I may be slightly joining the dots here, but...
- BBC Three is planning to move to online-only, which will free up its existing SD BCA and HD BBCB slots
- We already know the BBCA space is going to BBC One +1 and extended CBBC
- However there's not been any announcement of BBC One +1 in HD, which would leave space available on BBCB from 8pm into the morning
- The BBC is one of the supporting broadcasters of the Community Channel
- Community Channel currently has early-morning-only hours on Freeview and isn't yet available in evening primetime on the platform, despite being 24/7 on other platforms (and despite space being available, such as the temporary Red Button 2 space on ARQA)
- Launching an evening/night service, albeit to HD viewers only, would enable Community to expand its Freeview presence beyond the current limited transmissions
- Broadcasting on BBCB would give Community's PSB content the same transmission footprint as the other PSB SD and HD channels, as opposed to the more restricted coverage offered by COM7
- Moving an existing all-day service (such as BBC News HD) from COM7 to the evenings on BBCB would be a backward step as it would remove the daytime output which is currently already provided in HD
So there's something to suggest that if the demise of broadcast BBC Three does go ahead, the Beeb have lined up something for the slot, such that it isn't sitting idle. Of course, I could be wrong and Community could well pop up fulltime on COM7, but then I've been wrong about things before...

We do not what the BBC intended doing to just thSd or HD slots...
But the executive has indicated that the BBC three slot will be taken by an extra hour CBBC and the BBC one +1 from autumn next year . ( and BBC trust has to agree )
Red bee does not play out any BBC SD. Channels .. It plays out in HD only , converting and transcoding the signals suitable for the different platforms which Atos code and mux.

So no BBC emission spec for community channel ...
While one of its supporters has one an a half empty muxes ...

Having got this channel on Freesat in full, it really does have some interesting documentaries in amongst its programme schedule so it's worth having full time on Freeview.

No ideas on the timescale?

A good question and their website provides an answer.

COMMUNITY HD has just launched on COM7, LCN is 109

And is a 24-hour channel, unlike the SD one which is only on when almost no-one is awake.

Current programme seems to be upscaled SD. I think that may be the norm for this channel.

What a complete waste of an HD channel slot, if all it's going to show is upscaled SD.

Giving the general lack of interest in COM7 and COM8 (where are the C4 channels that were promised?), I suspect we're going to get more of this sort of junk on COM7 and COM8. Such a shame, there's space for Film4 HD and Five in HD and a number of other sensible channels. But they've all got their fingers in the Sky HD pot of money to keep their channels SD on Freeview. Once again Sky ruins Freeview with is massive distorting presence.

But will they get decent listings in the Radio Times? There are so many junk channels these days I don't have time to trawl through them all looking for the occasional gem in their programming. I rely on things like the Radio Times to point out good programmes.

I don't actually think they're broadcasting in HD yet. The graphics and the DOG look SD as well. At a guess, HD playout isn't quite ready yet.

And just what proportion of the population are still watching on a non HD TV? 5%? 1%? I count 1366 x 768 HD Ready as being an HD TV for these purposes.

As I think Red bee only have HD playout or are moving to this very soon....
So the community channel will more or less have to move to DPP delivery spec.

I am sure the one other PSB who supported Arqiva 's application will put its daughter channels on these muxes ...
But the other one who cost the BBC lots of money by their ever changing NO ... Will only come If they change owner, perhaps
And the premier commercial PSB cannot afford to make its daughter channels in HD free to air. .... Now ....
But what happens at DSO 2.?


If this happens .. Is this ruining the DTT platform by a shareholder of Freeview distorting the market ...
It looks more like channels making their own decisions.

ITV and Five not having more HD channels on Freeview is entirely because Sky pay them money to keep them off Freeview.

I would think the figures are greater than 50%. The majority of the population are not like the AV enthusiasts on here and don't go rushing out to buy a new TV every few years. As a result there are many, like me, who having bought a TV will expect to keep it for around 10 years. Although my TV is 'HD Ready', I am not. I don't have space for anything bigger than my present 22" screen on which HD would be little better than SD. I don't need more channels, more pixels, more expense, just better content.

But people have thrown out their CRT TVs and bought LCD flat TVs in vast droves. Not because they want an HD TV (and most LCDs are), but because LCD TVs are cool and trendy and have high SPAF (SPousal Accceptance Factor).

By your own admission your TV is HD Ready so I don't see what your issue is. I watch on a 26" 1366 x 768 TV and I assure you it's very easy to see HD on that. My parents have a 24" 1920 x 1080 TV in their bedroom and again it's easy to see HD vs. SD (including good SD like BBC1). So I believe you should be able to see the difference on your 22" TV, and if you can't then get your eyesight checked. I'm serious, I said the same to my Aunt and she says the world is now in HD as well as her TV.

What I'd like to see is some real figures, not your guess of 50% using SD TVs or my guess of 5%.

ITV want the money from sky as they move to become less dependent on advertising ,,,
So they want to be paid by sky and other pay platforms ....
So it is the channel not the platform driving it ....
Hence what may happen at DSO 2 ... No or few daughter channels on DTT
( is this what the two new channels are while the rest gi pay)

Five .. Well .... As they refuse to put their PSB Chanel FTA .... What can you say.

But if Sky didn't have such a fat wallet these channels wouldn't have that option. It is the ludicrous dominance of Sky and the money they have that have made ITV and Five greedy.

I recall ten years ago when Five nearly became a decent channel and I was watching one or two things a week on it. I can't now remember the last time I watched something on Five. Somone blew it at some stage.

It's highly unlikely that this will appear on BBCB mux. Surely the BBC will be moving BBC Four from Mux7 to give nationwide HD coverage of its general entertainment channels? An alternative is BBC News HD although this would presumably be part time in order to allow for CBBC.

The clue is in the name of the mux. The idea behind closing BBC Three transmissions and moving to internet delivery is to save money. Some of those savings will come from not paying Arqiva to broadcast on the COM7 mux.

If any of the local services wanted to broadcast in HD, they surely would have arranged for DVB-T2 muxes to be installed rather than DVB-T. It is of course perfectly possible that the transmitting equipment is capable of T2 transmissions but I doubt if they could be used in mixed mode. They might use the mixed NorDig standard as used by Saorview in Eire (ie DVB-T encoded in MPEG4) from the CoMuxes which HD receivers would be able to decode but this would involve considerable bandwidth.

A further complication of using BBCB or Mux 7 is coverage. The local TV signals are tightly focussed to only serve the towns covered by the local station. At some sites more than one CoMux is in operation. Winter Hill for example has three serving Manchester, Liverpool and Blackpool.

All in all, using BBCB for local services is a bit of a non starter and the rumour perhaps goes back to the early days of this round of local stations where it was suggested the muxes would operate on DVB-T2. I believe OfCom later allowed DVB-T to be used after the bidders argued that they needed to be able to get to the widest possible audience in order to be financially viable.

The Community Channel is of course different in that it is a part time broadcaster on Freeview during some rather obscure hours. If that Channel wants to become 24/7 on Freeview HD, there is no problem at all. It could be done tomorrow as there is space on Mux7 for more SD channels. Part of the bandwidth is already being used by Al Jazeera Arabic in SD so there is space for another SD channel without sacrificing another HD spot.

What? Community Channel HD? It has already launched on COM7.


I'm not sure it was ever suggested to use DVB-T2 - it would limit their audience too much at this stage.

Where has this discussion about local channels in HD come from?

Eire are using DVB-T with MPEG4 encoding? On a new service like Saorview that's madness, any receiver capable of MPEG4 can also handle DVB-T2. I had assumed that since Saorview came out after DVB-T2 that Saorview would be an entirely DVB-T2 based offering.

Thanks, as I realized after, I had confused the Community Channel with the new local stations. As far as I am concerned, almost any additional HD channel is a good thing. There is plenty of space with mux 8 available later should Channel 4 finally come up with their "digital" HD channel options.

is this channel not in the whole of the uk I am not getting it on my tv or box

Which transmitter are you receiving from and is your TV or box HD capable?

Do you get BBC4 HD, BBC News HD and Al Jazeera HD? If not then that means you are not receiving COM7 mux and won't get Community HD either.

I presume from what Technologist says is that the Community Channel is played out by RedBee as not 100% sure?