A Virgin Media high five for High Definition Five
Virgin Media have announced that Five’s new High Definition (HD) channel, Five HD, has launched on its line-up. The much-anticipated Five HD is available to Virgin Media’s 3.7 million TV subscribers for no extra monthly fee.
Five HD will broadcast a simulcast of Five’s schedule, including a wide array of programmes made in the High Definition format. These will include Five’s brand new live entertainment series Don’t Stop Believing which premieres on Sunday, 18th July.
Other programmes to feature in HD include popular Aussie soaps Neighbours and Home & Away; the best in American drama such as The Mentalist, Grey’s Anatomy, Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, as well as top flight sporting coverage from Cricket on Five to Europa League football.
Cindy Rose, executive director of digital entertainment at Virgin Media, said: “Five is delivering some really innovative schedules; picking some outstanding international series and pairing them with original home-grown shows. Our customers will now be able to enjoy the HD channels of every national terrestrial broadcaster as well as a rapidly growing roster from other broadcasters so we’re delighted to give our customers Five, in HD.”
Charles Constable, Five’s Director of Strategy, said: “We broadcast so many high quality series shot in HD, such as Don’t Stop Believing and our line-up of great US dramas, so our schedule is really suited to fantastic picture quality. Five HD is a great addition to our channel portfolio.”
Virgin Media continues to expand its HD line-up with 13 channels launched to date, with STV HD in Scotland, and a further 20 including Sky Sports and Movies expected later this summer.
HD channels from the BBC, ITV, STV (in Scotland), Channel 4 and now Five are all included in every Virgin Media TV tier and so are available to any Virgin TV customer who can receive High Definition programming. All other basic HD channels are added to the largest TV tier (‘XL’) for no additional monthly subscription.
Virgin Media also carries hundreds of hours of HD TV on demand, all ready to start at the press of a button. This includes HD versions of blockbuster films, as well as BBC iPlayer HD and full television series in Virgin Media’s huge TV Choice on Demand archive. In the first three months of 2010 Virgin Media’s customers collectively viewed on demand content on their TVs 200 million times.
In March Virgin Media unveiled its new V HD Box to complement the company’s existing set-top box options of the V Box, for basic digital TV, and the V+ HD Box which incorporates HD capability with a Personal Video Recorder. The V HD Box is available for a one-off cost and installation; there are no extra monthly fees.