Our list of the HD TV services available on Sky Digital, Virgin Media, Freeview and Freesat.
In the UK, there are now over 50 TV channels broadcasting in high definition. HD channels offer superior picture quality, showing far more detail than on standard definition TV pictures.
There’s little doubt that Sky’s satellite TV service is leading the way in offering the new HD channels, but if you’re looking to get HD, on this page, we list the channels that are currently available in Britain, and which digital TV service provides those channels.
HD Channel List
Here’s our summary of the HD channels available in the UK, per channel and per service:
| Channel | Sky |
Virgin |
Freeview |
Freesat |
| BBC One HD |  |
|
|
|
| BBC Two HD | |
|
|
|
| ITV HD (STV HD in Scotland) | |
|
|
(STV HD not available)
|
| ITV2 HD | |
– |
– |
– |
| ITV3 HD | |
– |
– |
– |
| ITV4 HD | |
– |
– |
– |
| Channel 4 HD | |
|
|
|
| Channel 5 HD | |
|
No (more) |
– |
| Animal Planet HD | |
– |
– |
– |
| Bio HD | |
– |
– |
– |
| Cartoon Network HD | |
– |
– |
– |
| Comedy Central HD | |
|
– |
– |
| Crime & Investigation Network HD | |
– |
– |
– |
| Dave HD | |
|
– |
– |
| Discovery HD | |
|
– |
– |
| Disney Channel HD | |
– |
– |
– |
| Disney Cinemagic HD | |
– |
– |
– |
| Disney XD HD | |
– |
– |
– |
| E4 HD | |
|
– |
– |
| Eden HD | |
– |
– |
– |
| ESPN America HD | |
– |
– |
– |
| ESPN HD | |
|
– |
– |
| Eurosport 3D | |
– |
– |
– |
| Eurosport HD | |
|
– |
– |
| Film 4 HD | – |
|
– |
– |
| Fox HD | |
|
– |
– |
| Good Food HD | |
|
– |
– |
| History HD | |
– |
– |
– |
| MGM HD | |
– |
– |
– |
| MTV HD | |
– |
– |
– |
| MTV Live HD | |
|
– |
– |
| National Geographic Wild HD | |
– |
– |
– |
| National Geographic HD | |
|
– |
– |
| NHK World HD | |
– |
– |
|
| Nickelodeon HD | |
– |
– |
– |
| RTE Two HD (Northern Ireland only) | |
– |
– |
– |
| Sky 3D | |
– |
– |
– |
| Sky Arts 1 HD | |
|
– |
– |
| Sky Arts 2 HD | |
|
– |
– |
| Sky Atlantic HD | |
– |
– |
– |
| Sky Box Office HD1 | |
– |
– |
– |
| Sky Box Office HD2 | |
– |
– |
– |
| Sky Insider | |
– |
– |
– |
| Sky Living HD | |
|
– |
– |
| Sky Movies Action HD | |
|
– |
– |
| Sky Movies Classics HD | |
|
– |
– |
| Sky Movies Comedy HD | |
|
– |
– |
| Sky Movies Crime & Thriller HD | |
|
– |
– |
| Sky Movies Drama & Romance HD | |
|
– |
– |
| Sky Movies Family HD | |
|
– |
– |
| Sky Movies Indie HD | |
|
– |
– |
| Sky Movies Modern Greats HD | |
|
– |
– |
| Sky Movies Premier HD | |
|
– |
– |
| Sky Movies SciFi & Horror HD | |
|
– |
– |
| Sky Movies Showcase HD | |
|
– |
– |
| Sky News HD | |
– |
– |
– |
| Sky One HD | |
|
– |
– |
| Sky Sports F1 HD | |
– |
– |
– |
| Sky Sports HD 1 | |
|
– |
– |
| Sky Sports HD 2 | |
|
– |
– |
| Sky Sports HD 3 | |
– |
– |
– |
| Sky Sports HD 4 | |
– |
– |
– |
| Sky Sports News HD | |
– |
– |
– |
| SyFy HD | |
|
– |
– |
| Universal HD (Formerly Hallmark) | |
– |
– |
– |
| UTV (Northern Ireland) | – |
|
– |
– |
| Watch HD | |
|
– |
– |
Channel List Updated: June 2012.
List out of date? Let us know
Handy HD Links
- HD in the UK – Our look at the High Definition options and services
- Sky HD – A look at what’s on offer from Sky
- Sky HD Channel List – Full list of all Sky HD channels, plus channel numbers
- Sky’s HD site – Find out more about the Sky HD offering
- Virgin Media’s HD site – Details of how to get HD channels via cable
- Freeview HD – Channels of HD without a subscription
why no mention of bbc4? This is available in our area (DORSET) NOW ON FREESAT CHANNEL 148 and is supposed to start on FREEVIEW BY THIS SUMMER
COLIN WEYMAN