Spain is readying for the migration to HD for all its DTT TV channels on February 14th. From that date onwards, all DTT transmissions will have to be HD as SD will be switched off.

The country is now under an intense media campaign to prepare for the switchover with the Administration launching an  online guide titled Pon orden en tu tele (‘Put order on your TV‘) explaining how to retune TV channels.

Even though most existing TV sets are now HD-compatible, older devices will have to be equipped with an HD box, and those who receive the DTT service via satellite through a SD STB will now also be obliged to acquire a HD box.

Several channels have already migrated to HD. The national public broadcaster RTVE airs all its channels (La 1, La 2, Canal 24 Horas, Teledeporte and Clan) on HD and SD simulcast with their SD switch-off scheduled for early morning from February 5th. RTVE will then launch its first UHD TV channel on DTT.

As for Mediaset, operator of seven channels (Tele 5, Cuatro, FDF, Divinity, Energy, Boing and Be Mad), it will switch off its SD transmissions on February 14th. The group has been simulcasting HD and SD on Tele 5 and Cuatro with Be Mad already broadcasting on HD and the others on SD.

Atresmedia’s SD and HD simulcasting transmissions of Antena 3 and La Sexta will come to an end on the fixed deadline of February 14th, migrating to HD along with its other SD channels: Nova, Neox and Mega.

Regional TV stations, Cat3 and TV Canaria, already migrated to HD on January 16th with the rest of local stations – such as Telemadrid, EITB, Canal Sur, A Punt, CMM, RTPA and IB3 – migrating between February 8th and 12th.

The SD DTT switch-off was originally scheduled to occur by January 1st 2023, but this was postponed by the Spanish government.