SBS takes Net 5 to HD

SBS Broadcasting has announced that its Net 5 channel will launch a HD version on the Caiway cable network next week. In January, SBS will also launch an HD version of Veronica, with its flagship channel SBS6 following at a later date.

Speaking at the HD Days 2009 conference in Hilversum, Eric Eljon, production director at SBS, said that Net 5 was the natural choice to launch in HD because most of the source material on the female skewed channel is already available in native HD. It consists of mainly Hollywood movies and series, but also locally produced drama.

Caiway is the first cable operator with which a distribution agreement was reached. So far, SBS has not signed contracts with Ziggo and UPC, the two major operators in the country.

At the conference, Ruud Hendriks, CEO of the all-talk channel Het Gesprek, said his channel is also ready to launch HD broadcasts in January next year.

The broadcaster also needs to reach distribution agreements with the various cablers..

In a related development, Caiway and Eurosport have also announced that the cable operator will add Eurosport HD to its line-up of HD channels.