BBC One controller Jay Hunt has told a Broadcasting Press Guild lunch that the Corporation is not yet ready to launch a dedicated high definition version of the flagship channel.
“The tipping point comes when you’ve got enough volume for it to start impacting on the mother ship,” she said. “You already have a problem when you have people watching on other sources like the iPlayer.” As the only HD channel available on each of the main platforms, BBC HD already has a potential audience in excess of two million homes.
BBC HD currently draws on content from the four main domestic channels against ITV HD, which is only a part time channel, though with plans to cover the evening prime once terrestrial HD coverage is available in the autumn. Of the Big Five only Channel 4 offers a direct simulcast of its SD channel.
