As I have pointed out recently, the publicity surrounding HD broadcasting in the UK, whether it’s Sky HD, Freesat or DTT’s future plans, has not been matched by the pace of consumer adoption. This is in sharp contrast to the experience of our Norwegian neighbours across the North Sea, where the decision by pay TV operator Canal Digital to remove the additional HD subscription fee has led to a surge in HDTV viewing in recent months. While Sky has just reduced the fee for a new HD set-top box, it still charges viewers an additional £10 a month to watch the limited number of HD channels available, and that depends on what premium packages customers pay for. As a result, only 5% of Sky viewers can currently access HD channels. By contrast, 25% of Norwegian customers of Canal Digital are now watching HD programmes, according to Strategy Analytics’ estimates. On a similar basis, Sky could have reached more than 2 million HD viewers by now, four times its actual level. The time will come sooner or later when the HD fee is removed, at least for some channels. HD broadcasters not owned by Sky, such as Discovery and National Geographic, must be frustrated that their audiences are not building more rapidly and will surely increase the pressure for a change in policy before too long, as will Freesat and Virgin Media as they slowly but surely improve their HD offers. Client Reading: High Definition TV, Video and Digital Media Devices: Global Market Forecast

Well, good job I put a questionmark after the last entry title. Canal Digital confirmed to me today that standard definition TV will not be shut down in 2008. Here is the company's response: "On a general basis Canal Digital is not out searching for new St-channels to launch as such. But seeing the development of niche-channels and new national channels there will still be launches of new ST-channels, when they are expected to be attractive to our customers, as well as HD channels. "On a long run acquisition of HD-content is Canal Digital's main priority. Mr Søderman has not expressed that there will be a ST-shutdown from next year, but his intention was to mention this will be a situation in the future. "He clearly pointed out we hope to reach 10 HD Channels within the end of 2007. And continue to secure HD-content in 2008 as well. "Today we have 8 HD-channels in our offering, and we are realistic seeing that even some of the national broadcasters in the Nordic region does not even commit to an HD-offering before 2009/10. "We are very realistic that HD is still regarded as a niche product - and we are well aware that we will provide all our customers with ST-channels in today's business model years ahead. Therefore the information in the article is not regarded as confirmed and may not be used in any circumstance." So, it sounds like the communications wires got crossed somewhere, and that Canal Digital is in much the same situation as any other multichannel platform - the trend is towards HD, but it is still niche, and further new SD channels are also likely. A complete switchover to HD will only occur "years ahead", at some undefined point in the future. Shame, I was looking forward to BBC Food in glorious high definition...

A couple of items recently that suggest Europe is accelerating towards a high definition TV future. First, it has been reported that Canal Digital, one of Scandinavia's two major pay TV providers, plans to "switch off" its SD (standard definition) TV channels. Jarl Søderman, deputy CEO, is quoted as saying the company will "take down" its SD channels in 2008, and that it is no longer buying new SD channels. Canal Digital, owned by Norway's Telenor, has certainly been one of the more aggressive of Europe's digital TV providers, having been one of the first to launch regular HD services in 2005. But if this report is accurate, it would make the company the first in the world to switch completely from an SD to an HD platform. I will certainly be checking the fine details with Canal Digital - there are real question marks over whether any channel, let alone 100 or so regular entertainment channels, will be able to offer true HD content around the clock within the next year. The second development has been the publication of the CSA's (France's regulator) summary of the contributions in response to the consultation on HDTV on digital terrestrial TV. Of 18 contributions, only two (representing unions and regional and local media interests) object to the introduction of HDTV. This is probably more a reflection of the fact that France seems to have decided, regardless of any consultation procedure, to go ahead with HD-DTT in any case. UK viewers expecting to see HD on the Freeview DTT platform will recognise a stark contrast: the UK is consulting instead on whether spectrum freed by the switch-off of analogue broadcasting should even be used for television, or instead be allocated to alternative communications providers.