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Sky HD
Hallmark Channel HD and Sky Sports HD 4 are to join Sky over
next few months as Sky+HD builds towards 50 HD channels.
Sky will reach a new High Definition (HD) milestone this Summer by exceeding
the 40 HD channel mark. The launch of ITV1 HD, Hallmark Channel HD and Sky
Sports HD 4 will extend Sky’s HD leadership to 40 HD channels. As recently
confirmed, Sky will also be launching Europe’s first HD news channel, Sky
News HD, in the coming months, which will further increase the channel
count. Sky plans to reach 50 HD channels by Christmas this year.
Hallmark Channel HD will showcase a range of its most popular titles in HD
for the first time, including Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law &
Order: Criminal Intent and Without A Trace. The channel will join the Sky
platform on the June 28.
Launching on April 29, Sky Sports HD 4 will enable Sky Sports to build on
its 9,200 hours a year of live sport in HD. This year will be the busiest
ever for HD content on Sky Sports, with the schedule including The Ryder
Cup, The Ashes, Barclays Premier League, UEFA Champions League, Heineken Cup
and Guinness Premiership rugby plus US Open tennis.
Hilary Perchard, Sky’s Director of Product Management, said: “It’s great
news for customers that we are making our HD channel pack even better value
with more high quality channels.
"We’re seeing record demand for HD, both in terms of the
number of customers signing up for Sky+HD and the amount of HD programmes
they are watching.
"While other TV platforms are only now recognising the
growing demand for HD, we’re excited to extend our leadership even further
by offering more choice to our customers. We look forward to reaching our
next milestone, of 50 HD channels, by Christmas.”
19:30
March 12
2010 - waveguide.co.uk
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ITV1 HD To Launch
ITV is to launch its new channel, ITV1 HD, on April 2, which
will broadcast ITV1’s schedule in high definition for the first time.
ITV this week reached commercial agreement with Sky and Virgin Media for
carriage of the new channel. ITV1 HD will also launch on Freeview; and
Freesat, where it will move from a red button service to a standalone
channel for the first time. The new deals mean that ITV1 HD will be
available on all major high definition platforms ahead of this summer’s
World Cup.
The ITV1 schedule will be simulcast on the new channel, with the majority of
peak time content available in ‘native’ HD, including all live football, and
an increasing range of drama, factual and entertainment programming. Other
ITV1 content including GMTV and the daytime schedule, will be ‘upscaled’ –
giving viewers a better than ever experience of the nation’s most popular
commercial channel.
Upcoming highlights on ITV1 HD will include the final stages of the UEFA
Champions League and The FA Cup as well as England internationals and the
FIFA World Cup 2010. HD dramas include Father & Son, Law and Order: UK,
Identity, The Prisoner, Foyles War and Lewis. In factual programming there’s
the chance to see Joanna Lumley’s Nile, Greatest Cities of the World with
Griff Rhys Jones, and the brand new Survival with Ray Mears all in pure HD.
And, for HD entertainment there’s The Whole 19 Yards, 71 Degrees North,
Soccer Aid and the UK’s biggest TV show, Britain’s Got Talent. ITV1’s Prime
Ministerial debate will also be shown in HD.
Peter Fincham, ITV Director of Television, Channels and Online, said: “The
availability of high definition content is something viewers have come to
expect as standard and, as we approach the 2010 World Cup, I’m delighted
that we are able to launch our new channel, ITV1 HD, on all major platforms.
“All of our output will benefit from the stunning picture quality that high
definition offers, whether it’s ITV’s original drama, landmark factual
shows, entertainment events or our live football.”
ITV1 HD will be available on the following EPG numbers:
Freesat 119
Freeview 51
Sky 178
Virgin 113
18:40
March 12
2010 - waveguide.co.uk
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Hollyoaks - New Family
Hollyoaks is to introduce a new family this year, producer
Paul Marquess has revealed.
Writing on the soap's website, Marquess said: "We're
particularly excited about the new family that will join the show in the
summer - and guarantee they'll bring glitz, glamour and great stories to the
Hollyoaks village!"
It has been reported that a total of 16 characters are being
phased out of the show in the coming months.
These include the entire Valentine clan, three members of the Ashworth
family and Jake Dean (Kevin Sacre), Archie Carpenter (Stephen Beard), Zak
Ramsey (Kent Riley) and Spencer Gray (Darren Langford).
Addressing the raft of departures, he said: "Sadly we will be losing some
characters as storylines progress and actors' contracts come to an end. But
we've created lots of fantastic new characters that we're currently casting
for."
He promised there would be 'lots of exciting things coming up, with a lot of
dramatic, funny and heartbreaking storylines in the pipeline'.
18:30
March 12
2010 - waveguide.co.uk
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The One Show Presenter
Crosses Channel
The One Show presenter Christine Bleakley has completed her
water-ski challenge across the English Channel in one hour and 40 minutes.
Bleakley raised thousands of pounds for Sport Relief by crossing the 21-mile
busy shipping lane to France.
On completing the task, she said: "I can't believe I've actually done it. It
was really tough."
Strong winds meant the 31-year-old, who fell eight times during the
challenge, faced sub-zero temperatures.
"The water was freezing and having to get up after every fall was
exhausting," the star added.
"Thank you so much to everyone who has supported me along the way, it really
kept me going out there."
The task had been delayed several times because of poor weather and the
presenter still had to compete with strong winds during the ordeal.
16:00
March 12
2010 - waveguide.co.uk
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