Sports Technology & Communications News from Around the World

With the World Cup just around the corner, TV companies are competing with each other to offer viewers some unforgettable games, covering every nail biting moment and breathtaking ones.

 

The ITV1 HD channel joins the company's line up as it gears up to offer its digital TV customers complete coverage of all the football matches from April 2 onwards. Virgin Media TV viewers are being promised some unforgettable games as all the heart stopping moments will be captured in stunning High Definition.

 

ITV1 HD will offer a range of High Definition programming, with upcoming highlights including the UEFA Champions League, The FA Cup, and England internationals; popular HD dramas, factual programming, new entertainment programs and some popular UK TV shows.

 

“Ihis year’s World Cup promises some unforgettable games and Virgin Media TV viewers will be able to enjoy every nail-biting, heart-stopping, breath-taking moment in stunning High Definition,” said Cindy Rose, executive director of digital entertainment at Virgin Media.

 

In addition to the World Cup in HD, Virgin Media's TV customers will be able to watch all the matches shown on ITV1HD or the BBC's HD channel. These are available on Virgin Media's TV platform and are included in its TV packages at no extra cost to the viewer.

 

The advantages of HDTV are many. It has over twice the sharpness and clarity of ordinary TV broadcasts and a superior color resolution, with all imperfections resolved. The problem of double images is absent and there is no degradation in quality or sharpness when it appears on the big screen.

 “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 Virgin Media,” said Peter Fincham, ITV director of Television, Channels and Online, adding that regardless of whether the output was in the form of drama, factual show, entertainment, or live football, everything would benefit from the stunning picture quality that High Definition offered.

 

Virgin Media's TV platform offers some ITV1 HD content on demand via ITV Net TV Player. More than eight million viewers have used the demand service in the month of January alone.

 

The HD line up with Virgin Media continues to grow, with channels from BBC and Channel 4 available to all Virgin Media customers. HD channels from ESPN (News - Alert), FX, MTV Networks, National Geographic and LIVING, which form a part of the Virgin Media Exclusive are included with the XL TV package at no extra cost.

 

In the near future HD channels from Europort and Discovery will also be added to the XL tier., and Film4 HD will be made available for paid TV users.

 

This is the fifth new HD channel Virgin Media has announced this year and it is expected that the company will have many more launches in the future. Virgin Media already carries several hundred hours of HD programs on demand, all ready to start at the touch of a button. These include full television series and popular films as well.

 

Virgin Media has the UK’s most advanced TV on demand service and was the first TV platform to carry BBC iPlayer. It is the second largest provider of pay TV, was the first to launch a high definition TV service and offers a high-specification, HD-ready V+ personal video recorder. The company operates the most popular virtual mobile network in the UK which, when launched, was the world’s first such mobile phone service. It is also one of the largest fixed-line home phone providers in the country.

 

In a recent news item,Virgin Media expects to roll out a broadband service that tops out at 100 megabits per second to residential customers by the end of the year.