OK, just to remind you. Freesat is not the same as Freeview. For the purposes of obtaining UK TV via satellite in France, do not purchase a Freeview receiver.....
January 2025
Some people are reporting that they have lost ITV1 reception. This is almost certainly due to behind the scenes frequency changes. If you have a Sky box or Freesat box, they should adjust to these changes automatically. But sometimes they don't. So, if you have a Sky box, you can simply unplug it for a couple of minutes and then reconnect. If you have a Freesat box, you can conduct a fresh 'Freesat Scan' to obtain the most up to date channel list. For those of you with a generic free-to-air receiver, you need to instruct it to perform a new scan of the Astra 2 (28.2°) satellite.
October 2024
For those of your setting up a Freesat receiver, please remember than when prompted to put in a post-code, you need to use a UK post-code. This is used to select the regional news channel - based on the post code. Do not use a French code-postal.
February 2023
All the regional BBC One variations are now available in high-definition. The old standard-definition versions are being phased out by the end of this month. For those with an older non-HD satellite receiver, you will need to upgrade otherwise BBC One will no longer be available.
October 2022
TF1 etc is back on TNTSAT...
September 2022
Users of TNTSAT will notice that they have lost the TF1 suite of channels (TF1, TMC, TFX, TF1 Séries Films and LCI). This is due to an issue between TF1 and Canal+. As such, the TF1 suite of channels are currently not available on the TNTSAT platform. No other services are affected by this action.
June 2022
The satellite TV service offered by Orange has been discontinued. Their services are now streamed via the internet only. Users who have lost this service can still connect a TNTSAT decoder as it uses the same satellite as previously used by the Orange service (Astra 1 at 19.2°)
January 2020
Humax has ceased the production of Freesat receivers. This explains the current difficulty in obtaining any of their Freesat+ models. ARRIS have agreed with Freesat to take over from Humax, and have on sale a 4K receiver (non-recording). Recording versions of 500GB, 1TB & 2TB are in the pipeline. These will be available 'sometime in 2020'.
March 2018
Please be aware that if you bring your sky Q receiver with you from the UK, then you ideally need to bring the dish and LNB with you as well. Sky Q uses a 'wideband' LNB that does not easily fit into the 40mm collar of a French satellite dish. Also, if you already have a set up for UK satellite TV, you cannot use sky Q with a standard universal LNB. A 'wideband' or 'hybrid' LNB will be required. Please feel free to get in touch for further information.
January 2017
Please be aware that I do not supply media streamers such as the Amazon Firestick or other devices capable of using software like Kodi to stream UK TV and radio.
C-Lines (or card sharing services)
19th May 2014
Sky UK has over the last few weeks started to implement more anti-piracy measures to its premium subscription services. Over the past few years, Sky and all pay TV providers, have been losing revenue to people using card sharing services and servers. These offer the full Sky package at a much cheaper rate than an official subscription. By using certain satellite receivers, like a Skybox F5 for example, and connecting them to the internet, you can receive Sky pay channels for a lot less month than a official subscription. Some providers of these systems do not tell their clients that the systems are illegal, and the services cannot be guaranteed.
Around 10 Sky HD pay channels have had their encryption settings improved. This has meant the channels are no longer bale to be “unlocked” by cardsharing services. Although there are only a handful of channels affected at present, you can bet that all Sky HD channels will be moved to the new encryption in the next few weeks. Perhaps all premium Sky channels, like Sky Sports and Sky Movies will also change.
Of course, the broadcasters are always playing catch up, and it may only be a matter of time before the cardshare networks manage to crack and hack the new encryption. How long it will take no-one really knows. The only official and correct way to receive Sky pay channels via satellite is with a genuine Sky subscription package (with thanks to www.uksatellitehelp.co.uk).
January 2025
Some people are reporting that they have lost ITV1 reception. This is almost certainly due to behind the scenes frequency changes. If you have a Sky box or Freesat box, they should adjust to these changes automatically. But sometimes they don't. So, if you have a Sky box, you can simply unplug it for a couple of minutes and then reconnect. If you have a Freesat box, you can conduct a fresh 'Freesat Scan' to obtain the most up to date channel list. For those of you with a generic free-to-air receiver, you need to instruct it to perform a new scan of the Astra 2 (28.2°) satellite.
October 2024
For those of your setting up a Freesat receiver, please remember than when prompted to put in a post-code, you need to use a UK post-code. This is used to select the regional news channel - based on the post code. Do not use a French code-postal.
February 2023
All the regional BBC One variations are now available in high-definition. The old standard-definition versions are being phased out by the end of this month. For those with an older non-HD satellite receiver, you will need to upgrade otherwise BBC One will no longer be available.
October 2022
TF1 etc is back on TNTSAT...
September 2022
Users of TNTSAT will notice that they have lost the TF1 suite of channels (TF1, TMC, TFX, TF1 Séries Films and LCI). This is due to an issue between TF1 and Canal+. As such, the TF1 suite of channels are currently not available on the TNTSAT platform. No other services are affected by this action.
June 2022
The satellite TV service offered by Orange has been discontinued. Their services are now streamed via the internet only. Users who have lost this service can still connect a TNTSAT decoder as it uses the same satellite as previously used by the Orange service (Astra 1 at 19.2°)
January 2020
Humax has ceased the production of Freesat receivers. This explains the current difficulty in obtaining any of their Freesat+ models. ARRIS have agreed with Freesat to take over from Humax, and have on sale a 4K receiver (non-recording). Recording versions of 500GB, 1TB & 2TB are in the pipeline. These will be available 'sometime in 2020'.
March 2018
Please be aware that if you bring your sky Q receiver with you from the UK, then you ideally need to bring the dish and LNB with you as well. Sky Q uses a 'wideband' LNB that does not easily fit into the 40mm collar of a French satellite dish. Also, if you already have a set up for UK satellite TV, you cannot use sky Q with a standard universal LNB. A 'wideband' or 'hybrid' LNB will be required. Please feel free to get in touch for further information.
January 2017
Please be aware that I do not supply media streamers such as the Amazon Firestick or other devices capable of using software like Kodi to stream UK TV and radio.
C-Lines (or card sharing services)
19th May 2014
Sky UK has over the last few weeks started to implement more anti-piracy measures to its premium subscription services. Over the past few years, Sky and all pay TV providers, have been losing revenue to people using card sharing services and servers. These offer the full Sky package at a much cheaper rate than an official subscription. By using certain satellite receivers, like a Skybox F5 for example, and connecting them to the internet, you can receive Sky pay channels for a lot less month than a official subscription. Some providers of these systems do not tell their clients that the systems are illegal, and the services cannot be guaranteed.
Around 10 Sky HD pay channels have had their encryption settings improved. This has meant the channels are no longer bale to be “unlocked” by cardsharing services. Although there are only a handful of channels affected at present, you can bet that all Sky HD channels will be moved to the new encryption in the next few weeks. Perhaps all premium Sky channels, like Sky Sports and Sky Movies will also change.
Of course, the broadcasters are always playing catch up, and it may only be a matter of time before the cardshare networks manage to crack and hack the new encryption. How long it will take no-one really knows. The only official and correct way to receive Sky pay channels via satellite is with a genuine Sky subscription package (with thanks to www.uksatellitehelp.co.uk).