Free To View satellite is a British variant of Free To Air satellite. Regular Free To Air satellite exists in Great Britain, but Free To View satellite gives the viewer access to additional channels not available via a normal FTA receiver.
FTV satellite content is offered exclusively through Freesat from Sky, a British satellite television serviced offered by British Sky Broadcasting Group plc. British Sky Broadcasting Group plc is often known as BSkyB, and trades as Sky.
While regular Free To Air satellite channels are unencrypted, Free To View satellite channels are offered as encrypted channels by the Sky satellite platform in the UK. The encryption technology allows Sky to dictate what channels are available based on the region of the receiver.
The reason these channels are still considered free satellite options is that no form of continual subscription is required to view the content. However, Free To View satellite channels can only be viewed with a Sky viewing card and Sky Digibox, which can be purchased through Sky at their website.
These are some of the extra Free To View channels that come with the Freesat from Sky package in addition to the normal Free To Air channels:
- Channel 5 HD (A Sky+ HD or Sky HD box is required for this channel)
- LFC TV
- Motors TV
- Pick TV
- Pick TV +1
- Sony Entertainment Television
- Sony Entertainment Television +1
- Viva
These are some region-dependent channels:
- BBC One
- BBC Two
- ITV1
- Channel 4
- Channel 5
Other Free to View Systems outside the UK
A few other public-service broadcasters have begun to use similar systems using different encryption methods.
In Australia, Switzerland, Austria, Russia, and the Netherlands, various systems have been put in place to give regional-based service to users who cannot receive terrestrial signals.
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