ITV Border Scotland viewers upgraded to HD news service

ITV Border Scotland has announced that from November viewers will be able to watch the broadcaster's local news bulletins in HD (high definition).

This change comes as ITV makes major upgrades to its linear channels on ITV1 – meaning viewers get the best possible picture quality while getting their local news.

Households with a HD TV won't need to take any extra steps and will be able to watch ITV Border Scotland by choosing channel 103 on Sky, Freesat and Virgin Media.

Those with SD-only (standard definition) satellite set-top boxes will need to upgrade to an HD satellite receiver to see the correct regional news and other local content to where they live.

However, approximately 98 per cent of digital satellite homes already access HD channels.

An ITV spokesperson said: "This is the final stage in upgrading all ITV1 regions into HD, bringing the best picture quality to all viewers.

"We have already successfully transitioned most ITV1 regions into HD and the BBC has already closed all its regional BBC One SD channels on satellite, and launched the HD version of local BBC One channels.

"ITV1 viewers in the Channel and Border Scotland regions will be upgraded to HD on satellite in November 2023.

"From January 2024, households with an SD-only satellite set-top box in Border Scotland, UTV, Wales and Channel will still receive ITV in the usual way but will need to upgrade to a High Definition (HD) box to continue to see the correct news service we provide for those regions."

Households with SD boxes can contact their provider to upgrade their service.

For help, Sky can be contacted via its website at: www.sky.com/help/home or by calling 0333 7591018.

And Freesat customers can ask for help to upgrade by calling 0345 3130051.

For more information and help, ITV viewers can contact ITV Viewer Services via this online form.

As part of the BBC's HD rollout, a dedicated website has been created with details on upgrading your system.