UTV HD Launched

bob11

I see today that Utv had a famous visitor to lauch their HD channel ..

http://www.u.tv/News/Royal-visit-for-UTV-HD-launch/9df6f093-cef8-4309-a7fc-b367f8bf9ab1

"Today represents a major milestone in UTV's history and once again we are leading the way in by becoming the first broadcaster on the island of Ireland to launch HD television."

Any idea how you would be able to watch this channel ?
Is it free to air in NI yet ?
Will it be carried via Freesat ?
Will Sky carry it in HD ?
Will UPC carry it ?

Has it actually started broadcasting in HD yet, or was this a ceremonial launch ?

Cheers,

Bob

JDxtra

It's only available on Virgin Media cable in Northern Ireland. It launched a few weeks back.

Nobody knows when, if ever, it will appear on Sky Ireland (not likely) or UPC (slightly more likely).

Sam Russell

You would hardly call that broadcasting, would you?

JDxtra

"Now on the UTV..."

The Cush

Just watching the Six-One News, it had a report from Belfast of the Queen visiting UTV for the launch of HD.

It must be good if she travelled all the way from London to have a look, if it was on freesat she could've watched it at home.

Elmo

bob11 wrote: »

Any idea how you would be able to watch this channel ?
Is it free to air in NI yet ?
Will it be carried via Freesat ?
Will Sky carry it in HD ?
Will UPC carry it ?

Has it actually started broadcasting in HD yet, or was this a ceremonial launch ?

Cheers,

Bob

Do we really need UTV HD?

I think UPC will go for ITV 1 HD.

Propellerhead

Elmo wrote: »

Do we really need UTV HD?

I think UPC will go for ITV 1 HD.

A UK channel rather than an Irish one? :eek:

Surely not?:)

Elmo

Propellerhead wrote: »

A UK channel rather than an Irish one? :eek:

Surely not?:)

Depends on what offer ITV give them. Also the major of channels on UPC are UK channels :rolleyes: And in fairness to ITV 1 it is an English/Welsh Channel, didn't Cablelink once provide HTV.

JDxtra

I think you are wrong. It is likely to be UTV HD, not ITV 1 HD.

They have an existing agreement with UTV so this would be an extension of that. Of all the channels on UPC where there is an option of a UK or Irish version the Irish version is always selected e.g. Sky 1, Channel 4, Living, Nick, Sky News etc.

You also have to keep advertisers happy. Advertisers from the South can benefit from buying slots on UTV - but it's expensive and pointless to buy slots on mainland versions of ITV1.

watty

Propellerhead wrote: »

A UK channel rather than an Irish one? :eek:

UTV is a UK channel.

thetwangman

watty wrote: »

UTV is a UK channel.

UTV is indeed a UK channel if you want to pedantic about it, but it's a Northern Irish channel which broadcasts more news/current affairs etc of Irish interest than ITV.

Sam Russell

thetwangman wrote: »

UTV is indeed a UK channel if you want to pedantic about it, but it's a Northern Irish channel which broadcasts more news/current affairs etc of Irish interest than ITV.

Actually, if you look at their schedule, they produce less Irish based programmes than BBC NI. There is little difference between their schedule and TV3's as they both take most of their content from ITV.

Elmo

JDxtra wrote: »

I think you are wrong. It is likely to be UTV HD, not ITV 1 HD.

They have an existing agreement with UTV so this would be an extension of that. Of all the channels on UPC where there is an option of a UK or Irish version the Irish version is always selected e.g. Sky 1, Channel 4, Living, Nick, Sky News etc.

You also have to keep advertisers happy. Advertisers from the South can benefit from buying slots on UTV - but it's expensive and pointless to buy slots on mainland versions of ITV1.

I wonder if ITV1 could start airing opt out advertising for the ROI. UTV still sell based on ROI/NI coverage, unlike the other UK British English opt outs. So those Mainland British slots wouldn't be sold to Irish advertisers.

JDxtra

Just got an email back from UTV regarding availability. They say they are continuing to negotiate for capacity on the Sky / Freesat platforms but that it will not be available for the "foreseeable future" on UPC cable.