ITV HD to be Freesat exclusive?

Speculation is mounting today that ITV's new high definition service will be exclusive to Freesat.

Test transmissions for ITV HD are now being broadcast on Eurobird 1 at 11.428 GHz with horizontal polarisation, a symbol rate of 27500, and a service ID of 10510. However, the stream may not be viewed on Sky boxes, nor traditional free to air receivers, as the video stream is being broadcast as H.222 data rather than using the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC codec supported by such receivers and used by existing high definition services such as BBC HD.

Digital Spy forum members who receive digital satellite TV on their home computer have been able to view the stream after installing appropriate codecs. They report that the service information table for the 11.428H transponder is carrying, in addition to the ITV HD stream, data services named "FreesatHome", "FreesatCommonC", "FreesatSSU", and "FreesatOAD".

Freesat is making few public comments until the consumer launch of the new service on May 6, and ITV HD's launch date has yet to be officially confirmed. However, service ID 10510 has been confirmed as present in pre-launch Freesat EPG data, and ITV's online marketing material only advertises it as being "available on Freesat".