BBC One begins rolling out in HD across England

The BBC has begun rolling out BBC One HD services in England, following the earlier launch of the channel in HD in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

It means viewers will no longer have to switch to an SD channel in order to watch regional programming, such as the local news.

The corporation said “significant infrastructure changes” are required to make it happen – which means some platforms will take longer than others and the BBC is taking a phased approached to the rollout.

BBC One HD versions from regions in England will first be available to viewers on internet-connected TV platforms (it is already available on Sky Glass) – and in the coming months, BBC iPlayer will also switch from SD to HD for the regional versions of BBC One in England.

“We’ll be continuing our rollout to other platforms throughout next year, with the aim of launching BBC One HD services across England on all platforms by the end of 2022,” said Kieran Clifton, director, BBC distribution and business development.

“At the same time as the BBC One HD regional rollout, we’ll also be adding HD versions of some of our other channels (such as BBC Two Northern Ireland, BBC ALBA and BBC Parliament) to other platforms.” TVBEurope