Frequently Asked Question #30:

Q: How can I get English-language TV and Radio in Italy?

A: There are many possible satellite reception systems that will provide this, with varying degrees of technical sophistication. We present here 4 possible variations, in order of increasing channel availability - and of course cost.

A Basic Astra-1 Sytem

If you can tolerate receiving only the a few English-language free-to-air (i.e unencoded) channels, then you only need a satellite reception system that is capable of picking up the ASTRA-1 satellite cluster at 19.2° East.

A definitive list of free-to-air Astra-1 digital TV channels available in Italy can be found on this Astra webpage.

The free-to-air English-language channels available (in 2007) on Astra-1 include:

Note that in addition to the English language services listed above, the ASTRA-1 cluster also offers many free channels in German, French and Italian.

An Astra-1 / Hotbird Sytem

The next step up from an ASTRA-1-only system is the addition of the free-to-air channels available on the Eutelsat HotBird satellite cluster at 13.0° East. HotBird has the additional benefit of about 90 free-to-air Italian channels, invaluable if you are trying to improve your knowledge of Italian.

A definitive list of HotBird channels is published on the first 27 pages of the Eutelsat directory at http://www.eutelsat.com/products/pdf/tvlineup.pdf.

The free-to-air English-language TV channels included on HotBird include:

There are in addition some encrypted English-language channels on HotBird, but only 5 of the major ones are not free-to-air on ASTRA-1: these are BBC Prime, Cartoon Network, Discovery Channel, Fox News and the History Channel. It is probably not worth paying for a subscription package just to receive these 5 channels.

Note that ASTRA-1 has better support for the English language, but HotBird is better for students of the Italian language. Fortunately, you don't need to choose between them, because you can receive both with only one antenna, and there are many low-cost free-to-air Digital Satellite Receivers that will handle both: so the cost of receiving both is only fractionally higher than the cost of receiving either one. See our satellite equipment FAQ for details.

An Astra-1 / Hotbird / Free-to-Air Astra-2 Sytem

The next step up from a combined ASTRA-1/HotBird system is the addition of the British channels available on ASTRA-2 (2A, 2B and 2D) at 28.6° East. The UK terrestrial channels BBC1, BBC2, ITV1, Channel 4 and Five are all free-to-air channels on the Astra-2 satellite. All the free-to-air channels, including BBC1, BBC2, ITV1, Channel 4 and Five, can be received by any standard digital satellite receiver. However, they are quite deliberately aimed at the UK with a very narrow beam - meaning that you will need a larger (and therefore more sensitive) dish to receive them in parts of Europe that are furthest from the UK.

The free-to-air English-language channels on Astra-2 at 28.6° East (i.e channels that can be received without a Sky Digital or any other subscription) are too numerous to list here: they are listed on this Astra webpage.

An Astra-1 / Hotbird / Subscription Astra-2 Sytem

The final step, the ultimate satellite TV system, is an ASTRA-1/HotBird/ASTRA-2 system with a UK Sky Digital subscription. Sky Digital is the main satellite TV service broadcast to the UK, and contains a wealth of excellent English-language programming. Unfortunately, these subscription channels use the proprietary 'videoguard' encoding system which can only be decoded using a proprietary "Sky Digibox" receiver - it is not possible to buy an ASTRA-2 decoder card that fits into a general-purpose satellite receiver/decoder. A 'Sky Digibox' can generally only be purchased within the UK - although it is possible to order one from other European countries. The more serious problem to be overcome is that Sky Digital subscriptions are only available to UK residents: however, provided that you use a UK accommodation address for all communications with Sky, so that Sky believes at all times that you are receiving their service within the UK, you can continue to receive it in other European countries.

A definitive list of all Astra-2 TV channels (both free-to-air and subscription) can be found at this Astra webpage. A full list of Astra-2 radio channels can be found here.

Summary

It can be seen that the best English-language programming available in Europe comes from the Astra-2 satellite cluster: which presumably explains why so many UK residents go to great lengths to keep their UK satellite equipment operational when they move to the continent.

The good news is that all 3 of the above satellite clusters (Astra-1, Astra-2 and HotBird) can be received in Piedmont, Italy using only two 80cm antennas. For details of exactly how this can be done, see our satellite equipment FAQ.

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