The BBC has made available a rollout timetable for Freeview HD that suggests some 50 per cent of the UK population will receive HD coverage in time for the 2010 football World Cup.
Freeview HD will begin broadcasting on December 2nd, but accelerated roll-out plans look set to deliver the service to many other regions in the first half of 2010. However, despite the first broadcasts beginning in just a matter of weeks, Freeview HD receivers aren't expected to appear at retail until early 2010. In order to receive Freeview HD transmissions, viewers will require TVs or set-top-boxes equipped with a new DVB-T2 tuner.
The service is expected to launch with high-definition channels available from the BBC, ITV and Channel 4, whilst S4C HD will be broadcast in Wales. Five, meanwhile, plans to introduce its first HD channel late next year.
In the coming months, consumers will be able to access a Freeview HD coverage checker on the Freeview website. In the meantime, the below table of BBC-provided data should highlight roughly when Freeview HD will be available in your region.
| England | ||
|---|---|---|
| Area | Transmitter Group | Date |
| Manchester | Winter Hill | 2 December 2009 |
| London | Crystal Palace | 2 December 2009 |
| Newcastle and Tyneside | Pontop Pike | February 2010 |
| Leeds / Bradford | Emley Moor | March 2010 |
| Birmingham | Lichfield | March 2010 |
| Liverpool, central Lancashire, Cheshire, north Staffordshire | Winter Hill relays | March 2010 |
| Exeter, parts of Devon, Somerset, Dorset | Stockland Hill | April 2010 retrofit |
| Bristol, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire | Mendip | April 2010 |
| Devon, Cornwall, and the Isles of Scilly | Beacon Hill Caradon Hill Huntshaw Cross Redruth |
August 2010 |
| Cumbria and the Lake District | Caldbeck | October 2010 |
| 2011 – Bedfordshire, Berkshire (parts), Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, East Anglia, East Midlands, East Yorkshire, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Humberside, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, Shropshire, South Yorkshire, Staffordshire (parts), Stoke-on-Trent, West Midlands (remainder), and West Yorkshire (remainder). | ||
| 2012 – Berkshire (remainder), County Durham, Greater London (remainder), Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Northumberland, North Yorkshire, Surrey, Sussex, Teesside, Tyneside. | ||
| Wales | ||
| Area | Transmitter Group | Date |
| Cardiff, Newport | Wenvoe | March 2010 |
| Swansea | Kilvey Hill | March 2010 |
| West and central Wales | Blaenplwyf | March 2010 |
| Carmarthenshire | Carmel | April 2010 |
| Rest of Wales | Long Mountain Moel y Parc Presely |
Mid - June 2010 |
| Anglesey | Llanddona | July 2010 |
| Wales will have switched over to digital and the roll-out of Freeview HD will be complete by the end of July 2010. | ||
| Scotland | ||
| Area | Transmitter Group | Date |
| Glasgow, central Scotland | Black Hill | February 2010 |
| Shetland | Bressay | May 2010 |
| Orkney | Keelylang Hill | May 2010 |
| Caithness, North Sutherland | Rumster Forest | Mid-June 2010 |
| Lewis, Wester Ross, North West Sutherland, Western Isles | Eitshal Skriaig |
July 2010 |
| Angus, Dundee, Perth, and parts of Fife | Angus | August 2010 |
| Aberdeenshire | Durris | September 2010 |
| Morayshire, Strathspey, and parts of Easter Ross | Knockmore | October 2010 |
| South West Scotland | Caldbeck Scotland | October 2010 |
| Inverness and the Great Glen | Rosemarkie | October 2010 |
| South West Highlands and Islands | Torosay | October 2010 |
| Scottish Borders | Selkirk | November 2010 |
| Then Freeview HD rolls out with the rest of the switchover programme so that the whole of Scotland is switched over to digital and will be able to receive Freeview HD by the end of Q2, 2011. | ||
| Nothern Ireland | ||
| Freeview HD rolls out with the rest of the switchover programme so that the whole of Northern Ireland is switched over to digital and will be able to receive Freeview HD by the end of 2012. | ||
| Other Areas | ||
| Area | Transmitter Group | Date |
| Isle of Man | Douglas | October 2010 |
| Channel Islands | Fremont Point | end 2010 |
