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| British TV & Radio |
The Astra 2D satellite positioned at 28.2° east, has a footprint focused tightly on the British Isles, making reception difficult in large areas of mainland Europe.
Most of the transponders are used to provide television services available on the Sky platform to the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland and the non-subscription service, Freesat. Although the satellite's beam is tightly focused on the United Kingdom and Ireland, surrounding countries have the ability to pick the signal up (dependent on suitably sized satellite dishes).
However some channels on 2D are encrypted with Videoguard and only Sky receivers with valid cards, can decode these channels.
The BBC broadcasts all of its domestic television channels, including BBC HD from the Astra 2D satellite, the only exceptions being the BBC News Channel and BBC Parliament which broadcast from Astra 2A. All domestic BBC channels have been Free to Air since 29 July 2003.
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| ITV also broadcasts all its television channels (including regional variations of ITV1, as well as STV and UTV) from the Astra 2D satellite. All ITV channels have been Free to Air from 1 November 2005, although some regions reverted to Free-To-View encryption in 2008 when their lease on one 2D transponder could not be renewed. The ITV HD channel is broadcast from Eurobird 1 and is current available on Freesat through ITV1 via the red button. |
| Channel 4 also broadcasts most of its channels free-to-air from this satellite. These are Channel 4, Channel 4+1, E4, More4 and Film4 along with their timeshift variants from this satellite, all unencrypted apart from the feeds of Channel 4, Channel 4+1, E4 and E4+1 intended for viewers in Ireland, which remain encrypted. Channel 4 also broadcasts an HD service (Channel 4 HD) which is also encrypted. |
| From November 2008, Five began to transmit free-to-air for the first time on Astra 2D. They use borrowed space on one of the BBC transponders, allowing them to join Freesat, although occasionally some programmes on this feed are blacked out for rights reasons. Five continue to broadcast other Free To View encrypted versions of their main channel and additional spin-offs Fiver and Five USA which currently remain unavailable on Freesat. |
| Irish TV and radio also broadcast from the Astra 2D satellite, RTÉ One, RTÉ Two, TV3 and TG4, along with Irish radio channels are available. You will need a card from the Republic of Ireland, or a Sky card with a Northern Irish Post Code to see Irish TV channels (TV3 not available in N.I.)! All the radio stations are Free-To-Air. |
| Search Astra 2D is powered by Freefind. |
| Astra 2D Sitemap |
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| The Astra 2D Forum |
The Astra 2D 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 also 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, though you can use the Guest section.
Click HERE, to go directly to the Astra 2D Forum.
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| Sky |
With over 8 million subscribers, Sky is the UK’s most popular digital satellite entertainment service provider.
Using advanced satellite technology, they deliver access to 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), a Sky box (a digital satellite receiver) and a remote control.
Information on Sky Digital, Sky+, a Sky Digital FAQ, Sky remote codes and Sky's EPG (Electronic Programme Guide) explained.
Sky HD launched on 22 May 2006 in the UK and the Republic of Ireland to enable high definition channels on Sky Digital to be viewed.
Sky has been the only British satellite platform for many years, with the arrival of Freesat, Sky has real competion in the satellite market. Sky will of course continue to be the first choice for those wanting the best sports coverage and the latest films. |
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| Official Website: www.sky.com |
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Freesat from the BBC & ITV |
Freesat is a free-to-air digital satellite platform which is a joint venture between the BBC and ITV plc. 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.
Freesat broadcasts from the same fleet of satellites (Astra 28.2°E and Eurobird 1) as Sky Digital. Channels are broadcast using DVB-S. The Freesat electronic programme guide is broadcast from the Eurobird 1 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.
All the channels broadcasting to date are broadcasting using DVB-S. Standard definition channels are broadcast using MPEG-2, while high definition channels are broadcast using MPEG-4. Currently, BBC HD uses DVB-S rather than DVB-S2 since the channel shares a transponder with several SD channels. Since the channels are broadcast in-the-clear, they can also be received by non-Freesat receivers.
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Interactive television uses MHEG-5 rather than the proprietary OpenTV platform used by Sky.
The specification for Freesat boxes includes having an Ethernet socket on the back. This is to allow future on demand programmes provided by the BBC iPlayer to be viewed directly on the customer's television. This feature is expected to become operational in the future. |
| Official Website: www.freesat.co.uk |
| Freesat News Blog: www.joinfreesat.co.uk |
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| Freeview |
Freeview is a British free-to-air digital television service broadcast from terrestrial transmitters using the DVB-T standard. 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. |
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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.
High Definition (HD) services are expected to be available on Freeview from December 2nd 2009, using MPEG4 and DVB-T2. |
| Official Website: www.freeview.co.uk |
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| British Radio |
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.
On satellite, most services are easily received in most areas of mainland Europe, BBC Radio 1 is even available across Canada and the United States. |
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