Michael Grade calls for HDTV for all

The head of ITV, Michael Grade, is gathering support in his campaign to stop the UK government from selling off the analogue TV spectrum.

Instead Grade wants the bandwidth to be used to supply millions of UK homes with terrestrial high definition television.

The most like recipients of the analogue TV spectrum are UK mobile phone networks.

Michael Grade is meeting with members of the HD For All campaign to develop a strategy to challenge the government’s plan.

Members of HD For All include leading broadcasters and consumer electronics companies such as the BBC, Channel 4, Five and the UK heads of Dixons, Sony, Samsung and Toshiba.

The head of Sony UK, Steve Dowdle, has also openly criticised the plan. In an open letter to government culture secretary Tessa Jowell he said the government is “currently heading for a disastrous outcome that will deprive the majority of the UK public of HD for at least a generation if not more”.