Portuguese invest in HDTV

Commercial broadcaster SIC has announced that it will invest up to €12 million in preparing for HD broadcasting.
SIC’s Director General Luis Marques, expects that the majority of the content and transmission infrastructure will already be in HD by the year’s end, while at the time of the ASO on the 26th April 2012 it will be able to launch a complete offering in HD.
Rival TVI also plans to invest in HDTV and estimates a cost of €3-5 million to have the entire broadcasting line equipped for HD by end of 2010. The idea is said to be to tailor the investment to the level of DTT penetration in the country. The public broadcaster RTP is also making significant investments in HD programming as well as in cameras and in broadcasting equipment although the amount is not mentioned.
DTT broadcasting was launched in Portugal on January 12th 2009 and the four national TV channels (RTP 1, RTP 2, SIC and TVI) can currently be received by some 85 per cent of the population.
Source: Advanced Television
Item added: 25th October 2010