Astra 2 – British TV & Radio in the UK & Overseas
Welcome to the Astra 2 website, for information news and advice on everything connected to British television and radio. With the BBC at its core, the UK produces some of the world’s best television, exporting programmes and films worldwide.
Most British TV and radio channels broadcast on satellite, many including the five main terrestrial channels are free-to-air (FTA).
It is now possible to watch your local or regional channels where ever you live in the British Isles and now with live streaming potentially worldwide (most UK channels require a UK ip address).
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There are three main platforms for free TV in the UK:
1. Sky (BSkyB), the largest subscription satellite service in the UK and the Republic of Ireland, offering the largest HD line-up, the best sports coverage and the latest films.
There are also many FTA channels available on Sky.
2. Freeview is the UK’s free-to-air digital terrestrial platform, with up to 50 TV channels without a subscription. Freeview broadcasts channels in HD using DVB-T2 and MPEG4 (Freeview HD).
3. Freesat is a digital satellite TV service from the BBC and ITV which launched in May 2008, to watch you will need a Freesat or Freesat+ receiver, a satellite dish and ideally an HD-ready TV.
There are no more on-going monthly subscription costs
Astra 2E at 28.2° East
Astra 2E is fully operational and carrying channels from the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Sky on the satellites UK spotbeam.
Migration from Astra 2A to Astra 2E Pan European beam has been completed.
BBC services were moved from Astra 1N to Astra 2E’s UK spotbeam during the early hours of Thursday February 6, 2014.
ITV and Channel 4 services moved to Astra 2E on Tuesday February 11, 2014.
TV viewers outside the UK and Ireland may not be able to receive channels from Astra 2E’s UK Spot Beam, which has a smaller footprint than Astra 1N and Astra 2D (no longer in service).
The new footprint on SES’ replacement fleet has been designed to meet the requirements of UK and Irish broadcasters who target their channels for distribution in the UK and/or Ireland.
See Astra 2E for more information.
See the Astra 2E Reception Reports Map
Astra 2F at 28.2° East
Astra 2F is fully operational and carrying channels from the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Sky on the satellites UK spotbeam.
Due to the tight footprint, reception issues for UK channels have been reported in some areas of mainland Europe.
Overseas viewers may have to upgrade their dish to receive Astra 2F, Astra 2E and Astra 2G are expected to have identical coverage .
Reception reports suggest that the UK spotbeam is very tight with a very sharp fall off to the west and east of the footprint.
Eastern Spain and areas of Scandinavia seems to be getting a higher signal strength, possibly due to the off-axis beam as 28.2°E on the geostationary arc is not directly in line with the UK but offset to the east.
See Astra 2F for more information.
The Astra 2 Forum
The Astra 2 Website also has its own Forum; here you can discuss everything related to British TV and radio.
There are also country specific boards, making it easier to find information, or obtain advice and real local knowledge and advice from other forum members.
The Forum has specific areas covering digital platforms, equipment, and reception overseas.
Sky, covering standard Sky receivers along with Sky+ and Sky+HD
Freesat, the free-to-air public service platform from the BBC and ITV, get help and advice on receivers and reception.
Freeview the free-to-air digital terrestrial platform.
TV & radio on the Internet, both in the UK and overseas.
Registration is free and is required to post on the forum.
Visit the Astra 2 Forum
Sky Television
Sky (BSkyB), is the largest subscription satellite service in the UK and the Republic of Ireland. With over 9 million subscribers, Sky delivers more than 200 channels of programming to homes and businesses that have digital satellite equipment supplied by Sky; this equipment includes a small satellite dish (minidish), and a Sky receiver.
There are currently three types of Sky receiver available, the basic digital receive, Sky+, which will enable you to record and store programmes and Sky+HD, which is also a PVR and will allow you to view High Definition (HD) channels available on Sky. All new subscribers will be offered a Sky+HD receiver as standard equipment.
Sky also offers packages that include broadband services, interactive content and has the largest HD offering in the UK and Ireland.
There are also many free-to-air (FTA) channels available on the Sky platform; these include all the main terrestrial channels from the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 and Channel 5.
Sky also offers a non-subscription service called Freesat from Sky; some channels on this service are encrypted, requiring a card to open for the free-to-view (FTV) channels.
There are only a few channels which require a card for Freesat from Sky; these include 4Music, LFC TV, Motors TV, Sony Entertainment Television and the Sony Movie Channel.
Freesat from the BBC & ITV
Freesat is a free-to-air digital satellite television joint venture between the BBC and ITV plc., serving the United Kingdom, though the service can be received overseas.
The service was marketed from 6 May 2008 and offers a satellite alternative to the Freeview service on digital terrestrial television, with a selection of channels available without subscription for users purchasing a receiver.
The service also makes use of the additional capacity available on digital satellite broadcasting to offer a selection of high-definition programming from the BBC and ITV. Channel 4HD will join the Freesat platform on April 1 2011.
A VOD (Video on Demand) version of BBC iPlayer is available on Freesat channel 901, you can catch up on the last seven days of BBC programmes.
ITV Player is also available on Freesat HD receivers.
4oD and Demand 5 are also available, though only on Freesat <freetime> receivers.
Freesat broadcasts from the same fleet of satellites (Astra 28.2°E and Eutelsat 28A) as Sky. Channels are broadcast using DVB-S and DVB-S2.
The Freesat electronic programme guide is broadcast from the Eutelsat 28A satellite situated at 28.5° east. Freesat’s role is not broadcasting or availability of channels, although the BBC and ITV are substantial broadcasters in their own right, instead providing a platform for receiving the channels and the EPG.
Freeview
Freeview is the free-to-air digital television service broadcast from terrestrial transmitters using the DVB-T and DVB-T2 standards. Launched on October 30, 2002 at 6am, it took over the DTT licence to broadcast on four multiplexes, three of them from the defunct ITV Digital (originally called ONdigital).
Unlike ITV Digital and the cable and satellite digital TV services, it offers no premium or pay-per-view channels, and no subscription channels.
A set-top box costing around £30 to £100 or a new television with an integrated digital tuner is needed to receive the Freeview service.
The Freeview consortium’s founding members were the BBC, National Grid Wireless and British Sky Broadcasting.
They were joined by ITV plc. and Channel 4 on 11 October 2005. The service broadcasts free-to-air television channels, radio stations and interactive services from the BBC, Sky, and various other broadcasters.
Freeview HD officially launched in 2010, the service currently offers four HD channels, BBC One HD, BBC Two HD, ITV HD and Channel 4HD, Freesat HD uses the MPEG4/DVB-T2 standard.
More DVB-T2 services will started in 2013, the BBC are broadcasting BBC Three, BBC Four, BBC News, CBBC and CBeebies in HD.
Recording programmes with Freeview+ is really easy – most devices have an EPG (electronic programme guide) which allows you to select the programme you want to record from a TV guide on your screen.
TV & Radio Online
Most of the UK’s television and radio channels are available online, there are many ways to watch and listen, through your computer, directly on your TV or in the case of online radio stations, through an Internet radio.
The BBC and ITV broadcasts all of their television channels on live Internet streams, these broadcasts are only a few seconds behind the terrestrial and satellite broadcasts.
The quality is not perfect, though it is quite watchable either on your computer screen, or through you television via a HDMI, SCART or other A/V cables.
Most computers have some option to connect to external devices, see you computers and TV’s user manuals for more information.
All of ITV’s channels are available as live streams; all the channels are restricted to UK IP addresses only. Picture quality is quite good even on a large screen. Channel 4 and Channel5, do not currently stream their channels.
Channel 4 offers live streams for all of their channels, Channel 4, E4, More4, 4Seven, Film4 and 4Music, all are restricted to UK IP addresses only. Picture quality is quite good even on a large screen.
All of the BBC’s national, local and regional stations along with the BBC World Service, are available to listen to live on the internet (rights permitting), with appropriate media player software. Listen live on BBC iPlayer.
It is also possible to listen to BBC Radio services via the internet without having to log on to a computer. The easiest way to do this is via a WiFi or Internet Radio.
Most of the UK’s national, regional and local commercial stations offer live streams on their websites. Since 2006, many of the UK’s commercial radio stations have been restricting live stream access to users from the United Kingdom only.
Video on Demand (VOD) or audio video on demand (AVOD) systems allow users to select and watch/listen to video or audio content on demand.
VOD systems either stream content through a set-top box, allowing viewing in real time, or download it to a device such as a computer, digital video recorder, personal video recorder or portable media player for viewing at any time.
Get a UK VPN from StreamVia
Radio in the U.K.
The BBC today runs ten national domestic radio stations, five of which are only available in a digital format: via DAB, the Internet on Freeview and on digital satellite, on both Sky and Freesat.
There are over 270 independent local radio (ILR) analogue services and 46 local digital multiplexes carrying over 200 radio services.
The UK currently has the world’s biggest digital radio network, with 103 transmitters, with two national DAB ensembles and forty eight local and regional DAB ensembles broadcasting over 250 commercial and 34 BBC radio stations across the UK. In London, there are already more than 51 different digital stations available.
In addition to DAB, radio stations are also broadcast on digital television platforms, Digital Radio Mondiale on FM, AM, LW and SW.
Almost all radio services are free-to-air, and most online stations are not restricted to UK IP addresses, so you can listen wherever you are.
Listen online with Radioplayer, the online audio player which gives you access to live, on demand and podcast radio from hundreds of stations in the UK.
Radioplayer is a not for profit company founded by the BBC, Global Radio, Guardian Media Group, Absolute Radio and RadioCentre to serve radio and its audiences by making listening easy.