Telewest HD Goodness
Ed Monkton, February 5, 2011 2:43 pm GMT
Sky may have the marketing budget, but Telewest has more HD World Cup Matches.
Sky's marketing muscle makes it seem as if its HD service is the only source of high definition pictures available to us HD-lovin' Brits. But this is certainly not the case, for Sky's arch-rival, cable operator Telewest, has also just announced some impressive additions to its own high definition service. In fact, it's even managed to scoop its more glamorous satellite rival when it comes to HD World Cup coverage. To explain.
At the moment, Sky's HD box can only receive the BBC's high definition World Cup broadcasts, not ITV's. Which means only around half the games during the tournament will be viewable via Sky in HD. But Telewest has now done deals with both ITV and the BBC, meaning it can show every single World Cup game in glorious HD via its cable service.
And that's by no means the only HD content that owners of Telewest's 'TVDrive' HD receiver/PVR have to look forward to, either. For starters, the whole of the BBC's HD Trial package will be available, including such shows as Planet Earth, Bleak House, The Proms and Later With Jools Holland.
ITV, meanwhile, will also be showing new wildlife series Jean-Michel Cousteau's Ocean Adventures in HD, classic movies like All Quiet On The Western Front and The Big Sleep, and dramas including Death on the Nile and Murder in Mesopatamia.
Finally, Telewest has struck a deal with Channel 4 to provide HD versions of the first two series of Lost and Desperate Housewives on a 'video on demand' basis, where you can 'download' the HD footage when you want it 'at the touch of a button'.
So all those people who've apparently had their Sky HD installs bumped back due to Sky not having enough HD boxes ready may have somewhere else to turn for their HD fix after all…