Sky has confirmed to HEXUS that all eight of its own HD channels will initially be transmitted at 1080i and that the Sky HD receiver box can down-convert this to the lower-resolution 720p HD format needed by many current owners of HD TV sets.
The company had originally said that it would broadcast some programmes in 1080i and others in 720p. However, Sky's adoption of 1080i doesn't mean that the HD channels that Sky transmits for other broadcasters will follow suit. It's possible that BBC in HD, Discovery HD, National Geographic HD and Artsworld HD will use 720p for some or all of their programmes. We'll try to find out the score, though, and report back.