Five HD to Launch on Sky this Summer

LONDON: The high-definition version of Five is to start broadcasting to more than 2 million Sky+HD homes this July.

Five’s lineup includes the U.S. dramas CSI and FlashForward, soaps such as Neighbours and Home & Away, international cricket and live Europa League football as well as blockbuster movies. Five becomes the 42nd channel to commit to joining Sky’s HD lineup, with ITV1 HD, Sky News HD, Sky Sports HD and Hallmark Channel HD all slated to launch in the coming months.

Charles Constable, Five’s director of strategy, said: "This is an exciting opportunity for Five. Our program schedule is more suited to HD than that any other major free-to-air commercial broadcaster given the wide range of high-quality series we broadcast, such as our top-rated lineup of U.S. dramas. We’re delighted to begin our HD journey with Sky.”

Hilary Perchard, Sky’s director of product management, commented: “We’re delighted to announce the addition of Five HD to Sky+HD, the U.K.’s leading high-definition service. Sky remains committed to delivering customers the best HD service available, and this means continuing to launch high-quality channels right across the schedule. With the best of free and pay TV now in HD, there’s never been a better time to embrace HD.”