§ Sir E. Erringtonasked the Postmaster-General when the necessary experimental work on very high frequency/ultra high frequency and 625-line television will be completed; and at what date thereafter it is proposed that BBC-1 and BBC-2 should be combined into a single economic unit.
§ Mr. Edward ShortI think the hon. Member has in mind the decision to change the definition standard on which BBC-1 and independent television are broadcast from their present transmissions on 405 lines and in VHF to 625 lines in UHF: that is, to the standard and in the frequency bands on which BBC-2 is broadcast. No further experience of 625 line transmissions in UHF is needed to establish the general feasibility of making this change. The second part of the Question refers, I take it, to the date by which BBC-1 will, like BBC-2, be broadcast only on 625 lines. I cannot add to my statement that the 405-line transmissions of BBC-1, and of independent television, will continue for a period of years.