Coming up on BBC HD

Brian Butterworth published on UK Free TV 27th May 2010 at 18:40

From BBC - About the BBC - Statements of Programme Policy 2010/2011 :

Increasing the number and range of programmes being made in HD.

• We expect to increase still further the number of hours of new HD content broadcast by the BBC next year in recognition of the growing audience for HD content and the benefits that making programmes in HD can offer. Recognising the important role that national events play in bringing people around the UK together, for the first time BBC HD will broadcast the Grand National and The Open, as well as offering coverage of the football World Cup over the summer.
• We also expect to make around 200 hours of new children's programmes in HD, including Muddle Earth, Horrible Histories, ZingZillas and Hounded.
• In drama, we will seek to offer our audiences new, challenging dramas such as The Silence and Luther, but, recognising that the BBC's regular drama programmes play a very significant role in many people's television viewing, we are also looking at making a number of our continuing dramas available in HD over the course of the year.
• BBC HD will combine coverage of significant new factual programmes, such as Stonehenge, Ancient Worlds and Viva Opera Italia, with our commitment to regular series such as Horizon, Natural World, Antiques Roadshow and The Culture Show.
• In recognition of the need for BBC HD to reflect the full range of programmes offered by the BBC's other channels, we will also focus on ensuring that we find ways to highlight programmes made for BBC Two, BBC Three and BBC Four. We will maintain our commitment to showcasing in addition a limited number of programmes made for viewers in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, allowing these programmes to reach a UK-wide audience. We will seek to develop our partnerships with producers both inside and outside the BBC, to share insights into HD technology and creative programme-making, and working in partnership with them and with technology providers to develop HD for audiences.

Ensuring that audiences can locate all the programmes the BBC is making in HD.

• We recognise that we need to work to help viewers to know which programmes are available on BBC HD, when they can view them and how they can access the channel. To do this we will work to ensure that there are clear messages about which programmes are available on BBC HD and we will provide effective signposting to the channel across as many as possible of the varied routes through which people plan their viewing.
• We will also work with HD platform operators to ensure that those viewers entering the world of HD connectivity for the first time know what they can expect from BBC HD and where they can find the channel. We will explore ways in which to make the path from standard definition to high definition as seamless as possible for audiences.

Developing the creative potential of HD for audiences while aiming to deliver the highest quality standards in the UK.

• HD can be transformational for the television viewer in terms of both picture and sound. In its work with programme-makers and its choices about new commissions, BBC HD seeks to ensure that the full creative potential of the technology is explored and realised for audiences around the UK. Over the next year, we will be seeking to continue to push the boundaries of HD programming. Working with others across and beyond the BBC we will focus on developing programme-making skills, sharing best practice and applying what we know HD can bring to viewing to new areas of HD programme-making, such as observational documentaries.
• Audiences have high expectations of the quality that HD can bring to television. As our range of programming extends and the number of programmes we are making in HD increases, we will continue to work to ensure that picture and audio standards are maintained. We will continue to work along the whole broadcast chain to make the best use of the technology to enhance the viewing experience across all HD-enabled platforms on which we broadcast.

Drama

• BBC HD will offer new drama including Women In Love, Five Daughters, Canoe Man and First Men On The Moon, as well as a series intended for teenage viewers, The Cut. Comedy and entertainment
• The Apprentice will debut in HD this summer, and BBC HD will also begin to show The Weakest Link later this year. Masterchef in its various forms is also moving to HD, starting with Masterchef: The Professionals in autumn 2010. A number of new comedy series will also be shown on the channel including Whites, Grandma's House and London 2012.

Factual and knowledge-building

• BBC HD will continue to show significant landmark factual series, which this year will include Invisible Worlds, with stunning close-ups of the microscopic universe captured in slow-motion HD.
• As part of our broader factual offering, we will also be showing Helicopter Heroes, Bruce Parry's Arctic and the majority of the BBC's learning output.

News and current affairs

• We will continue to work with current affairs programme-makers, and hope to screen a limited number of episodes of Panorama on BBC HD this year.

Children

• The Sarah Jane Adventures will return to BBC HD and will be joined in the course of the year by the CBBC factual series Even Deadlier 60. From CBeebies there are moves to HD for Get Squiggling and Bob The Builder, as well as the new series Same Smile and Alphablocks.