302, News Multiscreen to close

The BBC will close the BBC News Multiscreen and the "interactive" video stream 302 on 27 October. In order to clear enough capacity to launch HD services later this year, the services are having to be scrapped. Despite the fact high definition channels will not be available nationwide from launch, it is impossible to maintain a full "red button" service in the interim. It's likely to be an unpopular move, especially after the fuss surrounding last month's retune event (in which many households lost ITV3 and ITV4). According to this press release, unused capacity will be sub-let.