Freeview OTA TV Service in UK to Discontinue Logo for New SD TVs, Set-Tops

HDTV will “become the norm” in the U.K. beginning Jan. 1 because the Freeview logo will be “withdrawn” from new standard-definition TVs and set-top boxes entering the market, the subscription-free over-the-air TV viewing service said in a Thursday announcement. The change will be a “landmark moment” in the evolution of U.K. TV service and will pave the way “for further improvements in picture quality, including Ultra HD,” said Freeview Managing Director Guy North in a statement. Freeview calls itself the U.K.’s “most widely used TV service,” and estimates it reaches 19 million homes. The withdrawal of the Freeview logo from new SD products, first publicized in 2015, already has helped drive a 36 percent decline in sales of SD TVs, while HDTV sales have surged to make up 80 percent of the 6 million TVs sold in the U.K. each year, Freeview said. It emphasized the Jan. 1 change applies only to new SD equipment. “Legacy SD equipment will still be able to access Freeview channels,” it said. “No viewers will experience a loss of service.”