TV channels available using current Sky equipment

If you wish to stay in touch with home there is absolutely no problem whatsoever as Sky can be received all over Spain as can BBC1, BBC2, ITV 1, 2, 3, C4, C5 and BBC World. Sky, for whatever reason are not very co-operative when it comes to helping you receive their broadcasts outside of the UK and ROI so you will need to subscribe to the service in the UK and bring equipment with you. Don't bring the mini-dish. They are too small and a much larger dish is required.

 

On the east coast of Spain perfect, uninterrupted reception is particularly difficult requiring 5 and 6 metre dishes which are not feasible for the average person or his house. 1.5 metre dishes are adequate but you will lose some channels for an hour or so each day. The further west you go the smaller the dish you require. In Madrid, it is said that a one metre dish provides uninterrupted service of good quality. However, there are ways of receiving Sky and if you intend to move to Torrevieja, Benidorm or anywhere on the Costa Blanca, the local English paper will have full information. 

 

You will need between a 1.9 - 2.4 metre dish in Costa Blanca. Combined with a SKY box and fitting is around €1000, combined with the same monthly subscription charges you would pay in the UK. Sky Digital + is available from local suppliers at a premium who will assist in supplying a subscription card.

 

Choose your satellite dish supplier carefully as many companies have jumped on the bandwagon - Sept 08 and have imported low quality dishes. There are two type of dishes - single panel & multi segmented panel - usually 6 separate panels bolted together. Multi panel dishes are considerably more difficult to set up and any movement on any of the panel joins at any point will cause reception loss. A movement of 0.5mm on any of the panel joins can render the dish unuseable and no amount of setting up will fix this. This is not an issue with a single piece dish. A satellite dish must be perfectly concave as if it is not the signal will scatter and prove useless for reception.

Quite common now seems to be to get a relative in the UK to subscribe to a second box, sharing the cost of the entire subscription. The second box can be connected in the UK and then installed in Spain. All BBC and ITV broadcasts can be received from the Sky satellite. It is said that Sky intend to stop this method of receiving their broadcasts outside of the UK but as of yet nothing has happened and until equipment becomes a lot more sophisticated than it currently is, the situation is unlikely to change.

 

 

Many people located in Costa Blanca were using a small mesh dish of approx 1m2 to recieve English TV. This is a rebroadcast service offered by a number of companies including Telmicro, Torrestat as well as a few others. Recently Telmicro offices were raided by the guardia. This subject has been a bone of contention for SKY as well as other channels as technically rebroadcasting intellectual property rights without permission is illegal.

 

Spanish law has allowed the matter to continue, but much pressure has been applied by SKY television as well as other broadcasters. We do not wish to speculate at this stage the situation of such companies as Telmicro Levante as mixed information is being published and the full story has yet to unfold.

 

At time of writing Torrestat is broadcasting, but there is no guarantee as EU law could force closure of all of these type of companies.

 

 

 

Since August 2008, it is estmated between 60,000 - 100,000 expatriates have lost their UK programming through Telmicro. Many companies seem to have sprung up in local papers, forums and on the internet offering the cure. Most of these if not downright dishonest are blatant scams to try to deceive those who are desperate to get their TV back.

 

A number of companies have appeared offering a service re-routing your computers IP address - so it appears you are in the UK and then can download directly off websites such as the BBC (iplayer). These companies tend to use complex terminology to try to baffle people with technicalities or call it a completely different service.  

 

This is illegal as currently BBC (and the other major broadcasters) only have the right to broadcast the shown programs in the UK. Companies who are offering this service are breaking the law as well as charging a considerable sum of money. Additionally anyone wishing to use this type of service can do it considerably cheaper than these companies are offering by downloading relatively cheap software off the internet.

 

The BBC has stated that it will soon start BBC world iplayer service for expatriates abroad. Currently we have no release date.

 

Before you spend any further money on expensive set up costs - many companies that are still broadcasting are offering a similar service - however there is no guarantee that all of these rebroadcasting companies will be closed down in the near future. €500 for a new mesh rebroadcasting system will not guarantee you ongoing future viewing.

 

 

 

You will need a broadband internet connection and a computer.

 

There are a number of ways of receiving television on the internet. Many major TV stations now publish on www.youtube.co.uk  there are 1000's of internet general interest channels which can be viewed and downloaded for free with www.getmiro.com

 

www.uknova.com broadcasts the main UK programs soon as they are published on the internet by the TV stations - Coronation Street, Eastenders and everything else in between. You will need to download www.bitlord.com  (free) which assembles the downloaded programs (known as torrents).

 

Many UK TV stations now offer media players directly on their websites - such as BBC's iplayer, however these do not work (currently) outside the UK.  Software is available on the internet to change you IP address to appear it is in another country, such as the UK.

 

http://www.hide-my-ip.com/premium.shtml Please review the Is it legal? section below for further information on this matter.

 

If you are interested in Radio, there are many websites which broadcast worldwide radio for free.

 

 

 

Multimedia players are stand alone computer hard drives with decoding chips and video output to your television. Any television programs you download can be copied across to these devices, then plugged into your television and press play on the remote control (as you would with a DVD player). They are suitable for downloaded files for TV / Video as well as audio and digital pictures. Many of these have digital camera card slots, so you just plug in to view you digital camera photos on your television. At time of writing Multimedia players in Spain are available from €89.  

 

If you have a laptop many modern TV's have component out leads as well as svideo out. These allow you to watch whatever is on your computer - on the television. This would remove the need for a Multimedia player - though you do not have the convenience of a remote control or the simplicity of use of the Media player.

 

 

 

Slingbox is a device which connects directly to a UK Skybox and a broadband line. This signal can be sent out to any country in the world as long as you have a computer and a reasonable speed broadband connection (there is a speed test on their website).

 

You can also change channels on a UK skybox whilst in a foreign country as well as use all of SKY+ services. This is useful for those individuals who have family in the UK where you can buy an extra Skybox cheaply and access all the channels without affecting anyone elses viewing or paying an additional subscription. www.slingmedia.com

 

 

 

Most major broadcasting stations are now releasing programs simultaneously on the television as well as the internet. These can be downloaded as mentioned previously from the sites above. However downloading the latest films and music off the internet is generally considered to be illegal. The situation in Spain is currently unclear - related articles below.

 

 

(Daily Variety Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)
MADRID

A Spanish intellectual property law has finally banned unauthorized peer-to-peer file-sharing in Spain, making it a civil offense even to download content for personal use.

The legislation, approved by Congress on Thursday, toughens previous provisions. An early May circular from Spain's fiscal general del estado, or chief prosecutor, allowed downloads for purely personal use.

Now Spaniards caught grabbing content from, say, eMule, will have to reimburse rights holders for losses --- although such losses will be difficult for authorities to track.

But the government is going after Internet service providers; it's a criminal offense for ISPs to facilitate unauthorized downloading.

 

 

"The state prosecutor's office and two music distribution associations had sought a two year sentence against the man, who downloaded songs and then allegedly offered them on a CD through email and chat rooms. However, there was no direct proof he made money from selling the CDs. Justice Minister Juan Fernando Lopéz Aguilar says Spain is drafting a new law to abolish the existing right to private copies of material. Due to different regulatory regimes in Europe, the proceedings against file sharers differ greatly in each country. However, most European judges tend to take a harder stance on file sharing. Twenty two people in Finland were fined €427,000 last week for illegally sharing movies, music, games and software, while courts in Sweden also fined two men who had downloaded movies and music for personal use."

 

 

 

The associations of Internet users expect that the European Parliament decides against 'amendments torpedo'

The association of Internet Users have been informed today that a number of European organizations are mobilizing to users that the European Parliament decide on amendments known as torpedo, which include measures such as eliminating or reducing the speed of P2P and installation and enforcement of software on computers to detect alleged infringements of intellectual property.

The adoption of these amendments also supports cooperation between Internet providers and content producers to judge what content is legal and what not, and the obligation of service providers, to monitor and alert via e-mail to users when downloading illegal content.

 

According to the association, through a communique, the European Parliament will vote in the last week of September, the telecom package, and with it the amendments torpedo.The adoption of these supposed "cutting civil liberties, surveillance and censorship of the Internet" the Chinese style "and impersonation of the Judicial Authority by the interests of private companies."

 

Customers assured that the ideal is to reclaim the European Union rejection of these amendments and at the same time, demand a clear pronouncement in favorr of Net Neutrality, that only judges can decide on the legality of the content and favour that only judges can decide on the closure of a website.

 

 

 

The employer AETIC is analyzing the French model but not considered applicable in Spain in the short term

 

LUZ FERNÁNDEZ - Madrid - 04/07/2008 LIGHT Fernandez - El Pais

Proposals for the owners of the rights has focused on a system in which any of these associations could send a notification to the operator for this step to remove the illegal content."This goes against the Spanish legal system, and we have always denied such collaboration," says Edmundo Fernandez, director of Electronics Professional employers AETIC, involving all telecommunications companies in Spain.

 

"We are still waiting to return wanting to come to negotiate," says Fernandez, when asked about whether the audiovisual and music they have raised some proposals to the style of French policy against P2P networks, which cut access to the Internet those users who after three warnings continue downloading content.

 

AETIC acknowledges that is studying the model adopted by the government and that Sarkozy has also begun implementing a pilot of an operator in the UK. "It could create a similar mechanism that always had a public authority with powers controlled by a legal body," says Fernandez, que cree that despite everything, we should change the law and the Spanish community.

 

AETIC sees no clear that in the short term is going to take a measure of French-style warnings, as well as legal problems, we should assess the costs that can pose to call this mechanism put in place, in addition to the deterioration that would this measure for its brand.

 

Despite all the difficulties encountered by the call, AETIC insists that being analysed carefully the French model as a possible alternative to curb piracy on the Internet.
In this sense, the call want to make it clear that they are totally agree that it is very urgent to combat illegal content on the Internet, and ensure that piracy harms also prevents your business because they develop services based on the distribution of legal content.

 

"We put the pipe to pass water, but can not blame us if people put poison. We are blaming us when we supply pipe, but not the server from which provides that illegal content," insisted Fernandez

 

 

 

For around €70 you can obtain a freeview box and external ariel. As this is a digital service you are able to switch the language over to English on a few of the channels, usually for films and American produced shows. Available in Carrefour, Media Mkt and other electrical outlets.

 

Canal + offer a digital subscription service across Spain, again you can switch to English on many channels and they show many popular American TV channels as well as sport. http://www.plus.es They have English speaking representatives. Available in Carrefour.

 

  

Digital Broadcasts

All 5 BBC radio stations are broadcast digitally via the Sky satellite as is Virgin Radio, Classic FM and many more. If you want to stay in touch with your local radio station, even this is becoming possible now as more and more find their way onto the net and broadcast in streaming audio.

Set adjustments may be necessary

If you bring Sky decoders with you, British TV sets will work as they did in the UK. If you buy a Spanish TV, there is a possibility that whilst you will receive a good picture, there will be no sound. In fact, most modern TV sets are PAL multi standard and work on all broadcasts. If you wish to bring UK TV sets, you can have them converted for about £18 or so should this prove necessary.

 

TV Programming in Spain

TV magazines are in abundance with all programming listed and all English language newspapers have a TV column. It's worth having a teletext set in Spain as quite a lot of useful information is carried by all broadcasters.

If SPC is to build your house inland, we'll survey the land to see whether or not you can receive UK television, advising you of the situation before you buy. We'll also help with the installation of any equipment needed If you can't live without a hefty daily dose of television, you need have no concern in regard to living in Spain. All UK TV broadcasts are available via satellite as are many channels that most people are not even aware of.

Radio Broadcasts

The World service of the BBC can be received on a short wave radio but as mentioned above, most people use the Sky satellite to receive digital radio broadcasts. Digital radio, for which a digital radio receiver is required can also be received in Spain. Most areas of Spain where ex pats can be found have an English broadcasting radio station. Currently all that can be said about most of these is that they serve to keep their regular listeners regular!!

Most national and local radio stations can be received with perfect clarity via the internet although a broadband connection will be required.

Video hire in Spain is as abundant as it is in the UK with all films in the English and other European languages.