ARD warns on satellite TV of SD switch-off in January
ARD channels will use the EPG to indicate the switch to exclusive HD broadcasting from 2025. Channel names will also change.
Instead of the description of the current program, ARD programs via satellite now show this information in the EPG.
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On January 7, 2025, the ARD channels will stop broadcasting their programs in SD resolution via the Astra satellite constellation. From then on, only HD television will be sent to earth via this constellation. Since this week, the broadcasters have been pointing this out via the Electronic Program Guide (EPG).
Instead of the name of the current program, the following text is displayed in the EPG: "Attention: You are watching television in SD". Pressing the Info button on the remote control then provides further information, but only refers to teletext page 499 and the ard-digital.de website. There are actually more detailed explanations there, here is the direct link. However, the EPG also states that cable customers of Vodafone in North Rhine-Westphalia should not start the due channel search until November 21, 2025. In some cable networks, satellite reception is still used as a feed for digital cable television.
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During operation, the channels are also renamed via the EPG on our Technisat receiver; according to our observations, this does not appear to be due to the manufacturer's own online service for an extended EPG. "Das Erste" then becomes "alt_Das Erste" when switching. This does not change the sorting in the program lists. We have also been able to observe ticker tape notifications this week, but only sporadically.
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The switch to pure HD broadcasting has been decided since 2023 and follows savings recommendations from the Commission for the Determination of the Financial Requirements of Broadcasters (KEF) It had already called for ARD and ZDF to switch off SD broadcasting via satellite at the beginning of 2020, and now this is actually happening. The SD broadcasting of channels One, tagesschau24, arte and phoenix was already ended in 2022, and now Das Erste and ARD's third channels are following suit.
ZDF will remain loyal to SD resolution for even longer and is not planning to switch over until November 18, 2025. Three years ago, the KEF indicated the potential savings of 13.7 million euros and cut the funds for SD broadcasting. As early as 2019, ARD stated in its digitization report that 82.4 percent of German households had at least one HD-capable receiver, and this figure is likely to have increased significantly in the meantime.
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