The Film4 HD service, which launches on Tuesday July 20th on the Virgin Media platform, builds on the state of the art technical infrastructure put in place when Channel 4 selected Red Bee Media as its broadcast and media technology partners in 2008.

Film4 HD will broadcast a simulcast of Film4’s schedule and in its first week will screen a range of quality and iconic movies in HD, including Million Dollar Baby, Passion of the Christ, Just Married, Walk the Line, Fight Club, One Hour Photo, Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Die Hard.

Red Bee Media’s project, technology, systems integration and operations teams have worked closely with Channel 4 to launch the new service. Red Bee Media already oversees the media workflow and delivery of Channel 4 HD and E4 HD, as well as all Channel 4’s SD and non-linear services.

Red Bee Media plays out an array of HD channels for leading broadcasters including BBC HD, BBC Worldwide HD (Scandinavia), Five HD and Living HD. Due to the increasing volume of high definition content, Red Bee Media has increased the size of its data archive to potentially store in excess of a million hours of broadcast quality content.

David Dorans, Head of Distribution and Broadcast Technology at Channel 4, said: “Channel 4 chose Red Bee Media as a strategic partner because of its scale and expertise with new and emerging technologies. Film 4 HD is another example of how Red Bee Media has enabled Channel 4 to move quickly to market with a high quality service, based on a cost-effective solution that integrates perfectly with existing Channel 4 and Red Bee Media systems, across two sites.”