ITV HD coming to Virgin Media

It looks like Virgin Media are making serious progress with their HD ambitions as an Easter treat for customers. ITV1 HD will join the company's rosta of high definition channels from 2 April. This means Virgin customers will be able to enjoy ITV's football (UEFA Cup, FA Cup, World Cup), drama (The Prisoner remake, Foyle's War, Lewis), factuals (Nile, Greatest Cities Of The World), and entertainment (The Whole 19 Yards, 71 Degrees North, Soccer Aid, Britain's Got Talent) in glorious high definition.

Cindy Rose, Executive Ddirector of Digital Entertainment at Virgin Media:

"ITV offers some of the UK's most loved programmes and we're delighted to add them to our growing HD channel line-up. This year's World Cup promises some unforgettable games and Virgin Media TV viewers will be able to enjoy every nail-biting, heart-stopping, breath-taking moment in stunning High Definition"

Peter Fincham, ITV Director of Television, Channels & Online:

"The availability of High Definition content is something viewers have come to expect as standard and, as we approach the 2010 World Cup, I'm delighted that we are able to launch our new channel, ITV1 HD, on Virgin Media. All of our output will benefit from the stunning picture quality that High Definition offers, whether it's ITV's original drama, landmark factual shows, entertainment events or our live football."

This means Virgin Media's HD lineup now stands at: BBC HD, Channel 4 HD, ESPN HD, FX HD, MTV N, National Geographic HD, Living HD, Eurosport HD, Discovery HD, E4 HD, FilmFour HD and IT1 HD. More channels are still expected to be announced for 2010, too.

ITV1 HD will also debut on Sky and become a proper channel on Freeview and Freesat, where it's previously only been accessible via the red interactive button.