The BBC has confirmed that the rollout of regional High Definition versions of BBC One will get underway tomorrow (March 22nd) on digital terrestrial platforms (Freeview and YouView).
Until now, viewers across England had to switch to the Standard Definition version of the channel when wanting to watch regional shows such as their local weather. Thanks to a recent engineering upgrade, the BBC is now able to scrap this requirement, ensuring viewers can enjoy uninterrupted viewing in HD.
Freesat and Sky viewers have already seen their local version of BBC One switch to HD and the channel was already available in HD in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland on terrestrial and digital satellite (Sky, Freesat) platforms.
The rollout on Freeview and YouView in England will take place in two phases:
| Region | Launch date |
| East Midlands, West Midlands, East Yorks & Lincs, London, Channel Islands, Yorkshire | 22 March |
| North East & Cumbria, North West, West, South West, South (incl. Oxford), East (incl. Cambridge), South East | 26 April (subject to change) |
Later in the year the BBC will also be pushing out an update to newer Freeview Play devices which will bring BBC One HD to the top of the EPG, at channel 1.
It’ll also be bringing the regional versions of the channel to iPlayer, with more news on this promised at a later date.