News Channels

There are many English language news channels available for free on satellite and online, most UK viewers rely on BBC News and Sky News for the majority of the news needs.
There are many other channels available, with a very different focus on world events.
Listed below are known free to air news and information channels, only European satellites are listed, many of these channels are available in other areas on satellite or globally through live streams.
If you know of any English language channels not listed, please contact the site to have them included.

Al Jazeera English

Al Jazeera launched an English language channel, originally called Al Jazeera International, in 2006. Among its staff were journalists hired from ABC’s Nightline and other top news outfits. Josh Rushing, a former media handler for CENTCOM during the Iraq war, agreed to provide commentary; David Frost was also on board.
In an interesting technical feat, the broadcast of the new operation was handed off between bases in Doha, London, Washington, D.C., and Kuala Lumpur on a daily cycle.

The new English language venture faced considerable regulatory and commercial hurdles in the North America market for its perceived sympathy with extremist causes.
At the same time, others felt Al Jazeera’s competitive advantage lay in programming in the Arabic language. There were hundreds of millions of potential viewers among the non-Arabic language speaking Muslims in Europe and Asia, and many others who might be interested in seeing news from the Middle East read by local voices.

Availability
Al Jazeera can also be freely viewed on satellite in Europe, Northern Africa and the Middle East as it is broadcast on the Astra 1M, Eutelsat Hot Bird 13A, Eutelsat 10A, Badr 4, Turksat 2A, Thor 6, Nilesat 102, Hispasat 1C and Eutelsat 28A satellites.

The Optus C1 satellite in Australia carries the channel for free and is available at no extra charge to all subscribers to Australia’s Foxtel pay-TV service.

Editorial Independence
Al Jazeera is owned by the government of Qatar. While Al Jazeera officials have stated that they are editorially independent from the government of Qatar,this assertion has been disputed.

Website: www.aljazeera.com
Website: http://america.aljazeera.com
Live Stream: www.aljazeera.com/watch_now/

Satellite Frequencies (FTA only):

Astra 2F at 28.2°East
Frequency: 12.633 Horizontal
SR: 22000
FEC: 5/6
DVB-S/MPEG-2
Beam: European

Astra 1KR at 19.2°E
Frequency: 11.509 Vertical
SR: 22000
FEC: 5/6
DVB-S/MPEG-2
Beam: European

Eutelsat Hot Bird 13D at 13.0°E
Frequency: 11.034 Vertical
SR: 27500
FEC: 3/4
DVB-S/MPEG-2
Beam: Wide (Europe, North Africa, Middle East)

Thor 5 at 0.8°W
Frequency: 12.418 V DVB-S
SR: 28000
FEC7/8
DVB-S/MPEG-2
Beam: T2 (Europe & North Africa)

BBC News

BBC News is the BBC’s 24-hour rolling news television network in the United Kingdom. In May 2007 the channel became available for UK viewers to view through the BBC News website through a live stream.
Each hour consists of headlines on each quarter hour, extended at the top of the hour to form the main part of the daily schedule though these are interspaced with other programmes, generally at weekends. This will be often be displaced by rolling news coverage including reports and live interviews. Weather summaries are provided every half hour by forecasters from the BBC Weather Centre while business and sports updates are also presented generally from within the main studio.

Between 01:00 and 06:00 UK Time (UKT) the channel simulcasts with its sister channel, BBC World News, for the first 25 minutes of each hour with world news shown all through the simulcasts. Since 21 April 2008, the overnight bulletins, while produced by the BBC News Channel, have usually been broadcast from the studios of BBC World News.

BBC News HD
BBC News HD is available on Freeview, Freesat, Sky and cable.
See the BBC News website for more information.

Satellite Frequencies (FTA only)

Astra 2E at 28.2°E
Frequency: 10.818 Vertical (SD)
SR: 22000
FEC: 5/6
DVB-S/MPEG-2
Beam: UK Spotbeam

Astra 2F at 28.2°E
Frequency: 11.023 Horizontal (HD)
SR: 23000
FEC: 2/3
DVB-S2/MPEG-4 8PSK
Beam: UK Spotbeam

BBC Parliament
BBC Parliament is a television channel from the BBC. Its remit is to make accessible to all the work of the parliamentary and legislative bodies of the United Kingdom and the European Parliament. It broadcasts live and recorded coverage of the House of Commons and House of Lords, Select Committees of the UK Parliament, the three devolved assemblies, being the Scottish Parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Welsh Assembly, and occasionally from the General Synod of the Church of England. The channel also broadcasts reports from the European Parliament and the yearly party conferences of the main UK political parties and the Trades Union Congress.

Whenever the House of Commons is in session, BBC Parliament covers the chamber live. Additionally, the House of Lords is shown on the channel on the same day and following day when it in session, in sections that fit around the Commons. Whenever both Houses are in recess, but a devolved assembly is constituted, the channel will provide live coverage of its work.

Thus, when taken together with both live and recorded coverage from the other bodies it covers, BBC Parliament’s schedule is dominated by direct broadcasts of the legislative and political institutions – whether they be plenary, quasi-plenary (such as Westminster Hall), or in committees – that affect British public life. However, BBC Parliament shows a variety of other recorded programmes, taken from across the BBC’s national and international channels. The channel also carries some American programming from C-SPAN.

See the BBC Parliament website for more information.

Satellite Frequency

Astra 2E at 28.2°E
Frequency: 10.788 Vertical
SR: 22000
FEC: 5/6
DVB-S/MPEG-2
Beam: UK Spotbeam

BBC World News

BBC World News is the BBC’s international news and current affairs television channel. It has the largest audience of any BBC channel in the world.
The channel broadcasts for 24-hours with television programming including BBC News bulletins, documentaries, lifestyle programmes and interviews. It employs more correspondents, reporters, and international bureaus than any other news channel. Unlike the BBC’s domestic channels, BBC World News is owned and operated by BBC Global News Ltd, a member of the BBC’s commercial group of companies and is funded by subscription and advertising revenues, not funded by the licence fee. It is not owned by BBC Worldwide.

The channel is transmitted by Red Bee Media from their playout suite in the Broadcast Centre within the BBC Media Village, part of the BBC White City, in White City, West London.
Live news output originates from studios B and C in Broadcasting House with some pre-recorded programming from Broadcasting House studio A and the BBC Millbank studio.

The BBC World News newsroom is now part of the new consolidated BBC Newsroom in Broadcasting House along with BBC World Service and UK domestic News services.
The channel is not officially available as a stand-alone, full-time channel in the United Kingdom, on the grounds that it carries and is funded by advertising. BBC World News can be easily received in the UK due to its ‘free-to-air’ status on many European satellite systems.

For more information see:
BBC World News Site
BBC World News on Facebook
BBC World News on Twitter
BBC World News TV

Satellite Frequencies (FTA only)

Astra 1KR at 19.2° East
BBC World News Europe (HD)
Transponder 2 – 11,229 Vertical
SR: 22000
FEC 3/4
Beam: Europe

Eutelsat Hot Bird 13A at 13.0° East
BBC World News Europe
Frequency: 12.597 Vertical
SR: 27500
FEC 3/4
Beam: European Wide beam

Thor 6 at 0.8° West
BBC World News Europe
Frequency: 10.778 Horizontal
SR: 24500
FEC: 7/8
Beam: Thor K1

Hispasat 1E at 30.0°W
BBC World News Europe
Frequency: 11.771 Vertical
SR: 27500
FEC: 2/3
Beam: Europe

Bloomberg Europe

Bloomberg Television is an American-based international cable and satellite business news television channel owned by Bloomberg L.P.
It is distributed globally, reaching over 310 million homes worldwide.
It is primarily headquartered in New York City, with European headquarters in London (Bloomberg Europe) and Asian headquarters in Hong Kong (Bloomberg Asia).

Connecting decision makers to a dynamic network of information, people and ideas, Bloomberg quickly and accurately delivers business and financial information, news and insight around the world.

Website: www.bloomberg.com

Live Streams (Asia, Europe & US): www.bloomberg.com/live
Live Bloomberg Radio Stream: www.bloomberg.com/radio
All you need to watch Bloomberg TV or listen to Bloomberg Radio is the latest version of Flash.

Satellite Frequencies (FTA only):

Eutelsat 28A at 28.5°E
Frequency: 11426 Vertical
SR: 27500
FEC: 2/3
DVB-S/MPEG-2
Beam: Super (Europe & North Africa)

Astra 1L at1 9.2°E
Frequency: 11.597 Vertical
Frequency: 22000
FEC: 5/6
DVB-S/MPEG-2
Beam Europe

Eutelsat Hot Bird 13D at 13.0°E
Frequency: 11.137 Horizontal
SR: 27500
FEC: 3/4
DVB-S/MPEG-2
Beam: Wide (Europe, North Africa & the Middle East)

Eutelsat 9A at 9.0°E
Frequency: 11.785 Horizontal
SR: 27500
FEC: 2/3
DVB-S2/MPEG-2 8PSK
Beam: Wide (Europe, North Africa & the Middle East)

CNBC Europe

CNBC Europe is a business and financial news television channel which airs across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
The station is based in London, where it shares the Adrian Smith-designed 10 Fleet Place building with Dow Jones & Company. Along with CNBC Asia, the channel is operated by the Singapore-headquartered CNBC subsidiary company CNBC International, which is in turn wholly owned by NBCUniversal.

As the most viewed pan-European financial TV channel according to the 2010 EMS survey, the broadcaster reaches over 100 million households across the continent. CNBC Europe produces or co-produces 7 hours of live programming each weekday, along with reports and content for its global sister stations and the outlets of NBC News.

In addition to its own programming, CNBC Europe also broadcasts live much of the business day programming from CNBC U.S.. Squawk on the Street, Fast Money Half Time Report, Power Lunch, Street Signs and Closing Bell are all broadcast in their entirety.
Squawk Box is shown in full right across Europe. However, when CNBC Europe broadcasts its coverage of the monthly announcements of the UK and European Central Bank lender rates only the 8 am to 8.30am ET segment of Squawk Box is shown on CNBC Europe on that day. Squawk Alley is not shown because it clashes with European Closing Bell.
CNBC HD is also available free-to-air at 28.2° East.

Website: www.cnbc.com
Website: www.cnbc.com/id/15838668 (Europe)

CNC World

CNC World is a 24-hour global English-language news channel, launched on July 1, 2010. It is 51% owned by the China Xinhua News Network Corporation, and 49% by private investors, including Chinese home appliances maker Gree.

CNC World’s mission is to provide comprehensive coverage of world affairs while explaining matters of direct concern to the Chinese leadership in a perspective its producers consider appropriate.

The venture is part of Beijing’s effort to “present an international vision with a Chinese perspective,” Xinhua President Li Congjun said at the press conference announcing the launch of CNC World.

Xinhua intends to build a newsroom in New York on top of a skyscraper in Times Square to provide CNC World with prominent exposure in the United States.

CNC World launched on the Sky satellite television platform in the United Kingdom and Ireland on July 21, 2011, from Eutelsat 28A.

CNN International

CNN International (CNNI) is an international English language cable, satellite, IPTV and digital terrestrial television channel that is owned by the Turner Broadcasting System division of Time Warner. The channel carries news, current affairs, politics, sports, opinions, features and business programming worldwide; it cooperates with parent network CNN’s national and international news bureaus.

CNN International is available in most countries, its international reach includes more than 200 million households and hotel rooms in over 200 countries. For most viewers, it is free-to-air, though some pay television providers include it in their programming packages, or issue a virtual channel to the FTA version on the same satellite.

There are six variants of CNN International:
CNN International Asia Pacific, based in Hong Kong SAR,
CNN International Europe/Middle East/Africa, based in London, England
CNN International Latin America, based in Atlanta, Georgia, USA
CNN International Middle East, based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
CNN International North America, based in Atlanta, Georgia, USA
CNN International South Asia, based in New Delhi, India

The schedules of the different regional versions no longer differ significantly from each other, though there are still minor variations such as weather updates and show airtimes.
CNN has reported that it’s broadcast agreement in mainland China includes an arrangement that its signal must pass through a Chinese-controlled satellite. With this method of transmission, Chinese authorities have been able to black out CNNI segments at will.
CNN has also said that its broadcasts are not widely available in mainland China, only in certain diplomatic compounds, hotels, and apartment blocks.

Website: http://edition.cnn.com

Deutsche Welle

DW-TV is a set of television channels provided by Deutsche Welle. The channels concentrate on news and information and first started broadcasting 1 April 1992.
DW Europe) broadcasts 18 hours in English and 6 hours in German.
DW-TV is broadcast globally via the satellites AsiaSat 3S, Insat, Nilesat 102, Atlantic Bird 3, Hot Bird 13B, AMC-1 and Intelsat 9.
DW-TV is also available on a live Internet stream.

English language programming on DW-TV:

Global 3000 (covers globalization)
Made in Germany (German business magazine-style show)
Bundesliga Kick Off! (football)
Drive It!
Motor Mobil
Arts.21 (culture)
Ideas for a Cooler World
Discover Germany (travel)
Euromaxx (lifestyle)
Germany Today
Talking Germany
Shift
European Journal
Journal News (news)
People & Politics
Tomorrow Today

Website: www.dw.de
Live Stream: www.dw.de/media-center/live-tv/s-100825/channel/

Euronews

Euronews is a multilingual news television channel, headquartered in Lyon-Écully, France. Created in 1993, it aims to cover world news from a pan-European perspective.
As a rolling-news channel, headlines from both Europe as well as the world are broadcast in thirty-minute intervals. Brief magazine segments typically fill in the remaining schedule, focusing on market data, financial news, sports news, art and culture, science, weather, European politics, and press reviews of the major European newspapers.

These item slots will occasionally be preempted by breaking news or live television coverage. Some segments are displayed without commentary under the banner “No Comment”, which has been the channel’s signature program since its launch.

The channel is available in 350 million households in 155 countries worldwide. It reaches more than 170 million European households by cable, satellite and terrestrial. It also began to secure availability on multimedia platforms such as IPTV and digital media.

Euronews has received criticism for a perceived bias towards the European Commission which provides a significant part of the channel’s funding.

Website: http://www.euronews.com
Live Stream: http://www.euronews.com/news/streaming-live/

France 24 English

France 24 (France Vingt-quatre) is an international news and current affairs television channel based in Paris. Its stated mission is to “cover international current events from a French perspective and to convey French values throughout the world.” It started broadcasting on 6 December 2006.

The service is aimed at the overseas market and is broadcast through satellite and cable operators throughout the world. During 2010 the France 24 channel started broadcasting through its own iPhone app.

Based in Issy-les-Moulineaux in the suburbs of Paris, the channel broadcasts world news. Currently, it offers variants in English and Arabic in addition to French.
The channel has since 2008 been wholly owned by the French government (via its holding company, l’Audiovisuel extérieur de la France (AEF)), having acquired the remaining shares held by its former partners Groupe TF1 and France Télévisions.
Its budget is approximately €100 million per year.

France 24 is available by satellite in most of Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.
The French, English, and Arabic channels are all available live on the France 24 website, broadcast en direct (live) in Adobe Flash Video format.

Website: www.france24.com
Live Stream: www.france24.com/en/how-to-watch-on-tv/

i24news

i24news is an international 24-hour news and current affairs television channel based in Jaffa Port, Tel Aviv, Israel. It broadcasts in English, French and Arabic. The channel’s owner is Patrick Drahi, and the CEO is Frank Melloul, who previously played a critical role in establishing the French 24-hour news channel France 24. Lucy Aharish is one of the channel’s leading anchors.

Melloul has stated that one of his goals for the station is to change the international “point of view about Israel.” Although the station receives no funding from the Israeli government, Melloul has said that i24 will battle prejudice against, and ignorance about Israel with facts and “diversity.”

i24news is currently only available outside of Israel. It is offered in France (including West Indies), Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Poland and Africa. The channel is also streamed live on its website in all three languages. Patrick Drahi has asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to allow i24news to be broadcast in Israel.

Website: www.i24news.tv
Live Stream: http://www.i24news.tv/en/tv/live

Press TV

Press TV (PRESSTV) is a 24-hour English language news organization of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB).
IRIB is state-owned, though independent of the Iranian government in its management.PressTV headquarters are located in Tehran, Iran, Press TV’s slogan is “News from a New View”.
Press TV broadcasts in HD from Hotbird at 13.0° East.

The network’s official vision is “to heed the voices and perspectives of the people of the world; build bridges of cultural understanding; encourage human beings of different nationalities, races and creeds to identify with one another; bring to light untold and overlooked stories of individuals who have experienced political and cultural divides firsthand.”

Press TV is state-funded and is a division of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB).
IRIB is independent of the Iranian government, though is said to be close to the country’s conservative political faction, especially the elite Revolutionary Guards.
Its head is appointed directly by the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The annual budget of Press TV is 250 billion rials (more than US$8.3 million).

Website: www.presstv.com

RT (Russia Today) is a Russian state-funded television network which runs cable and satellite television channels, as well as Internet content directed to audiences outside the Russian Federation.

RT International, which is based in Moscow, presents around-the-clock news bulletins, documentaries, talk shows, and debates, as well as sports news and cultural programs about Russia.

RT operates as a multilingual service with channels in three languages; the original English language channel was launched in 2005. The Arabic language Rusiya Al-Yaum was launched in 2007, while its Spanish language channel RT Actualidad was launched in 2009.
RT America (since 2010), and RT UK (since 2014) offer some locally based content for those countries.

RT is a brand of “TV-Novosti”, an “autonomous non-profit organization”, founded by the Russian news agency RIA Novosti on April 6, 2005.

RT has been called a propaganda outlet for the Russian government and its foreign policy,by former Russian officials, and by news reporters, including former RT reporters.

It has also been accused of spreading disinformation.
The United Kingdom media regulator Ofcom has threatened RT with sanctions because of repeated violations of its rules on impartiality.
The network states that RT offers a Russian perspective on global events.

Website: http://rt.com

Live Streams:
http://rt.com/on-air (RT News)
http://rt.com/on-air/rt-uk-air (RT UK)
http://rt.com/on-air/rt-america-air (RT USA)

RT Documentary

RT Documentary (RTD, styled as RTД) is a documentary channel presented in both the English and Russian languages.[1] The television channel was launched on 23 June 2011 by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev who visited RT’s studio in Moscow,[1] and deals with a wide variety of topics including Russian culture and life in Russia. The channel shows documentaries mostly on Russia but also from around the globe.

The channel is available as a free-to-air channel on Eutelsat Hot Bird. The Russian government has not erected any legal restrictions on the worldwide distribution of the channel as a live video stream via the internet. The channel is live streamed off of RT’s main website along with the other RT video streams.

Website: http://rtd.rt.com
Live Stream: http://rtd.rt.com/on-air

RTÉ News Now

RTÉ News Now is a 24-hour news television network in the Republic of Ireland operated by Irish public service broadcaster RTÉ. The channel launched as RTÉ News Now available exclusively online on June 12, 2008.

The channel is available in Ireland and globally online, on mobile phones and an iPhone/iPad application is also widely available free.
The channel is operated by RTÉ’s department RTÉ News and Current Affairs.

The channel regularly simulcasts live news bulletins and current affairs programmes as they are broadcast on RTÉ One and/or RTÉ Two. The remaining programming on the channel serves as a replay service of the most recent news, sport and weather bulletins, the streaming of raw feeds of breaking news stories and ‘filler’ programmes such as ‘news headlines’.
The channel also airs the latest breaking news stories in Ireland and around the world.

Website: www.rte.ie/news
Live Stream: www.rte.ie/news/player/live/7/

Sky News

Sky News is a 24-hour British and international satellite television news service with an emphasis on UK and international news stories.
The television service places emphasis on rolling news, including the latest breaking news. Sky News is a content provider for news services in the UK and around the world.

In addition to the domestic television channel, Sky News UK also hosts localised versions of the channel: Sky News Australia and Sky News Arabia.

Sky News UK is also offered in an international version without the British adverts under the name Sky News International available in Europe, Africa, Asia and the United States.

It operates Sky News Radio which provides news for all commercial radio stations in the UK, many of them as the news provider for Independent Radio News (IRN). Sky News also provides content for Yahoo! News and is available on Apple TV, and Roku.

Sky News International
Sky News is also shown internationally, under the name Sky News International, and can often be seen in hotels as well as being offered by some cable and satellite providers as part of their English-language line-up.

The international version is shown as free-to-air on Astra 1L at 19.2° east. It is also carried encrypted on a number of satellites for international reception–including but not limited to Hot Bird, Nilesat, Amos 1 and Intelsat 10-02. It is also usually carried on cable systems in Europe, particularly in Northern Europe.

Website: http://news.sky.com
For more information see: Sky News

TRT World

TRT World is a TV channel serving as the international branch of the state-owned Turkish Radio and Television Corporation.
TRT World started test broadcasts on 18 May 2015 on beta.trtworld.com and became fully operational on June 30, 2015. The channel is available on two satellites, Türksat 3A and Eutelsat 7A, the channel is also available via a live broadcast on the website.
The Channel tries to serve news through a humanitarian perspective.TRT also owns 15.70% of Euronews, pan-European oriented news channel. It is available 24 hours a day in English and in high definition.

TRT World, audiences can expect balanced, in depth reporting with a focus on global responsibility. Headquartered in Istanbul, with four newsrooms located around the world, TRT World brings news coverage 24 hours a day, seven days a week. TRT World brings viewers live reports and documentaries.
Online, you will find articles and vodcasts, which means you can take the news with you on the go.

Website: www.trtworld.com
Live Stream: www.trtworld.com/live

TRT World is available on the following satellites:

Eutelsat 7A at 7.0°E
Transponder: D10
Frequency: 11.668
Polarization: Vertical
SR: 30000
FEC: 5/6
Modulation: QPSK
Spotbeam: Europe B