HD availability via the iPlayer on the Sony PS3 ? BBC HD is now available via a Virgin STB and on PCs, but for me personally the PS3 is the only prospect of seeing his great BBC HD content in the near future.

Hi , well done to everyone at BBC HD for winning.

Is there any news on Top Gear being shown in HD please?

In a recent interview the BBC One controller said BBC One hadn't reached the tipping point to launch BBC One HD.
This would seem to indiciate BBC One HD will run upscaled content using BBC London as its main feed.
Does this mean BBC HD would then focus on the other BBC channels?

Would this be linked to a switch to MPEG-4/DVB-S2?


From this summer on to the end of next year marks a massive chance for BBC HD to promote free to air HD Sport on top of the rest of its excellent programming.

There will be in order from this Summer:

Wimbledon.
Championship football.
Premiership and Championship football highlights.
Golf coverage of various events the BBC has rights to.
Autumn Rugby Internationals.
Rugby Super League highlights and other live Rugby coverage of various events.
Darts coverage.
Snooker coverage.
Australian Open Tennis.
Carling Cup semi final games and the Carling Cup final.
The 6 nations.

The Winter Olypmpics.

The Grand National.
French Open Tennis.

Formula One on average every 2 weeks with 3 days worth of coverage.

And the 2010 World Cup.


Hopefully all of these events will be covered in HD, can you confirm if they will be please?

With such a huge amount of sport it would be a great showcase on top of other BBC HD programming.

@Andrew Knight

if they show all that sport there won't be any airtime left for other programmes!! there's too much sport on BBC as it is.


...but Top Gear in HD would be very welcome, as would BBC1 mainstays Casulty & Holby City. it's a pity we didn't get Ashes To Ashes in HD, surely that's a show worth investing in?

looking forward to Glastonbury and Mitchell & Webb though.

@heilanner

Maybe BBC HD needs to do a survey on this issues but live sport should take priority over Casulty & Holby City. The cost of providing live sport in HD is falling all the time as many sports are now broadcast in HD as standard.

To sum things up there is plenty of airtime left for other programmes. Most sports take place outside of current BBC HD hours so it would't cause any issues and making way for live sport during broadcast hours doesn't seem to be an issue for BBC1 or BBC2 so BBC HD should be able to move its schedule when needed.

I think many people would disagree BBC HD shows too much sport,after the Olympics last year there was nothing until the 6 nations despite a huge amount of sport being shown on the BBC


Wimbledon. - Already set to broadcast

Championship football. 10 x 90 minute games.

Premiership and Championship football highlights. Slots are avaliable on Saturday night and mid-week when needed. Sunday might be an issue if there is a drama clash with MOTD2 but it could be shown later than BBC2 to fit this in.

Golf coverage of various events the BBC has rights to. - The amount of days broadcast is small. If BBC2 can alter its schedule BBC HD can make arrangements as well.

Autumn Rugby Internationals. - Many of these are broadcast before starting hours on BBC HD and they wouldn't cause any major disruption to regular broadcasts.

Rugby Super League highlights and other live Rugby coverage of various events. - Again live rugby and the highlights often go out when BBC HD isn't on or in the early weekend afternoon which is often only showing repeats.

Darts coverage.
Snooker coverage. - Again for both of these hopefully BBC HD make room like BBC2 does around its schedule, even if it only shows the later events, but when there are two HD channels this should become less of a problem.

Australian Open Tennis. - Coverage happens outside of BBC HD and in them. Coverage of later rounds and focus on UK players and the final shouldn't be too dificult to start of with.

Carling Cup semi final games and the Carling Cup final. - 3 x 90 minute football games.

The 6 nations. - Already broadcast but not in surround sound yet.And the BBC logo was left on despite the score graphic also showing the BBC logo.

The Winter Olypmpics. - Hopefully an event as important as the Olympics will recieve round the clock coverage.

The Grand National. - Coverage of all the racing over a few days mostly in the early afternoon before BBC HD broadcasts.

French Open Tennis. - Coverage happens outside of BBC HD and in them. Coverage of later rounds and focus on UK players and the final shouldn't be too dificult to start of with.

Formula One on average every 2 weeks with 3 days worth of coverage. - Again most coverage is outside of BBC HD hours so it wouldn't be a problem.

And the 2010 World Cup. - Already going to be broadcast on BBC HD.

OK, let me put it this way, sport is fine so long as it doesn't interfere with normal schedules. there is nothing more annoying for non-sports-fans like myself than having shows i do enjoy seeing being sidelined/postponed in order to show a football match involving two teams that even if i was a football fan, i wouldn't support.

sport should be on dedicated sports channels. the BBC should spend less promoting the gimmicky iPlayer and put that money into turning BBC4 into a sports channel.

i understand the argument that being a Public Service Broadcaster they have to cater to everyone, but i'm betting that even sports fans don't want their sport on in place of other shows which are equally if not more popular. besides, i don't want my license money going to football clubs or F1 which both have and pay their "stars" too much money as it is. let commercial channels throw their money at it if they wish, but taxpayer money should not be given to sports companies/clubs.

and to say live sport should take priority over long-standing drama series which are watched by millions every week is just a nonsense and you know it.

I'm with helianner.

I don't watch sport. I cannot stand sport. And I have always really hated that, depsite being in the age of dedicated sports channels, progamming gets ditched.

As of yet I don't have HD. But when I do, I can guarantee that the moment a show I watch gets moved/cancelled/pre-empted for sport then I will be writing a formal complaint letter.

There is no excuse for sport to replace regularly scheduled programming anymore. At least, not an excuse that people like me would ever buy.
BTW, the same argument can be made about regular viewing being disrupted by Eurovision. Bad enough anyway, but I would be livid in HD.

@heilanner @TiggsPanther

Sport is an important part of culture and daily life, its exsisted long before the advent of television and it has a greater importance.

Shows like Casulty & Holby City will only go HD once they have moved to the new studios, they won't invest in HD until then.
As for tax issues a new report today shows football pays £860 million in taxes.
F1 races also generate revenue and taxes for each country that hosts one.


I don't think a letter writing campaign will stop anything especially the notion that non-sport programming should go out 52 weeks uninterupted on every channel, after all there is more than just TV and in todays world there are plenty of other channels to watch to make up for one channel showing sport when you would like to watch something else.

The good news is anyway a great number of potential sporting broadcasts currently sits outside the BBCHD broadcast window.

The fact is most sport has the ability to be shown in HD from now on.


The BBC needs continuity in its schedule to attract viewers to HD and to make the investment and it currently lacks this.

No one will invest for just a few epiosodes of Dr Who , especially those looking at freesat or hd on freeview when it arrives, they will want to know there is programming around the year that would interest them.
Sport is one of the few areas that can be shown in HD right round the year now and with the sport that can be shown in HD that is avaliable on the BBC there is enough different events to cover many peoples different interests to make it viable for a household to invest in it.

The good news would be a big take up in BBC HD for sport would give it more viewers for its other programming , BARB ratings clearly show BBC HD struggles right now and people won't invest purely to recieve one or two shows shown in spring or summer.

More sport please! french open should have been on BBCHD, i hope you air the mens and womens finals in HD this weekend!

motogp should be in HD along with Match Of The Day.

Only show kids tv for 1hr, they are getting 3pm-7/8pm and yet alot of those shows are made for 3yr olds who wouldnt know the difference between HD and SD. you should use 3-4pm kids tv, then 4-7pm repeats of tv shows then 8-midnight regular shows.

I haven't gone for the HD option yet, but view a lot of stuff via the iPlayer in HD. I realise that for broadcasters, there needs to be a case for switching to HD, ie BBC1HD, BBC2HD, BBC3HD and so on, but do the BBC have any idea when that might be the case. Paying for an HD upgrade when the BBC only offer one channel, is, for me, out of the question at the moment.

The question of having sporting events broadcast on BBCHD would not arise then, as they would be shown on regular BBC channels in line with current schedules, as is the case now, but in HD. The BBC doesn't have a dedicated sports channel so the arguement is null and void.

On that subject though, I love the fact that F1 is on the BBC - no adverts, fan-bleedin'-tastic

I am very happy to see that at last there is more HD sport coming. However, I do feel that the selection of live sports shown on BBCHD so far is a little 'middle classy' if you will?
Rugby Union, Tennis, what next, Polo?

When are we going to see more sports like darts, footie, Grand Prix, golf, rugby league, horse racing. etc?
Cheers

I have a few questions about BBC HD.

When will you be broadcasting on regular schedule and are you planning to simulcast on DVB-T after the switch off?

I find the comments regarding sport a bit disturbing. With the BBC it seems to be a case of we tell you what you want to watch... you dont tell us.

I would like to see a lot more documentaries broadcast in HD and I too would like to see Top Gear in HD I'm even willing to come bring my FX-7 and film it myself :)

PS the test patterns are excellent, helped me set up my 5.1

Cheers

Thanks for posting Danielle,

Concur with sipasblog that the Milton programme was great. Unfortunately, I didn't know it was on HD and watched it in SD on BBC2 - what a shame. If only I could rely on BBC HD really to show "the best of the BBC" then I'd never need to watch another channel and could have your HD channel on everytime I fancy a bit of good telly. I never thought I'd say this but, perhaps, there is a case for a DOG, i.e. to flash up momentarily every few minutes on the BBC SD channels indicating when something is being simulcast on HD.

I can't agree with Heilanner. Please don't ever turn BBC4 into a sports channel - currently it really is the best of the BBC (losing BBC3 to sport would be fine though as that channel is truly awful). And as for all the sports that cosmic_boy wants shown, no thanks! They're surely well into Sky's domain (or the ITV Red button HD)!

Personally though, I would welcome almost any sport in HD in place of the Preview loop. That was perfectly illustrated only a moment ago when the F1 qualifying was in SD on BBC1 whilst BBC HD was, undoubtedly, being wasted on a rerun of that preview. All that precious HD daytime air time could be utilised much better by showing either Live HD Sport (hey what about Test cricket or the British Lions' tour?) or all the repeats that you insist on putting on every evening. I'd much rather have the opportunity to watch, or even record, a repeat of a whole programme (like that on Milton) than to see endless repetitions of a two minute preview.

Just a couple of thoughts re HD Sport...

1. The BBC missed a real opportunity with the Derby today. The whole point about live horse racing (especially on the flat where runners are likely to be bunched together in blanket finishes) is that the ability to identify 'your' horse through spotting the jockeys' colours clearly would be greatly enhanced by the increased picture definition provided by HD. I live pretty close to the Epsom course and spoke to some SIS-Live (the outside broadcast company providing the transmission facilities) technicians who confirmed that to their knowledge no HD horseracing contact was in place with the BBC (and they should know as most of them are ex-BBC outside broadcasts employees!).

2. Match Of The Day 2 in HD should work - after all, the source matches on Sundays have usually been broadcast live the same day by Sky in HD so it should be possible to play out the limited highlights in HD as well? Perhaps someone from BBC Sport could confirm whether there are contactural limits that only Sky can play out Premier League coverage in HD?

Note to Andrew Knight (comment 5 above) - I don't think Match Of The Day on Saturdays would work in HD - only the Sky live match/matches is/are covered in HD and I could not imagine any BBC producer or accountant being willing to fork out a pile of extra cash to send HD trucks to a ground for 10-15 minutes of coverage (even less if it's a 0-0 draw...!)....

Just want to say that the picture quality on many shows seems to have increased quite a lot in recent months so well done for that. The channel still struggles with darker scenes and scenes of fast movement, something which new encoders or a tad more bandwith would easily sort out. So before Wimbledon starts, the priority before hand must be to increase the bandwith back up to around 19/20 mbps so the competition is not ruined. Im sure this could be done for 2 weeks. just think of all the posotive press youd recieve.

In regards to sport there is certainly nowhere near enough Sport on BBC HD. Unlike some, I know the reasons why you cannott screen majority of the tennis, F1 and MOTD in HD. But theres no excuses when it comes to events such as Snooker that the BBC will have the rights to and will no doubt be in charge of filming. Also Why not do The derby yesterday in HD?? A big Horse racing event that would look very good in HD and no doubt be a ratings winner.

Shows such as Eastenders and casualty are the biggest ratings winner overall for BBC1 so why the hell avoid HD?? it seems like a cost issue to me. BBCHD only seem to want to do the small lower rating shows in HD.

With casualty there is no excuse at all for the lack of HD. I was reading an interview on https://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/a158161/oliver-kent-series-producer-casualty.html with the series producer Oliver Kent and he confirmed the following...

"What's the situation with Casualty and HD?
"We're not filming in HD yet. We're not quite sure when the switch is going to happen, but we're ready to make the switch when we need to. We had our set revamped two years ago and it's HD-ready."

Come on BBC HD. Lets see the channel gets its act together.

@ATrainDriver - In some countries all games are broadcast, at some point if it hasn't already happend HD will be used as a standard.

I know the posts I have made are pro-sport but the fact is that documentary programmes that are made for the international market have to be made in HD.

The issue is that people aren't going to invest in HD for the odd series that might interest them.

They will want continuous programming through the year.

While there are a few soaps and dramas that have already been mentioned that fit the bill these shows have said they won't switch to HD until they switch studios.



Most of the sporting events over the next year that I mentioned, and a few that I have missed can be shown in HD.
With a continuous schedule of sport it will help boost the viewing figures and takeup of services to recieve BBC HD, though this will be dampened by the current climate.

This will help boost the figures of other shows currently shown in HD which currently lack in the ratings which will hopefully then encourage more shows to switch to HD causing an ever increasing growth in BBC shows shown in HD and viewers watching them benefiting viewers with the excellent picture and sound quality of HD.



Hopefully we will see the start of this process with the Rugby Autumn internationals and Championship football being shown in HD as well as all the other events mentioned.

wednesady83 seems to know the reason you can't show F1 in HD on the BBC, personally I can't fathom it. If I was Danielle, after Jensen's win earlier today and with the prospect of another British win at the British Grand Prix, covered by the British Broadcasting Corporation, I would be straight on the phone to Bernie Ecclestone, or whoever is blocking HD coverage to try and negotiate something. I cannot imagine how one-off BBC HD coverage for that event couldn't be good for absolutely everyone concerned. I recall how we weren't going to get any HD coverage of Obama's inauguration, until suddenly Danielle announced that she'd "found a feed". Please Danielle, pick-up the phone now, start negotiations, find a feed and start packing the HD OB trucks up for the British Grand Prix in glorious HD and 5.1 now. Thanks!

I agree with Andrew Knight. If you look back on the history of the channel and what sports events are shown now thesedays compared to 2006-2008 there's been very little change. Sorry I just don't see this new "stuff". I agree with the process of looking at sports events such as Andrew's list and thinking yes, we should go for that in 2010 and be moving forward. There will be things that won't get shot in HD but you really have to start moving forward and start planning beyond the 9hrs we have. Boringly enough as we've said time and time again you guys need to be lobbying your unenlightened bosses to get on DVB-S2 and start planning other HD channels for when the content comes on stream.

There have been some nice little documentaries and series doing the rounds the last few months like South Pacific and The Incredible Human Journey. I do have to say though that looking at the BARB ratings, despite a longer and slightly beefier schedule the ratings have been very poor. The Doctor Who special which was great to have in HD but not really that good as a programme smashed the ratings record for the channel. I think this clearly demonstrates you need to be making much more bold scheduling choices like this if you're to get the success you want.

@Andrew Knight

you said, "With a continuous schedule of sport it will help boost the viewing figures and takeup of services to recieve BBC HD..."

i think you give sport too much credit. i have asked around and within my circle of friends and family MORE sport would have the opposite effect. the people i have asked would be less likely to watch or invest in HD if there was more sport.

more drama, more sci-fi, more nature programmes, more documentaries, more music... these would all help with take-up and viewing figures. what would help even more is if well known, staple BBC shows were in HD.

@heilanner asking a few friends and family opinions isn't that meaningful. I don't know anyone that watches the grand national and don't myself but realise it's absolutely crucial to have that sort of thing on BBC HD. Similarly I do watch snooker coverage and although I like it I realise that this is one of the sports the BBC could realistically get on to boost the channel viewing figures.

The only thing you are right on is that if a lot more sport comes on it's going to really mess up the schedules like it used to on BBC2 in the 1990s. I'm certainly aware of this which is why I and others like Andrew Knight have repeatedly called for additional HD channels and even spelt out how it could be done on Satellite. Also Top Gear would be a killer show for BBC HD.

The BBC are unable to show F1 in HD, as are all broadcasters. The way F1 is currently run means that the F1 organisation provide the pictures and everyone else bids for the rights to rebroadcast them. Until this changes we'll have to suffer SD. (Is there any chance of Murray Walker doing a guest commentary at Silverstone??)

I'd like to see more sport in HD, but not necessarily at the expense of other programming - whilst I like my football, I get as annoyed as the next person when the schedules get scrambled to make way for an evening game. As for snooker or darts in HD - is there really any point? Oh, if any channel had to go in order to make way for "BBC Sport" then let it be BBC3!!

I have to question the wisdom of the large slot given over to weekday childrens programming - they've already got 2 dedicated channels plus the BBC1 afternoon segment and they don't pay a licence fee. I'd like to see this HD time used more effectively either to show sport or some new programming.

I've had HD for 2 years now and BBC HD has come on in leaps and bounds - well done all. Lastly, I'd like to comment on the current set of idents - in my view the worst yet! The best had to be the swirl+diamond that vanished last year.

@RayB_UK

The great thing is F1 races are produced by FOM except for one, FOM need to do is rent HD broadcasting equipment.
We could see the first F1 race in HD at the end of this year. The BBC needs to keep on pushing F1 to provide a HD feed, as this article shows A1GP is already shown in HD.
With F1 on the BBC in HD it would give 17 x 3 days worth of HD F1 coverage.


Like I said in an earlier post, sport won't be at the expense of other programming.
Documentary programming has to be made in HD for the international market which demands HD as a standard format now.

https://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2009/06/05/f1-may-get-first-hd-show-at-abu-dhabi/


More sport in HD would boost viewing which would boost viewing of other shows which would give the BBC the reason to make more shows in HD which would gain more viewers and the cycle of growth would then continue.

Current HD sport broadcasting is disjointed.

The BBC shows the 6 nations in HD but doesn't show the Autumn Internationals or other Rugby rights the BBC has.

It is showing Queens and Wimbledon Tennis in HD, but didn't take up the HD feed that Eurosport HD was using for the Australian and French Open tennis events.

It will show the World Cup in HD but hasn't mentioned if it will broadcast its championship games and carling cup games in HD and its premiership and championship highlights.


@ heilanner

The problem is you need a critical mass of viewers to gain traction to invest in more HD production which then brings more viewers to the channel which gives the industry more reason to produce more shows in HD.

Don't get me wrong, I would like to see more of what you mention.

How many sci-fi do the BBC make? Very little.
Nature and documentary programmes already have to be shown in HD as an international standard.
Is the BBC going to expand the number of music programmes its shows? There hasn't been any indication of this.


The thing is that the BBC has huge amounts of sport that are just waiting for the BBC to hire out HD broadcast services right now.
This would increase takeup of HD services and viewing of BBC HD which would give the BBC a good reason to invest in other programming in HD.


I doubt it would put of people as tens of millions of people enjoy sport on the BBC all year round and sport is one of the few mediums that is shown all year round on the BBC in great volume.

It should be used as a driver to increase HD takeup, once there is a critical mass of viewers watching the current shows BBC HD shows it will give the BBC the chance to invest

Please, please, please, can the Beeb put heaps of pressure on Bernie Ecclestone to get a HD feed sorted for Formula One; I can't wait to be able to watch my favourite sport in glorious HD.

F1 HD please x

Every ICC 20-20 World Cup cricket match is being broadcast in HD right now and the BBC have the highlights rights. So why not put the highlights out in HD?

If I'm not mistaken, the HD Preview repeating loop on F/Sat Ch 108 usually restarts at about 1130 pm and the cricket highlights seem to be marooned in the post-Newsnight slot on BBC 2, so even scheduling wouldn't be a problem?

At a guess Sky probably have exclusive HD rights on the ICC? They are after all showing an awful lot of it.

The BBC can't do MOTD in HD as they have no sports presentation studios to do it from.

All of BBC HD's sporting events have to date been 100% outside broadcast productions. MOTD is a studio based show.

This should change in 2011 when the BBC's new studio centre in Manchester becomes operational.

Yes, but surely that means that Snooker could have been done in HD? Also there's only the requirement for 75% of the show to be in HD. MOTD therefore might fulfill this without shooting the studio bits in HD. After all there were large chunks of the olympics that were in very poor quality SD, but less than 25% so it was deemed HD.

I cant quite understand why people are going on and on about F1 in HD and MOTD in HD on here. The BBC cannott screen F1 in HD as its not filmed in HD. The same is applied for most of the prem matches so no MOTD in HD. now if the actual content was in HD then thats a different story.

As for the snooker then surely they have got to film it in HD or just give the rights to Sky or someone who would do it justice. Snooker would look great and would be easy to look good even on the poor BBC encoders. If they dont plan to broadcast it in HD then why not film it in HD and sell it to Euro sport???

Hi,
Why is Spring-watch not on HD they appear to be using HD cameras?
Has there been any progress on the F1 failure to go to HD?
Thanks.

Hi,
one more thing we were told that all BBC production would be in HD by 2010, there is only 6 months to go is this still the case or has the BBC bottled out?
Thanks.

The tiny budgets available to BBCHD betray the fact that the BBC are not really committed to conversion to HD.....they are far more interested in an online repeats service.....

....and everybodies comments above display yet again the failure of the concept of a dedicated, limited hours, HD channel.

It's not the "best of the bbc". Everybody quite obviously wants something different! So it will always fail to deliver.

Most people don't want an HD channel, they want their normal TV schedules in HD.

Danielle,

If I am wrong about the above, can you let us know what the BBC plans and timescales are for HD development?

@ Ropies
Also there's only the requirement for 75% of the show to be in HD. MOTD therefore might fulfill this without shooting the studio bits in HD.

A programme containing HD footage can't be made in an SD only enabled studio.

@ Ropieses, "but surely that means that Snooker could have been done in HD?

It could have been made in HD, but the BBC has a very limited budget for HD so they have to decide where to direct it.

This year they saved money by not having the FA Cup contract and by deciding not to cover the Chelsea Flower show in HD.

In return they could allocate their budget to the tennis at Queens and the D Day coverage etc.

It makes you appreciate what good value Sky's £10 HD surcharge is!!

This is a question for andy quested.

While BBC One isn't there yet it is getting closer to the tipping point of being able to launch a HD service.
Does that mean it will follow the Channel 4 route? Or would it simply go on a promo loop during non-HD content?

Considering the BBC aims, including BBC news, to have all its channels in HD by 2012 what will happen to the BBC HD channel? Hopefully it will evolve into the BBC HD 3D channel,it might set a record for the number of acronyms in a channel title!
This would then allow the BBC to screen events in 3D, considering there is a looming format war and there probably will be a long time before it becomes more established it seems there would only be a need for one HD 3D channel.

https://www.broadbandtvnews.com/?p=18984 - BBC One getting closer to starting BBC One HD.
https://www.broadbandtvnews.com/?p=18512 - BBC News aims to be in HD by 2012.

@derek500. I'm well aware of how low the BBC's budget is but it assumes I agree with channeling budgets to D Day coverage and Queens. As it happens I disagree strongly with Queens as Tennis is already well established on BBC HD, the funding should certainly have gone to something else new such as Snooker. When I say that there's a lack of diversity in BBC HD sport, I really mean it.

Just been comparing the quality of picture for the Queens tennis on BBC HD vs Eurosport HD, and as expected eurosport HD wins, but the quality was not as bad as I expected, very shocked indeed.

The picture was far cleaner on shots when the camers was moving to follow the ball and also the scoreboard also stood out more on Eurosport. The edges of the screen also seemed a little washed out on BBC HD yet didnt on Eurosport HD. Not a bad effort tho from the BBC. Just simply missing a little extra bandwith or new encoder, hopefully which someone will change for Wimbledon.

@wednesday83
I doubt any changes will take place until BBC One HD starts and the BBC switches to DVB-S2 and upgrades its MPEG4 encoders at the same time.

It's good to see though that BBC showed another film in HD for HD viewers.

@ropies

The budget view hasn't been really clear.
The BBC though aims to show events in HD at little extra cost, this raises questions though about the Rugby Autumn internationals not being in HD when the 6 nations is.

Or the fact Eurosport HD can carry French or Australian Tennis in HD but the BBC can't pick up the same broadcast feed.


And despite the BBC paying millions for F1 there seems to be little pressure on behalf of the BBC and other broadcasters to secure a HD feed, although one may well become avaliable for next year anyway.



Does the head of BBC HD meet on a regular basis with the head of BBC Sport and the other departments?

@ropies "@derek500. I'm well aware of how low the BBC's budget is but it assumes I agree with channeling budgets to D Day coverage and Queens. As it happens I disagree strongly with Queens as Tennis is already well established on BBC HD, the funding should certainly have gone to something else new such as Snooker. When I say that there's a lack of diversity in BBC HD sport"

Perhaps the BBC receive more money from international sales if the tennis can be supplied in HD? I wouldn't have thought snooker has as much saleability as tennis.

Danielle, you wrote this blog on 4th June, and some very good points have been raised. Can you respond and enlighten us as to some of the concerns raised.

As I wrote in my post, #10, I've not taken the HD option yet, but would be interested to know the plans for the BBC to begin a more widespread broadcast in HD. I understand the constraints - the program needs to be made in HD to be broadcast in HD, but as more content becomes available, a BBC1HD channel could possibly be broadcast, reverting to SD when content was unavailable in HD.

@ Andrew Knight "While BBC One isn't there yet it is getting closer to the tipping point of being able to launch a HD service."

I don't see that at all. Doctors, Jonathan Ross, Robin Hood, Totally Saturday, Michael McIntyre, Hope Springs, Casualty 1909 and repeats of Moving On are the only BBC1 programmes in HD in a whole week!! Hardly tipping point!! Even with the input of BBC2/3/4/CBBC/CBeebies the channel is still more repeats than new programming.

"the program needs to be made in HD to be broadcast in HD, but as more content becomes available, a BBC1HD channel could possibly be broadcast, reverting to SD when content was unavailable in HD."

I can see this being an operational nightmare - most of the HD channel output is automated, whereas in BBC1's case there are people making it happen. To keep switcing feeds between the promo loop and whatever is being simulcast will, IMO lead to problems.

Whilst it is possible for the whole of BBC1 to be sumulcast in HD with SD content upscaled (as C4 and Sky 1 do) I don't think
that is where the BBC should be heading - lets keep the HD channel seperate and continue the simulcast of HD output from across the other channels. There is also the question of available transponder space at 28E - I'd hate for DSAT HD to end up being hyper-compressed to make space for more HD channels - it kind of defeats the object.

Er, no. There's no issue with Astra 2D for the BBC for the forseeable future as long as they keep it for themselves. If the BBC employed better codecs, kicked off the two BBC1 variants on tx50 that shouldn't be on there anyway, went DVB-S2 there is space for 3 BBC HD channels. Some would say more (a rival broadcaster with better codecs).

@Andrew Knight, interesting post a few back talking about news content in HD. I expect however, that the deciding factor in that one will be when Sky HD launches within the next year, at which point the BBC will be jealous and want a shiny news channel of their own.

BBC HD has been brilliant at times and worthwhile, especially picture and 5.1 sound on Jools Holland (bring on Glasto in 5.1!) and Cinemascope movies.
However, I would like to see the on screen DOG reduced in size, as it is currently too big, to bring it in line with other BBC DOGs. Something like the iPlayer version, or even the BBC Four version.
I would not mind if this was done and the DOG shown all the time.

Most premiership football matches are now filmed in HD on an average Saturday there is around two games that are not and this is likely to change for the new season as Sky are working on plans to enable people to record football first streams in HD. Visons OB who provide some of teh last SD coverage are working on upgrading the units to HD over the next few months the biggest problem for MOTD in HD is presentation studio and possible rights issues with Sky on what feed/coverage they have to provide the BBC with. As Sky/Setanta are about to start a new contract I suspect BBC'S contract will have been renewed with better terms and conditions. With regards to F1 in HD it is upto the BBC and other HD broadcasters to keep putting pressure on F1 productions to release a HD feed they have nearly all the required infrastructrure in place with a new HD tape truck in use this season

@SHLA2UK Like everyone in general they can't reply straight away and have other work to do, I don't think anyone minds if they are securing more live sport like Formula One and Top Gear in HD which viewers want.

@derek500 The comments about BBC1 in HD came from the controller of BBC1 so they oviously have a view as to when they will make the switch.

@ropies Your crystal ball must be working well as Sky News has revealed it will go HD in around 1 years time.

Andy Quested did mention he was testing some small HD cameras but whether they are for F1 or Top Gear or BBC News there is no news.

I would say what would be nice on BBC HD is less of those programmes on Saturday evening to do with singing and brain numbing, what really is to be gained by putting these in HD?
I fully understand nature programmes and programmes with large outdoor scenery being first adopters of the technology and my interest in these such programmes has been rekindled through them being shown in HD. I also understand that showing something like Antiques Roadshow helps people pick out the detail on the objects shown, even though I would still never watch it. More sports would be a good addition to the channel, particularly Formula 1 but also Golf would look very good (scenery effect again) even though I don't really watch the latter.
Also I noted the Top Gear Polar episode was on HD the other week, more episodes of Top Gear on BBC HD would offer a far better use of the channel than Saturday prime time programmes.
Thanks

@ Andrew Knight "Andy Quested did mention he was testing some small HD cameras but whether they are for F1 or Top Gear or BBC News there is no news".

Maybe they're for the non studio segments of Strictly, as the results show is expected to be in HD this year.

Danielle said this in a previous blog

"But the nature of the results show, with lots of small camera filming and a fast turnaround, meant that we were unable to guarantee that the show could be delivered with the requisite proportions of HD content."

I love F1, and BBC's coverage this year has been great - having said that this is such a boring season, I think that the BBC will do well to scrap it and start screening things that offer some form of entertainment. Leave F1 to one of those pay to view channels for those monkeys that are stupid enough to pay to watch such rubbish.

Start showing some cricket - the T20 series would have been a great scoop - very entertaining, competitive matches - rugby (league and union), more football, athletics, gymanstics, and motor sports that are actually competitve.

Top Gear has to be in High Definition...its the only show which I feel is losing out.
To see the cars whizz by on the Top Gear Track in HD would be great....so why has it not been done yet?

"@ WebbyFoxes" If you look at the shows BBC HD screen many are shows that are not really going to set the ratings on fire. Most top BBC shows are left in SD - more probably down to cost and the fact BBC dont really give a damn about HD. They would much rather ivest in stupid little toys such as I Player.

Just imagine if Eastenders, casualty and Top gear were in HD, BBC HD would have very good ratings.

The Sad truth is no one at the BBC seems to care about HD. Even the people who are in charge there.

I wonder what the conversation was like for the BBC I Player, maybe something along the lines of...

BBC SKIVVY: - "Listen boss we could invest in one of our most popular shows such as Top Gear Or Eastenders and make this HD which would probably bring big ratings to BBC HD, or we could invest lots of money and time in the I Player instead that not that many people would care about?"

BBC B0OSS: "Oh how splendid the BBC I Player sounds. I couldnt think of a better way to spend the publics money. Who watches TV now anyway. Everyone watches TV online. And why would anyone wants one of the biggest shows on BBC TV in HD??".

If Only the people who pay the wages of BBC staff could sack the people in charge.

With respect Nick, I think you are missing the point somewhat.

There can be no doubt that when compared to the HD service, the BBC is heavily spending on iplayer and heavily promoting it. Shiney new toy.

The BBC is starting to appear more interested in delivery of content than in the content itself, or providing high quality sound and pictures to "traditional" users. Lets face it with the larger TVs people use these days SD just isn't good enough.

Part of the branding and "omnipitent" ever present everywhere policy of the marketing dept no doubt, who are also responsible for the totally unwanted DOGs that clutter HD, 3 and 4......

What was it yesterday? BBC mobile day. Those of us with expensive mobile phone contracts can watch BBC on a 1" screen whilst bouncing around on the bus to work etc. Great, I am so excited.

I am sure you are about to tell me there is a huge audience for that, so can you produce the viewing figures compared to traditionally broadcast BBC?

I must admit I am starting to find these blogs a bit of a waste of time. Very valid questions just don't get answered, or a "political" response is given.

So, what is the future policy, plan and timescales for BBCs HD provision?

Sorry, but Dannielle never seems to answer.

Nick,

Just out of curiosity, because I cant find up to date stats, what is the daily reach of iplayer (not including radio).

Looking at BARB, which I believe does not include iplayer, if you total up all BBC TV, the typical daily reach is 40 to 45 million.

Re comment 55 tagmclaren it would be nice if Danielle or someone could lay out future plans and timescales for BBC HD, a Blog entry aswering all the questions above would be nice.. On a plus side HD iplayer is excellent especially on my Virgin V+ box and I would recommend it to anyone. The scheduling has also improved slighty with more simulcast programmes.South Pacific has been fantastic and shows how good HD can be.

Any news on The Championship Games, will these be shown in HD as a Newcastle fan I need something to cheer me up, mind even HD cant make us look good.Also any update on the Open 2010 Danielle or any one-else who cares to respond.

More self promotion would help BBC HD, many upcoming trailers for programmes dont mention HD when these programmes are due to be shown in HD.Also high audience programmes must be shown in HD for it to really take off e.g. The Apprentice 2010 please lets have it in HD.

Danielle and Andrew,

You asked if the NFL fans would like to see the BBC's NFL coverage in HD.
Firstly, the BBC only show 2 games per year (UK Game and the Superbowl).
Secondly, the BBC are in direct competition with Sky for one of those games (Superbowl).

Therefore as an NFL fan, no i dont believe it would be worth showing the NFL in HD as there is not enough BBC coverage to warrant the cost.

If the BBC had to plans to show more NFL games per year (which would be extremely welcome) it maybe something that is worth doing in the future.

Skycaddie,
Unfortunately you are in a minority. The majority of the UK don't have internet connections fast enough to support a high quality IPTV (iplayer) service. Ave 3.6 Mb/s and many sub 2 Mb/s. Not to mention ISPs throttling connections because of the traffic iplayer (and other VOD services) create.

Until iplayer is available across a range of STBs on freeview and freesat and the UK internet infrastructure is upgraded to be capable of delivering a high quality service to the majority, I find the BBCs excessive emphasis and incessent promotion of iplayer of rather dubious merit to say the least.

I think I saw 3 iplayer adverts last night, none for BBC3,4 or HD.

My question is simple - How many people care about the i Player??? How many people will get home from work and go "Ooooh Im going to put the i player on and watch Doctors".

Most people now a days have some sort of recording facility wether that be sky plus or other means.

Who does the i player really appeal to???

What the BBC really need to do is go back to what it used to be good at - Good quality TV and Radio. Forget stupid gimmicks such as I player.

Its time for change at BBC, especially BBC HD. New management and fresh ideas, and more importantly - COMMON SENSE!

I think what people are more interested in is seeing regular NFL action on the BBC, rather than having a couple games a season in HD.

Similar to the coverage another terrestrial channel had (it rhymes with hive) would be excellent and if possible more live action.

The BBC has imported one great vision entertainment of America to the UK in terms of the Wire and to have NFL would be fantastic.

Since the BBC can't put those quiz call shows on (thank goodness as they are awful awful "shows") it seems to make sense as I am sure it would do only good to their ratings.

The idea of having the NFL in HD is a fantastic idea and if it can be done for say 1 game a week then fantastic, but what I think people want(from discussing with fellow NFL fans) is quantity and not quality in this case.

P.S. Mike Carlson is surely a must if they will have a studio team for it.

MayI comment on the very strange quality of Casulty 1909 pictures yesterday. The low-light blacks were kind of green - almost like a colour print that had gone wrong. I suspect that the producer was trying to get an unusual look because of the period drame nature - sorry it didn't work for me and was distracting.

I think the scheduling for the BBC HD channel is bizarre.

I'm not talking about the lack of Formula 1 action which is baffling, as is Match of The Day's continued absence, but the fact that shows are often shown later in the week then when they first air on standard BBC channels. Gardeners World and the amazing South Pacific are great examples of this.

Quite a few of the BBCs amazing natural history documentries don't feature on HD until the series is over and instead the HD channel shows older programming, why?

As I have the ability to access BBC HD through my Sky box I'm often disappointed that I have to wait 3-4 days to watch a program.

I'm also confused as to why programs aren't shown through the night from midnight till 6 am for example so people can record programs on their PVRs and watch them the following evening rather than waiting the standard 3-5 days for the BBC HD channel to catch up.

Last years HD coverage of the Chelsea Flower Show was magnificent, with images so clear you felt you could smell the flowers, this year there was no HD coverage, how odd?

The continued focus of period dramas doesn't realy suit the HD medium, the programming on the HD channel is regressing instead of improving

Why are the BBC running a HD channel at only 50% power, where if they put their metaphorical foot down the channel could be amazing, instead of the half-assed attempt it is now.

Im looking forward to Formula1 in HD :)

Please please please F1-HD on the BBC. Talk to FOM, sort it out...

I was very disappointed to see that Michael McIntyre's Roadshow was in Lo-Resolution 25P progressive format, the same as the, ahem, "Live" at the Apollo series. Is there an internal executive directive pushing 25P at all costs by any chance?

Call me picky but the 'HD' iplayer picture quality of this event made Michael and friends look like cartoon characters. But then ~3Mb/s even with H.264 and calling it HD is, quite frankly, pushing it.

On the positive side, south pacific content was very good. Well done!

Dear Andy,

There is no doubt that progressive scanning certainly is the future - particularly for the digital age. You certainly, are aware of the link between frame rates, perception and human associative responses.

I realise there are technical constraints that are not easy to overcome, but when one considers a typical home display, 50P even at 720 is very acceptable.

Your point is taken about editorial control; Its a shame the 'creatives' consider judder effects, closed down shutter, gamma distortion and noise as film grain to be an asset rather than a barrier to the content. I'm not averse to the content having a 'look' for atmosphere, but when it increases opacity to the point of detraction, It's very noticeable and frustrating.

Dear Andy,

I'm pleased to hear about the guidelines re: gamma or grain etc. I realise that 24/25P will influence production for many years to come, knowing it is based on custom more than anything. (Maxivision & imax 48fps comes to mind as a counterpoint). Your comment regarding lighting is a particularly moot one to which I'm in total agreement.

(With tongue in cheek) I suppose you could always reduce colour saturation to zero and baseband video to 3.1MHz to give programme makers a true 'legacy' look....

What are the chances of getting Match Of The Day in HD next season. I was most disappointed and surprised to see it wasn't shown!

While not wanting more sport necessarily I am unsure as to why Formula 1 is not in HD as it would not clash with any other current programming.

There are a sizeable number of HD televisions in circulation now so maybe the time is right for there to be more than one BBC HD channel as surely there must by now be adequate content homegrown and bought-in.

In passing I would compliment the BBC on the quality of some of your non-HD broadcast material, just wishing you could go the extra mile.

Sorry (all) if this has been covered previously. Why on earth do we not get F1 in HD!!! I really expected the Beeb to pick up F1, and run with it...HD would make a real statement. Having seen motor sport from the US in HD on 'other' commercial channels - it makes one heck of a difference to the viewing experiance. Talk about a 'tipping point' - is not right.

If you build it - they will come (sorry, love that film).

You create the tipping point with compelling content, being my point. Further, if the bit-rates (or whatever it is) get any lower on MOD...footie on the Beeb (SD) looks like a wet watercolour in a downpour!

I appreciate the Beeb are working on leading edge tech (saw the 3D stuff at Twickers)- but HD is begining to feel like a non event already!

@sofaloffa

F1 cannot be broadcast in HD for the simple reason that there is no available feed.

"What are the chances of getting Match Of The Day in HD next season. I was most disappointed and surprised to see it wasn't shown!"
I completely agree!

Omegor, London

Programme details for BBC HD are not easy to find. I know it's on most EPG's but it is not listed in any daily paper I have seen, or the Sunday Times Culture weekly listings, I even think HD is omitted from The Radio Times. Even when a programmes is on HD as well as 1,2,3 or 4, nothing is mentioned at the start of the programme. In addition, I have often found interesting programmes on red button 301 or 302, but they are never listed.
It occurs to me that if you want more viewers, programme details should be more readily available.
Its as if you want to keep HD and 301/2 as a secret.

I think that it would be a really useful feature (if its technically possible to have a little top-right pop up on SD BBC1/2/3/4 alert the viewer if the same programme is simulcast in HD on BBC HD, as so often I switch to BBCHD when something like South Pacific is on just to double check. If you pushed the blue button (or whatever), it would switch channel to BBCHD in a similar way to the way ITV HD works, though obviously better.

The BBC is doing well with iPlayer which is very popular with people I know. You can even iplayer HD feeds too so I frequently catch up, watching them through my HTPC to my display device. You need high bandwidth, but compelling content is what will make people want to get HD. Trust me, buying the hardware first and then finding there is no content or only 2.5 HD channels on Freesat is a major let-down and in this day and age, its disgraceful that there isn't more HD content out there available to more people who don't want to pay a subscription. Surely even selling the original content on Blu Ray must be highly profitable for BBC worldwide, mostly everyone I know bought Planet Earth on Blu Ray when it came out...

Lastly, I can see a good justification for the BBC having its own sports channel in HD. Sport content in itself is a great spur for adoption of HD and even though I never watch sports myself, it will be very tempting to those that cannot justify the £66 per month that a full Sky package costs and it won't annoy those to whom televised sport is annoyingly disruptive.

Overall, BBCHD was impressive when I first saw it, although since then, its not really progressed that much, and public awareness of it needs to be much higher! Perhaps they could do a big marketing push a la BBC Three? And please have it running the whole broadcast day, its not like there's a war on...Still feels like a bit of an expensive experiment to me. I think the Beeb should rationalise some of its content, especially radio stations and scale them down. E.g. BBC Three, BBC7 which honestly can't be doing that great a business. The only thing I watch on Three with regularity is Family guy, then switch it over. Both BBC Three and Four seem like they could happily coexist in one channel. Kind of like BBC2.

just joined so don't kno if this has been asked already but is there any news on wen bbc hd will be on the i player for ps3?

I would just like to say that when the HD channel has anything new it is great. Just not enough new programmes.

I have a major gripe with the BBC maybe it will get noticed here!

You (BBC) have many ways to COMPLAIN.

Please have a place (which is just as easy) where one can place COMPLIMENTS. A great deal of the BBC programming is good, some is beyond good and it would be so nice to be able to say this or that programme was great.

Stewart

I read with great interest, the transcript of the speech that Danielle Nagler gave to the HD Masters Conference. Her message was clear; we at the BBC are making the leap and taking the lead in moving our production to HD, so I urge you to join us on this journey. The BBC has often been at the forefront in delivering new technology & techniques to the mass market and the lead they are taking in HD is no different. I wish the BBC every success in their journey and hope that they are granted the funds to achieve their ambitions.
I would like to raise a few questions, if I may: -
I am aware of plans to make the BBC iPlayer available to Freesat viewers within the year. Do we have any firm dates for this, will the HD content be included and will the Freesat platform be afforded any extra functionality?
Given the BBC stance on delivering ever-increasing quantities of HD broadcast content, would they consider taking a live feed from NASA HDTV during active space missions. There is currently no method of receiving their HD content within Europe and I am sure that such content would be very well received by the audience.
Having read some of the comment left by other on the subject of increasing the number of BBC HD channels, it would appear that adopting the approach of Sky & Channel4 by mirroring their SD channels with a separate HD channels, would be the best method. I see no justification or benefit in continuing to provide a solitary BBC HD channel in the long-term, when the HD programme content is due to increase to 75% within the next couple of years. Adopting this method would allow the viewer to simply choose between SD or HD format from the main programme schedule.
Please keep up your brilliant work. There is a mass audience out here just waiting to soak up everything HD you can throw at us. Think of us as a great big HD Sponge.
Mike.

Maybe the BBC would be able to achieve all of this by allowing people who live abroad to view its live broadcasts/vod by unblocking the IP address of those willing to pay the TV license. I'm planning to move to Australia and would be more than willing to pay to see Dr Who/great documentaries in HD from the other side of the world.
Not sure why the BBC won't allow it as its a win-win situation (more revenue which in turn means more money to throw at HD recording aswell as a larger audience to appreciate what the BBC produces)

Ok so from reading this blog I come up with the conclusion that we won't be seeing any good HD shows like Top Gear, Casualty, Holby City etc for another 2-3 years because of the existing equipment and studios.

Surely all you'd need to do is update your cameras to HD.

The US are flying with HD while the UK are 2-3 years behind as usaul.

Typical eh.....

Hey Nick

I've read that post and it does't answer any of my questions :p

I've left another opinion though, hope you read it.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

Please could you remove the BBC HD on screen logo which is superimposed over programmes from the channel? We all have interactive programme guides so we don't need to be reminded which channel we are watching and having spent a significant sum on a large full HD set and HD box plus monthly subscription, it is very annoying to have an on screen logo which distracts from the programming. A similar annoyance spoils BBC3 and BBC4 whilst there are (thank goodness) no logos on BBC1 and 2.

martinmccabe - The reason people don't go to all live events is because they might not have enough money or time to go and watch, whereas if your in your own comfort of your home it makes a more enjoyable experience and in HD thats even better.

masterwork - Thew logo being there isn't really a problem, you can hardly notice it if your watching on a big screen, the screen size is big enough anyway and your sitting a few metres away so you'd have to sort of "squint" to see the logo.

Documenaries: Science and Nature on BBC HD

This is what we want FAR more of. Enough of spending our licence fees on rights to view sporting events and home-grown fiction series, please. Horizon. Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter Watch. Nature in all of her glory. Science. Reality (and I don't mean 'reality' shows!) This is programming that the BBC does better than anyone else in the World, and it seems that everyone else in the World knows it other than the BBC, judging by comments from my many foreign friends, who wait avidly for their networks to buy the BBCs next documentary. It's relatively cheap to make (few actors, for a start) and benefits immensely from the high resolution images that HD provide. Get to it, and bring in more revenue from abroad, please.
Once you have that, you can make *everything* in HD, which should be your goal; BBC 1,2,3 & 4 in HD on Freesat, sooner rather than later, where the bandwidth limitation of Freeview is not an issue. Upscale current programming at first, as necessary.

Re: Post 89 - No, Bob. That is what you want. It's a bit arrogant to say "we" when you know full well that everyone is different. Personally I'd rather have more sport and films in HD. ITV and Channel 4 seem to be able to obtain films to broadcast in HD but the BBC's record is woeful.

And I see the logo was back on a drama last night, Freefall. I thought we had been given assurances that this wouldn't occur.
Easy solution, GET RID OF THE BLOODY THING PERMANENTLY !

When are "red-button" services going to be launched on BBC Freesat (HD or otherwise)?

I thought Wimbledon would have multiple court options, but I couldn't get that going on my TV (HTPC running windows 7)

BBC TWO I want to literally kick your arse for extending snooker tonight, it's like watching paint dry and I would far rather watch the programme I was waiting to see (I'm In A Rock 'N' Roll Band). Please no more of this in the future.

Comment for Danielle Nagler - Head of BBC HD, BBC Vision. I was really, really dissapointed that the World Snooker championship was not broadcast in HD by the BBC !
(I see that ITV HD is now operational . .)
Many people around the UK have invested in HD Flat screens only to find that HD broadcast is lagging behind, what is the delay ?
What are your plans for HD broadcast on the World Cup ?

Regards, Phil.

World Cup will be broadcast in HD, the games are being shared between BBC and ITV.

@93 Philip Hilton wrote:

I was really, really dissapointed that the World Snooker championship was not broadcast in HD by the BBC

FYI, it was shown in HD on Eurosport, so the feed was available.

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