S4C viewers are being invited to help launch its innovative High Definition channel later this year by suggesting names for the new service.
From April, S4C will broadcast a High Definition S4C Digidol television service on Freeview in Wales simultaneously with its current standard defintion service. It will provide pictures with up to four times more detail than viewers are used to seeing on current services.
S4C has been commissioning programmes in High Definition for some time including its visually stunning series on the Welsh landscape, Tir Cymru currently being shown on S4C in standard definition format. By 2012, S4C will be commissioning all its programmes in High Definition.
Now it is asking its viewers to suggest a name for the new HD channel that will convey the exciting and innovative nature of the service.
S4C Chief Executive, Iona Jones, said, “We enjoy a close and rewarding relationship with our viewers and I believe they should have a say in what we call our new HD service.
“In March, the process of digital switchover for Wales will be completed with the conversion of the Wenvoe and Blaenplwyf transmitters and their associated relays. From then on, S4C will become a full service in the Welsh language.
“We have created a high quality service in a range of genres in order to make the most of the opportunity to provide Welsh programmes on S4C from morning until night.
“HD is our next exciting development representing a significant creative, financial and technological investment. It will be a totally new service offering pictures of the highest possible technical quality available on the Freeview platform.
“We’re looking for suggestions from our viewers to ensure we get a Welsh name for the channel that will convey the dynamic and groundbreaking nature of the service.”
The roll-out of S4C’s HD service will begin in April with viewers receiving their service on Freeview from the Wenvoe, Blaenplwyf and Kilvey Hill transmitters in south and west Wales. The roll-out programme will enable the remainder of Wales to receive the HD service on Freeview by July.
Viewers can submit their suggestions by phoning the S4C viewers’ helpline on 0870 6004141* or emailing the helpline on hotline@s4c.co.uk
* S4C Viewers’ Hotline: Calls shouldn’t cost more than 6p per minute from a BT line.
