DAB Radio discounts

15% off all DAB digital radio - Use code 15DABRAD at Comet.co.uk - Valid till 16th May 2008.

Digital Radios with 10% off

Get 10% off Revo DAB and Internet radio, including the Uno, Pico, Pico+, Mondo and the high-spec Revo Radiostation Blik, which combines DAB, DAB+ and Internet radio.

For the discount, go to www.advancedmp3players.co.uk and use the special code affrevo at the checkout. Only available while stocks last.

Picturebox to launch on BT Vision

Picturebox, the Movies on Demand service from Universal Studios is coming to BT Vision from 5th May. The service, also available on Top Up TV Anytime and Tiscali TV will offer 28 movies a month for a £5 a month subscription. radioandtelly.co.uk/btvision.html

Setanta Sports Half Price for 3 months

If you're a boxing fan, you'll know that there's a big fight this weekend - Joe Calzaghe will be fighting Bernard Hopkins on Saturday night. This is one of the biggest fights of the year, and it's being broadcast exclusively on Setanta.

We've uncovered a half-price Setanta deal relating to the Calzaghe/Hopkins match that runs until Friday the 18th April. You can subscribe to Setanta for three months half price (£5 per month for the next three months), if you quote offer code 1904 when you order online. Offer ends at midnight on Friday 18th April 2008. More on Setanta

Rush HD Appears on Sky HD

Rush HD appears on Sky's High Definition service - extreme sports in HD. It's on channel 452.

More on Sky HD

Freeview HD by 2009

Finally, High Definition looks set to come to Freeview. UK Regulator Ofcom has announced that we can expect up to four high-definition digital TV channels to be delivered via a TV on Freeview as soon as 2009. One of these four channels will be offered to the BBC, with the other three reportedly up for tender.

The space for these channels will be freed up by getting the existing Freeview services to shift to a new transmission standard called DVB-T2, make of MPEG-4 compression technology, combined with some channel reshuffling. These changes are expected to happen side-by-side with each TV region's digital switchover programme, so it won't be until 2012 that all 4 Freeview HD channels are available across the whole UK

It's expected that viewers will need to get a new Freeview box to get HD, but existing boxes will continue to work for non-HD Freeview channels.

More on UK HD

Podcast: Buying a Digital TV

Show 25 of this site's online radio show, FrequencyCast, is now online.

In this show, we discuss what to look for when buying a new tv, explore Audio Description, and run through a roundup of the latest Freeview, Sky, TV, Radio and Gadget news. Listen online or download the show from www.frequencycast.co.uk/cast25.html

Radio landscape changes

The landscape of the UK industry, just changed.

GCap Media, owners of a whole bunch of the UK's commercial radio stations has just been acquired by Global Radio for £375 million.

GCap owned a number of big-name stations including Classic FM, Capital Radio and Xfm. GCap was in the news in February for its decision to shut a number of national DAB radio stations, as we reported in show 24 of our podcast. Global owns stations including London's Heart and LBC, as well as Galaxy. The new group of stations will now dominate over 40% of the UK's commercial radio listening

Three digital stations depart

Three National DAB digital radio services fell silent today, April 1st 2008.

The stations to go are theJazz, adult contemporary Capital Life, and the three months trial of forces station BFBS.

Planet Rock was also meant to go off-air today, but has a month's extension, while the station continues to find a buyer.

The departure of these national DAB stations comes as radio group GCap Media branded DAB radio as 'economically unviable' in February.

No news on what stations will fill the gaps left, although RadioToday's Birdsong +1 catchup service April Fools jape made us smile!

A stack of national radio stations from Channel 4 are due later this year, although with this year's departures, Channel 4 must be having some reservations...

If you haven't listened already, download episode 24 of our podcast, where we discuss the closures, and future of digital radio. www.frequencycast.co.uk/cast24.html