News of the unavailability of HD coverage of the World Cup on Freeview may boost the take-up of Freesat, which will provide UK-wide HD World Cup coverage and costs around £120 for a box plus an installation fee of £80.
Assuming the England team qualifies, England fans are likely to be unhappy that viewers in Wales and Scotland will be able to see the BBC and ITV's HD coverage on Freeview while they will not.
The discrepancy emerged out of Ofcom's announcement today that ITV and Channel 4 will be handed two of the three HD slots that will become available once the digital switchover process frees up more space on Freeview between now and 2012.
ITV1's 6-11pm schedule will be broadcast in HD on one channel across ITV, Channel TV, STV and UTV regions. This will offer popular programmes such as detective dramas 'Lewis' and 'Miss Marple' as well as FA Cup football coverage.
Channel 4 and S4C will share another channel, which will focus mainly on films. It will also offer 'Hollyoaks' and US imports such as 'Desperate Housewives' in HD as well as comedy, drama and documentaries. In Wales, viewers will receive an HD version of the S4C Digidol service.
The BBC will take the third slot, with the BBC Trust to decide on the service to be carried.
However, the last regions where the HD channels will be available are London, Tyne Tees and Ulster, which Ofcom expects to be ready by 2012.
The Granada region will switchover first in 2009, followed in 2010 by Wales, Scotland and the West Country.
The Central, Yorkshire, Anglia and Meridian regions will be ready in 2011.
Ofcom said it was aware from discussions with set-top box manufacturers that equipment capable of receiving the HD signals would be ready in time for switchover in the Granada region.
Ed Richards, chief executive of Ofcom, said: "This is a significant step forward in the range of choice available in the UK. It will enable viewers to watch some of the very best programmes free-to-air in high definition through the television aerials."
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