ProSiebenSat.1 ends HD simulcasts

The German commercial broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1 has decided to stop simulcasting the HD versions of its two main channels, ProSieben and Sat.1 on Astra. Last December there were already rumours the broadcaster would stop its HD transmissions early in the year, but now they have sent out a letter to cable operators who take the HD feed, they will stop on February 15.The reason for the termination of the HD broadcasts is the lack of suitable receivers in the market; only about 150,000 German homes are capable of receiving HD signals. The additional costs and the inability to increase advertising revenues from HD make it unattractive for the broadcaster to continue to broadcast in HD. With the demise of the two free-to-air channels, only Anixe HD remains as the sole FTA broadcaster on the German market.Premiere has two pay-TV HD channels, the combined movie/sports service and Discovery HD. At year end 2007 there were about 110,000 HD subscribers.