euro tv spotlight: spain and portugal
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Wotsat looks at free and pay-TV from the Iberian peninsulaTRANSCRIPT
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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
pAY
-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)
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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
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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