There is far more available for free, take a look at the many TV channels available worldwide through IPTV or on satellite.
This section is in constantly being updated, if you know of any interesting stations, please drop me a line with as much information as possible including satellite frequencies or iptv links and any screenshots that may be used.
American TV
The orbital position of the direct-to-home satellites for North America means that they cannot be received with domestic satellite equipment around the World, they can be received in some countries neighboring the United States, such as Canada, Mexico and some areas of the Caribbean. In most cases, taking your American satellite equipment and subscription overseas, is not an option.
In most English speaking countries, American films and programs are broadcast on local TV, in many other countries they are dubbed in the local language.
A few American channels can be received in most areas of the world, CNN, the Voice Of America (VOA) and FOX News (subscription channel).
If you live outside the United States and want to access American TV or their websites, you will find most live streams and VOD (Video On Demand) content geographical blocked (Geoblocked).
This is used by websites like Hulu.com, Netflix.com, CBS.com, ABC.com and NBC.com, there is of course a solution to this, a Virtual Private Network (VPN).
A US VPN will allow you to browse the Internet with a US IP address and give you access to the major US networks.
There are also many sites offering US channels for a price, although many do offer a good service, take care if you decide to subscribe to one of these services.
German TV
There is a wide selection of Free-To-Air German channels available on Astra 19.2° East and a few are also available on Eutelsat Hot Bird 13° East.
While there are a number of HD channels available for free, mainly from ARD and ZDF, most HD channels are part of the HD+ package.
That said virtually all standard definition channels, and there are many, remain Free-To-Air (FTA). There are even some channels which are behind the pay wall in the UK, available for free to German viewers, these include Eurosport Deutschland, Disney Channel, Nickleodeon and Comedy Central, of course all in German with no English soundtrack available.
German television reception becomes more difficult the farther away geographically you are from Germany and Europe. However, the Internet is playing an ever increasing role in the distribution of TV and radio programmes around the globe. An Internet option may therefore be the only option for those living outside of Europe.
In most areas of Europe, satellite reception offers the best and cheapest option for watching German TV or listening to the many free German radio stations.
French TV
Free French language TV and radio is easy to receive in most areas of Europe. That said most French, Belgium and Swiss TV is encrypted.
There are however quite a few French language channels broadcasting free-to-air and there also many French radio stations available for free.
Unfortunately these services are spread around three main satellites, so be prepared to have a nulti-satellite setup to receive all of these for free.
Another option would be to obtain a French Fransat receiver from France, this would be a good option for those restricted from setting up more than one satellite dish.
Asian TV in Europe
There are millions of Asians living throughout Europe, from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, the Philipines, Thailand Vietnam and many more.
There are many free-to-air channels available in most areas of Europe catering for the many Asian nationalities scattered throughout the European continent.
For Indians and Pakistanis, most channels are broadcast from the Astra 2 satellites positioned at 28.2° east. This the the primary position for satellite broadcasts for the British Isles.
This is also where the largest communities of Indians and Pakistanis live, so most broadcast from this orbital position.
