From January 7, 2025
ARD switches off SD channels via satellite – millions of households affected
Updated on January 7, 2025 – 9:16 a.mReading time: 2 min.
Starting today, Tuesday, ARD will switch off its own signal and that of all third-party programs that are transmitted via satellite in SD quality. Then there is only one option.
For almost ten years, ARD has been broadcasting its programs via satellite in high-resolution HD format and in low SD quality in parallel. This should end soon. Today, January 7, 2025, the distribution of “Das Erste” and all third-party television programs from the state broadcasters in SD quality will be discontinued, writes ARD on its website.
ARD now only wants to broadcast the channels in a high-resolution HD signal (1,280 x 720 pixels). The SD variants of One, tagesschau24, Arte and Phoenix were switched off in November 2022. Since then, they have only been available in high resolution (HD).
You can easily tell whether you can receive the ARD channels in the high-resolution HD signal by the addition “HD” in the program name in your television’s channel list. In addition, an “HD” also appears in the channel logo on the television picture.
You can also use the info button on your remote control to open a window that provides information about your reception quality. The currently selected channel should be listed here with the additional HD symbol.
If you do not see the programs in HD, you should start an automatic channel search. This can be started on all TV devices in the TV menu or on your receiving device such as the receiver.
If you do not see any HD channels in your program list after a channel search, your television or receiver is not designed to receive high-resolution signals. Then you will probably need to buy a new device.
To receive the programs in HD, you need an HD-capable television (HD-capable and standard DVB-S2) or a suitable receiver (HD receiver for satellite reception or HD receiver for cable reception).
Last year, the number of households that received their TV programs via satellite was 16.53 million, according to surveys by Astra TV-Monitor. The proportion, measured across all TV households, was 45.5 percent.
Reception via cable was in second place with 15.11 million TV households and a market share of 41.6 percent. Last year, 3.4 million households watched television via IPTV (over the Internet). That corresponded to a market share of 9.6 percent.