Satellite TV Update

[sws97sdg]

Update from the Euro weekly news here :- http://www.euroweeklynews.com/news/spain/item/118665-itv-and-channel-4-disappear-off-spanish-screens.

British viewers across many parts of Europe lost most of their satellite channels in the early hours of this morning.

ITV and Channel 4 have now joined the BBC channels on the new Astra 2E satellite, making them inaccessible to many areas in Spain and other parts of Europe.

According to the latest rumours, any remaining free channels will move within the next 48 hours as the Astra 1N satellite is due to move to a new position.

A new BBC Winter Olympics channel is being beamed from the Astra 2F satellite, which can ben received in most of Europe on Sky and Freesat channel 982.

Viewers with access to Spanish television can watch any programme in its original language, using the language button on the remote control; they may not have Eastenders or Corrie, but many other popular American and British series and films are available.

British viewers should visit or call their nearest Sky shop for more information regarding recent alternatives, such as IPTV. Certain areas such as the Costa Blanca and Mallorca should continue to receive a good signal on all free to view channels.

 

[Deanscroft]

Unfortunately this North corner of Mallorca is just the wrong place to be. Friends near Sa Pobla still have all channels using a 1.2m dish but here in the Port we have now lost all mainsteam UK channels except for the BBC RB2 and S4C!!!!

 

[sws97sdg]

Update from the Euro weekly news here :- ITV and Channel 4 disappear off Spanish screens - Euro Weekly News Spain.

Sorry Sparky, keep forgetting about including the link

 

[Sparky]

No worries SWS, we just have to be careful with copyright .

 

[Sparky]

A friend of mine has just posted this pic on FB, sorry but i couldn't resist sharing it with you. It's the "new size dish" you will need to get your Sky TV here in Mallorca .



New dish for sat/tv in mallorca. by lyn.sparkes, on Flickr

 

[lollipop]

We do still have ITV channels and also BBC from our community aerials. ITV is still via analogue unfortunately but heh ho. Also the picture does break up at the slightest drop of rain, but thankful for what the technician has managed to get us. Be ware that a certain tv engineer is asking for 1000 euro deposit just to put you on his waiting list for a new dish at 2000 euro when I've heard of others buying them for 900 plus the cost of mounting.

 

[fil6699]

We do still have ITV channels and also BBC from our community aerials. ITV is still via analogue unfortunately but heh ho. Also the picture does break up at the slightest drop of rain, but thankful for what the technician has managed to get us. Be ware that a certain tv engineer is asking for 1000 euro deposit just to put you on his waiting list for a new dish at 2000 euro when I've heard of others buying them for 900 plus the cost of mounting.

That is so bad wish you could name and shame. Do we even know if the 900 Euro plus Dish will work?

 

[Sparky]

At the moment it all seems to be the luck of the draw Fil, some people are getting channels back by just re-aligning the dish and replacing some cables. I don't have Sky so it really doesn't affect me but i think if i did i would wait a while until things calm down.

It is a shame that there is always someone ready to fleece people when they are having problems .

 

[lollipop]

It is apparently a 2m dish and yes works in the centre of the port , but as Sparky says it is a wait and see game as yesterday some people were able to get channels again. The advice in the DB on Tuesday was very helpful re ITV and does work even when BBC channels don't .

 

[alcanadakid]

Telefonica are offering an Android box which streams BBC, ITV and other programmes from the internet at a price of €175. The same thing can be bought on Amazon for £69.

 

[Deanscroft]

Does anyone have first hand knowledge as to whether these internet TV receivers will work out here? The uk channels are restricted access and will not work if you try to log on with a non-uk ISP address. Access is possible using a proxy server located in the uk but I do not know if it is possible to configure the internet tv receiver through a proxy server.

 

[alcanadakid]

Does anyone have first hand knowledge as to whether these internet TV receivers will work out here? The uk channels are restricted access and will not work if you try to log on with a non-uk ISP address. Access is possible using a proxy server located in the uk but I do not know if it is possible to configure the internet tv receiver through a proxy server.

If you look at the Telefonica site it is very definite that you can receive BBC legally but says not BBC iplayer. It also says a VPN is not required. Like you I am a little puzzled, but Telefonica make a big play of it in their advertising.

 

[Deanscroft]

Thanks for that Alcanada Kid.
I´ve had a look at the site and it appears that they are simply relaying the Filmon service. This is a free service that anyone can get by logging on to FILMON TV FREE LIVE TV MOVIES AND SOCIAL TELEVISION. I presume that the box provides a platform for it so you don´t need to use a computer for access. Whether or not it also provides an EPG I can´t tell. It could be a good alternative I would be interested to hear from anyone who decides to buy and try.
By the way - the company selling it are not part of telefonica. Telefonicainenglish is a separate company who are licensed to market telefonica/movistar products and services. I discovered this to my cost when I first arrived here and arranged my telephone line and broadband through them. They signed me up to a telefonica special offer that didn´t exist.

 

[its cd]

We hardly ever watch tv when in pp but as a standby I thought I would just use one of the ipad apps ..... Tvcatchup for example and connect ipad to TV via apple tv

Simple solution for very little cost ..... Even if you have to buy an apple tv they are only £99 and small enough to take back and forward in hand luggage if you want to make use of them at home ...... As this seems so simple to me I am now wondering if there is a flaw because no one else has mentioned it ......

Do the ipad apps still stream tv outside of the uk ? Or is that the flaw ?

 

[Deanscroft]

You would either need your own broadband service, use a wi-fi zone (which are often not fast enough to stream) or use mobile data roaming which would be extremely expensive.

 

[alcanadakid]

Thanks for that Alcanada Kid.
I´ve had a look at the site and it appears that they are simply relaying the Filmon service. This is a free service that anyone can get by logging on to FILMON TV FREE LIVE TV MOVIES AND SOCIAL TELEVISION. I presume that the box provides a platform for it so you don´t need to use a computer for access. Whether or not it also provides an EPG I can´t tell. It could be a good alternative I would be interested to hear from anyone who decides to buy and try.
By the way - the company selling it are not part of telefonica. Telefonicainenglish is a separate company who are licensed to market telefonica/movistar products and services. I discovered this to my cost when I first arrived here and arranged my telephone line and broadband through them. They signed me up to a telefonica special offer that didn´t exist.

I have ordered one from Amazon (£69) and will bring it out in a couple of weeks time. I also ordered a mini-keyboard (£13) to go with it as the reviewers said it was preferred although not essential.

We will see. (anyway it is more boy's toys to play with!)

 

[glentobay]

I was feeling smug yesterday!! We had lost the BBC and ITV channels due to re-alignment of satellites but we still had SKY programmes via a Digibox brought over from Escocia!! What happened yesterday? We had a power cut! The Digibox now has died!!! How do I get some English speaking TV now?

 

[whaleywanderer]

My solution for the time being at least; bearing in mind I have wifi installed in the apartment:

I have loaded the FilmOn app onto my Ipad, also a programme called 'British TV anywhere'.

With FilmOn I can watch most TV programmes for free, they also have a 'paid for' service which allows you to record programmes to their remote servers. I can then get the programmes from my Ipad onto the big TV using Apple TV, not always perfect but better than nothing.

With 'British TV Anywhere', a pay as you go programme, they list several UK IP addresses which, when you put into the VPN settings on the Ipad, allow you to watch ITV player, BBC IPlayer, etc. these don't always transfer onto the big screen (don't know why!) but are watchable on the Ipad. I have opted for an initial 6.49€ which will last for 1 month, when hopefully I will have found a more permanent solution.

I'm certainly not rushing into anything as there are other solutions appearing daily to help us get our UK TV fix.

 

[Nick]

This is all getting so complicated. What are the bars doing then? I assume they're all showing football on Sky? How are they doing that?

 

[sws97sdg]

Via Estonia!