Satellite
FTV Channels
- Free to View Channels
The main channel from five (plus the other "five"
channels five US, fiver and +1 versions), Sky Three and Setanta Sports News
are currently availble "free" (no Sky
subscription
required).
However, these
channels are
scrambled and not transmitted FTA (Free
To Air), so it is only possible to view them with a Sky Digibox and FTV
Card, it
is not possible to view these channels on any Digital Satellite
receiver other
than a Sky Digibox (an unofficial “dragon” type cam may be able to with
the
use of a valid Sky Card and a real digibox serial number but that is
not
supplied by Sky so there is no knowing how long it will work).
The BBC, Channel 4
and ITV channels also used to also be FTV, but they are now Free To Air
and no
card is
required, this means any Digital Satellite receiver can receive the
BBC and ITV channels but not five, although they have said they will
make five FTA by the end of 2008 (although not five US or fiver).
It is
possible to now buy a Series 2 Card to enable the Free to View Channels
It
is also possible to get a Series 2 card if you have not got one by
re-subscribing to SKY for a minimum of a month (if you have been a
previous
customer) or a year (if you have not been a Sky customer before), once
you
cancel you should be able to keep the Dark Blue card and it should
continue to
decrypt the FTV channels.
Do NOT
confuse FREE TO VIEW received with a Dish with the Digital
Terrestrial FREEVIEW service received through an Aerial
There are
many more channels that you can watch without a subscription, see the Free To Air Channels
Counter from
http://www.digits.com/