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How to get Spanish and Portguese

sat channels

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SpAIN & pORtugAl September 2011

2 What Satellite & Digital TV September 2011

Euro Spotlight

Digital+ Satellites: Astra 19.2°E, Hispasat 30°WEncryption: Nagravision 3Channels: 110 SD, 21 HDWebsite: www.plus.es The biggest pay-TV platform in Spain, and the only one via satellite, Digital+ has a complex commercial history – taking in Via Digital, Canal+ Mediaset, Sogecable and others and today is owned by the huge Spanish Prisa media group.

Digital+ includes the main terrestrial channels and the very popular Canal+ sports and film channels with packages starting at €18 a month.

Zon TVCaboSatellites: Hispasat 30°WEncryption: Nagravision 3Channels: 89 SD, 11 HDWebsite: www.zon.pt Part of Zon Multimedia – spun off from Portugal Telecom and almost the only

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IAN

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-tv

Pay or pirate

Spain and Portugal

SpANiSH TV dominates the satellite airwaves in this part of Europe and many Spanish channels can be found

broadcasting from Hot Bird, Astra 19.2°E and Hispasat at 30°W.

Hispasat was originally Spanish through and through, but it is now owned by international shareholders, including Eutelsat. Nevertheless, it still majors on channels for and from Spain, Portugal and Latin America.

Most Spanish satellite channels are broadcast encrypted, as part of the Digital+ package.

This includes the main national terrestrial

channels, La1, La2, Antena3, Cuatro, Telecinco, and La Sexta.

The first two are from Spain’s public service broadcaster, Televisión Española (TVE) while the other four are private stations (Cuatro and Telecinco are majority owned by Silvio Berlusconi’s Mediaset España).

For the most part, free-to-air channels on satellite are limited to more minor national and

local general entertainment channels, news, shopping and religious channels.

However, for overseas Spanish speakers, there is one FTA beacon of quality entertainment from news to game shows, documentaries to soaps – TVE Internacional provides an overseas service compiled from La1 and La2 programmes.

Once available free-to-air on many satellites (including, even, 28.2°E), TVE Internacional is now

You can learn Spanish cooking on ExtremaduraShopping channels are the same the world over

What you need to receive Spanish and portuguese free TVn Free-to-air DVB digital satellite receiver n 50cm dish for 28.2°E, or 60cm (13°E, 19.2°E, 9°E, 30°W), or 80cm (12.5°E)

toolkit

this month Wotsat looks at tV from the iberian peninsula

SpaniSh Free TV poSiTion Genre

Astrocanal TV 30°W Fortune telling

Bethel TV 13°E, 12.5°W Religion

Canal 24 Horas 13°E News

Canal Club 19.2°E Entertainment

Canal Parlamento 9°E, 30°W Government

Canal Portada 19.2°E, 30°W News

Canal Randethein 30°W Entertainment

SpaniSh Free TV poSiTion Genre

Canal Senado 30°W Government

Cubavision 19.2°E, 30°W Entertainment

EHS TV 19.2°E, 30°W Shopping

Enlace TBN 13°E, 30°W Religion

Extremadura TV 19.2°E Entertainment

Fashion TV 30°W Catwalks

God TV 30°W Entertainment

SpaniSh Free TV poSiTion Genre

Local Media 30°W Entertainment

Lu TV 30°W Entertainment

Maríavision 30°W Religion

Metropolitan 30°W Entertainment

Ondamex TV 30°W Fortune telling

Premium Channel 30°W Entertainment

RTVE 30°W Entertainment

September 2011 What Satellite & Digital TV 3

Euro Spotlightfind morE guidEs at www.wotSat.com

Pay or pirate cable provider in Portugal – Zon TV Cabo provides satellite TV, phone and broadband services (and connected TV apps). Included in the various packages (from €10 a month, plus receiver rental) are the main Portuguese channels, a number of thematic ones, Portuguese international channels, a smattering of channels from elsewhere in Europe and South America, plus Zon’s own sports and film channels.

MeoSatellites: Hispasat 30°W

Encryption: Nagravision 3Channels: 89 SD, 7 HDWebsite: www.meo.pt Meo is a relative newcomer to Portuguese satellite, expanding out of Lisbon cable TV. In competition with Zon, ironically, Meo is also from Portugal Telecom. Meo distributes the main Portuguese channels plus mostly Portuguese versions of international channels via satellite, broadband and fibre, and bundles broadband and phone with TV in packages from (TV only) €10 a month plus receiver rental.

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also mostly encrypted, but remains FTA on Hot Bird.

Minority languagesWith a population of under 11million, Portugal has never been awash with homegrown TV channels and the main terrestrial channels – public broadcaster Rádio e Televisão de Portugal’s RTP1 and RTP2, along with private channels, SIC and TVI – are not available free to air by satellite.

However, like TVE, RTP broadcasts an overseas combination of RTP1 and RTP2 FTA on Hot Bird – RTP Internacional.

Otherwise, religion dominates the FTA Portuguese satellite channels, with the only relief coming from two channels from Rede Record in

São Paulo, Brazil. Record News provides 24-hour news and

Record Internacional Europa brings youth-orientated populist entertainment to Europe, broadcasting from several satellites – including our very own 28°E.

For the more linguistically adventurous, there’s more to the Iberian Peninsula than just Spanish and Portuguese.

You can also watch channels for speakers of Catalan, Basque and Galician, which extend the reach of these minority languages beyond their native areas.

Starter for 10: TVE Internacional gets quizzical TV Canção Nova Internacional offers religion

n Free TV from italy

Next

Aidan Channel: Telecincon On air: Sundays, 10pm CETn www.telecinco.es/aida

Sitcom Aida is huge in Spain. Airing on Telecinco (similar to our ITV1), the show has now finished its eighth season and has been commissioned for another four.

First aired in 2005, Aida was a spin-off from another big hit, 7 Vidas (Seven Lives), a kind of Spanish Friends set in Madrid – that began in 1999. Aída García, one of the ever-changing characters in 7 Vidas, was given her own series in the same way as Frasier was spun off from Cheers.

Aida Garcia is an earthy single mother and the stereotypical Spanish working-class woman. The series follows her life in Madrid, with her ageing mother,

ex-junkie brother, teen son, boyfriend-hungry daughter (the audience has watched her, and her cleavage, grow), and the neighbours.

It is a testament to the popularity of the show that for 60 episodes Aida has been without its main character and namesake. Carmen Machi, who played Aida, left the show in 2009 during Season 6, but Aida continued without Aida.

The storyline was changed to send her to jail, more characters were brought in, including Aida’s eldest daughter and her child, Aida junior, and the laughs continued.

And it seems that life outside Aida was not all that Machi hoped for; Telecinco has announced that she is returning for several episodes of season 9, which starts in September.

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SpaniSh Free TV poSiTion Genre

Russia Today Español 19.2°E, 30°W News

Solidaria TV 30°W Entertainment

TeleMadrid Sat 19.2°E Entertainment

Telesur 19.2°E, 13°E, 30°W Information

TVE Int’l 13°E Entertainment

VIT 30°W Fortune telling

Free CaTalan TV poSiTion Genre

Andalucía TV 19.2°E Entertainment

TV 3 Cat 19.2°E Entertainment

Canal Català TV 12.5°W Entertainment

Free BaSque TV poSiTion Genre

ETB Sat 19.2°E Entertainment

Free GaliCian TV poSiTion Genre

Televisión de Galicia 19.2°E Entertainment

Free porTuGueSe TV poSiTion Genre

Kurios-TV 30°W Religion

ManaSat 30°W Religion

Record Int’l Europa 28.5°E, 19.2°E, 12.5°W, 30°W

Entertainment

Record News 12.5°W News

Rede Int’l de TV 13°E, 12.5°W Religion

RTP Int’l 13°E Entertainment

TV Canção Nova Int’l

13°E, 12.5°W Religion