Tech Bitch

Roll up, roll up, it’s not every day you get some for free from the Murdoch empire. Sky has announced that its high definition line-up is expanding, with three channels getting the HD treatment over the next couple of months.Sky Sports 3 HD, Sky Movies Premiere HD and FX HD will debut, making seventeen high definition channels available on the platform.

With Sky Sports 3 HD launching, Sky will be the first and only broadcaster to offer live, high definition coverage of European Tour golf, from 23rd March. The channel will also show World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) from 17th March. It will include a mix of coverage from Sky Sports 3 and Sky Sports Xtra.

FX HD brings a number of dramas to the UK, and will broadcast daily from 7pm to 2am, with at least 90% of the content originated in HD. Sky Movies Premiere HD’s upcoming films include Blood Diamond, Mr Bean’s Holiday, Flags Of Our Fathers, Fracture, Babel, and Ghost Rider. The channel will launch with a high definition premiere of Titanic.

Added to Sky’s existing HD line-up you can now vegetate to over 6500 hours of HD programming each month. Sky said it’s committed to investing in the HD programmes and channels that matter to its customers - so where’s the prOn, ey?

Yeah, I had to read this twice before I believed it too … The UK is apparently at the forefront of the high definition (HD) revolution and is leading the way in Europe in next generation disc sales. Clipboard meisters DEG Europe claims the volume of next-generation DVDs being sold in Europe increased 85 fold between 2006 and 2007 and is expected to rise exponentially into 2008.

Although consumers are continuing to purchase standard definition DVDs (those bargain bins are great, aren’t they!), the growth curve is falling off with a marginal increase in volume sales of just 4.2%. In terms of who’s buying the most DVDs, uber-geek Brits are leading the HD revolution with 34% of total next generation DVD sales.

Yves Caillaud, senior vice president international, Warner Home Video, said: “In 2007, we saw over 2.5 million units of high definition DVDs sold within Europe. To put this in context, when compared to the transfer from VHS to DVD in 1998, only 1,480,000 DVDs were sold in the first year. This clearly demonstrates the rapid consumer adoption of HD technologies.”

Hardware sales of next generation DVD players also look sweet. According to GfK tracking, 11,100 units were sold in January 2007 which soared to 124,000 by December 2007, showing a sharp increase towards the end of the year. But standard definition (SD) players are not going away and are still the most popular choice in the market with over 33 million more units being sold in the UK compared to UK sales of next generation players. The fact that SD players are the cheapest they have ever been, averaging at just £37 a player, is a plus I guess.