Now that the date for the entry into force of the obligation for DTT channels to broadcast in HD is approaching, we are grouping together the known dates of some of them that are going to anticipate the limit of February 14 and are already beginning to broadcast only in high definition.
According to Royal Decree 391/2019, which regulates the National Technical Plan for Digital Terrestrial Television, after an extension of one year, finally February 14 is the date chosen to cease broadcasts in DTT SD and all must do so in DTT HD . This will not only have an improvement in image quality and presumably also audio, but will also free up space in the public radio domain, facilitating the implementation of technologies such as 4K and 5G.
Regional DTT is anticipated
The Federation of Autonomous Radio and Television Organizations (FORTA) is the one that manages the regional DTT channels and little by little it has been presenting the date with which the SD broadcasts of its channels will cease and they will only maintain the variant in HD or In some cases they will premiere the channel in high definition.
To avoid last-minute problems and not being able to meet the established date, many of these regional channels have begun to apply the necessary changes, although the dates vary depending on the autonomous community. Right now, these are all the confirmed dates, ranging from those already available to those that will be available a few days before the deadline.
- Extremadura Channel: Monday, January 15
- Canarian Television: Tuesday, January 16
- TV3 (Catalonia): Tuesday, January 16
- 3/24 (Catalonia): Tuesday, January 16
- Esports3 (Catalonia): Tuesday, January 16
- SX3/33 (Catalonia): Tuesday, January 16
- La 7 (Castilla y León): Tuesday, February 6
- La 8 (Castilla y León): Tuesday, February 6
- La 8 Bierzo (Castilla y León): Tuesday, February 6
- Canal Sur (Andalusia): Monday, February 12
- Canal Sur 2 (Andalusia): Monday, February 12
- Andalucía TV (Andalucía): Monday, February 12
- À Punt (Valencian Community): Monday, February 12
- Castilla-La Mancha Middle: Monday, February 12
- Aragón TV: Monday, February 12
- TVG (Galicia): Wednesday, February 14
- TVG 2 (Galicia): Wednesday, February 14
- The 7th Region of Murcia: Wednesday, February 14
As you can see, only in Galicia will they wait until the last day. Perhaps because they are in the midst of an electoral campaign ahead of 18-F and they do not want to risk right now that people will not be able to follow it. The other one that leaves everything to the last minute is La 7 Región de Murcia, although in this case we do not find a possible explanation.
Channels that leave it for the last day
Not all channels, however, are going to be so far-sighted and will cease broadcasting in SD and will only do so in HD as of February 14, the deadline of the National Technical Plan for Digital Terrestrial Television. One of them is, for example, TEN. The Grupo Secuoya channel, a general family channel, will leave its homework until the last minute and it will be on Valentine’s Day itself when it will go from broadcasting in SD to HD on the same frequency, so there would be no need for retuning.
As for the Mediaset channels, they will also see the change on Valentine’s Day. Right now only the FDF, Boing, Divinity and Energy channels are only in SD, so those are the ones that will have to apply the most changes. Others like Telecinco and Cuatro broadcast simultaneously in both resolutions, while Be Mad now does so only in HD, so it has more advantage.
