# Basic info needed about how to get UK TV channels in Greece



## JHCGB

Hello
I have recently moved to Lesvos from the UK and would like to find info about how to get British TV channels here.
I have some friends who have Nova and get some English language channels but I am more interested in BBC1 & 2, ITV, Channel 4 etc.
Nobody seems to know much about here, but I have heard that you can use a free-view box or TV from the UK with a large satellite dish and get the channels that are free to air in the UK.
Is this correct? If so what size dish? Will I need to program anything?
I have no clue about any of this so any information would be greatly received.
Thanks.


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## Jolly Roger

It is possible to receive UK TV in Greece by satellite, but to receive BBC tv and some others such as Ch5, ITV 2,3,4, it would be necessary to have a massive dish of at least 3 metres. However, with a 1 metre min. dish you would be able to receive a large number of channels including Ch4 and ITV1. Probably the best option is to bring a Skybox from the UK with either a 'free to view' card or a subscription. The more you pay, the more you get! If you obtain a box with a matched card from UK, it is important to use a UK address. There are online websites that sell Skyboxes and cards, but this will work out more expensive.
A Skybox needs to be programmed to receive certain channels in Greece, but this info is available online.
Another way to get UK TV is to stream it via your computer and again, there are websites that can offer this service.


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## JHCGB

Thanks so much for the info which is very helpful.
Just wanted to ask another quick question. 
So if I bought a skybox/card in the UK with a subscription would I then be able to view all of those channels here with a big dish?
Thanks again for your reply.


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## jpaffett

If you have broadband Internet, you can also watch BBC on the iPlayer through a VPN connection. I live on Lesvos and that's what I do.


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## The Grocer

JHCGB said:


> Thanks so much for the info which is very helpful.
> Just wanted to ask another quick question.
> So if I bought a skybox/card in the UK with a subscription would I then be able to view all of those channels here with a big dish?
> Thanks again for your reply.


TAKE CARE and do not spend your hard earned money to quickly. Sky are moving channels virtually each month to Astra 2d & the new Astra 1N. These are very tightly focused on the UK and to my knowledge you would not be able to receive. Have a look at what Astra satellite and transponders the channels you want are on (a good link is KingOfSat - European Satellite Zapping & Directory ).

I suspect ITV (which is now only available by adding it as an extra channel on the Sky box will also soon disappear.....

If you can get a good fast broadband connection it may be the better way to go.


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## xenos

I use Expatshield which gives you a UK IP address so you can watch BBC, ITV etc from the internet. You will need a good connection. It works very well and is free.
Don't forget that to watch BBC programs you need a valid TV Licence like I'm sure we all have!!


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## MaidenScotland

xenos said:


> I use Expatshield which gives you a UK IP address so you can watch BBC, ITV etc from the internet. You will need a good connection. It works very well and is free.
> Don't forget that to watch BBC programs you need a valid TV Licence like I'm sure we all have!!





ahhh the licence is not to watch BBC it is to have a receiver that enables you to watch BBC..  and that only applies for the UK.. I get BBC entertainment and BBC News and something else lol broadcast from the middle east..


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## xenos

@Maiden....

I quote from the BBC website.....

You do not need a television licence to catch-up on television programmes in BBC iPlayer, only when you watch or record at the same time (or virtually the same time) as it is being broadcast or otherwise distributed to the public. In BBC iPlayer, this is through the Watch Live simulcast option.

Anyone in the UK watching or recording television as it's being broadcast or simulcast on any device - including mobiles, laptops and PCs - must, by law, be covered by a valid TV licence.

A 'live' TV programme is a programme, which is watched or recorded at the same time (or virtually the same time) as it is being broadcast or otherwise distributed to members of the public. As a general rule, if a person is watching a programme on a computer or other device at the same time as it is being shown on TV then the programme is 'live'. This is sometimes known as simulcasting.

The majority of UK households will already be covered by an existing television licence for their main TV set.

What will happen if I don't have a TV licence?

*It is a criminal offence to watch 'live' television without a TV licence or to possess or control a device which you know or reasonably believe will be used to watch 'live' TV without a TV licence.* You could be prosecuted and fined up to £1000 (plus be ordered to pay legal costs) for these offences.

The original post was asking about watching UK TV...BBC, ITV etc.

Once again to watch "LIVE" TV without a License is ILLEGAL and we don't want to promote illegal activities now do we.


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## MaidenScotland

xenos said:


> @Maiden....
> 
> I quote from the BBC website.....
> 
> You do not need a television licence to catch-up on television programmes in BBC iPlayer, only when you watch or record at the same time (or virtually the same time) as it is being broadcast or otherwise distributed to the public. In BBC iPlayer, this is through the Watch Live simulcast option.
> 
> Anyone in the UK watching or recording television as it's being broadcast or simulcast on any device - including mobiles, laptops and PCs - must, by law, be covered by a valid TV licence.
> 
> A 'live' TV programme is a programme, which is watched or recorded at the same time (or virtually the same time) as it is being broadcast or otherwise distributed to members of the public. As a general rule, if a person is watching a programme on a computer or other device at the same time as it is being shown on TV then the programme is 'live'. This is sometimes known as simulcasting.
> 
> The majority of UK households will already be covered by an existing television licence for their main TV set.
> 
> What will happen if I don't have a TV licence?
> 
> *It is a criminal offence to watch 'live' television without a TV licence or to possess or control a device which you know or reasonably believe will be used to watch 'live' TV without a TV licence.* You could be prosecuted and fined up to £1000 (plus be ordered to pay legal costs) for these offences.
> 
> The original post was asking about watching UK TV...BBC, ITV etc.
> 
> Once again to watch "LIVE" TV without a License is ILLEGAL and we don't want to promote illegal activities now do we.




well that is what I have said... a receiver that enables you to watch bbc..in the UK,


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## xenos

MaidenScotland said:


> well that is what I have said... a receiver that enables you to watch bbc..in the UK,


I'll admit it would need a lawyer looking at it to confirm / deny the legalities......but


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## xabiaxica

xenos said:


> I'll admit it would need a lawyer looking at it to confirm / deny the legalities......but


you don't nneed a UK licence in Greece - you need one in the UK to be able to recieve _any_ TV signal - not just BBC

if Greece says you need a Greek licence then you need a Greek one - but you don't need a UK one to watch UK television

you aren't suppposed to be ABLE to watch UK television live outside the UK - the signal isn't meant to be strong enough


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## Jolly Roger

Following on from my previous post, I forgot to mention that BBC radio is also available with a Skybox. However, All UK radio channels are also easily available online.

The Grocer suggests that many Sky channels may be lost if they are moved to Astra 1N as Channel 5 has already done. This is rumour at the present time and nothing is certain yet. My feeling is that it may be the HD channels that are moved.

Xenos has suggested using ExpatSheild as a way of viewing UK TV online. I use this myself for BBC, but it should be noted that the adverts can be very intrusive. It might be better to pay a small monthly fee to get streamed TV, but I do not have any experience of how well this works. A broadband speed of 2mbs is only just sufficient and it would pay to upgrade to a faster speed if you can.


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## xenos

tvproxy.co.uk is a private VPN that I have also used at a cost of about 10 Euro per month (or less if you go for 3 months or longer). It is VERY reliable and ADD FREE.


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## bobster112

The best way to watch all UK channels and US channels is with a website called FilmOn. Its completly free and you can watch nearly every freeview channel. It streams from the internet. If you have a cable that links your computer or Ipad to the TV it will be perfect, thats what i do and watch UK TV every night with no problems.


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## Jolly Roger

bobster112 said:


> The best way to watch all UK channels and US channels is with a website called FilmOn. Its completly free and you can watch nearly every freeview channel. It streams from the internet. If you have a cable that links your computer or Ipad to the TV it will be perfect, thats what i do and watch UK TV every night with no problems.


Good site that I hadn't come across before. My Broadband speed wasn't really fast enough and it kept freezing. Also it seems you have to pay to get full screen.


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## bobster112

No you dont need to pay for it, to have full screen click on the arrows at the bottom right side of the tv screen, if you cant see them hover over the TV screen and they will appear. You can use for free, they do have some pay options but their basic service is free. From time to time it may freeze but on the whole i have my Ipad (they have an app) connected to my TV and watch it all day without any problems. Dont give up its the best site i have used.


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## puss

JHCGB said:


> Thanks so much for the info which is very helpful.
> Just wanted to ask another quick question.
> So if I bought a skybox/card in the UK with a subscription would I then be able to view all of those channels here with a big dish?
> Thanks again for your reply.


We have a SKY package with Sports etc. registered to a UK address. We do not have a big dish. We live in Halkidiki. Get the box and then chat to your local Satellite man.


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## bobster112

puss said:


> We have a SKY package with Sports etc. registered to a UK address. We do not have a big dish. We live in Halkidiki. Get the box and then chat to your local Satellite man.


Hi, How easy is it to get the sky installed, you say you dont have a big disg, is it the size of a normal Nova dish?

Im in Perea (outside Thessaloniki), i have been using a web service but do you think sky is better?

Many thanks


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## Jolly Roger

bobster112 said:


> Hi, How easy is it to get the sky installed, you say you dont have a big disg, is it the size of a normal Nova dish?
> 
> Im in Perea (outside Thessaloniki), i have been using a web service but do you think sky is better?
> 
> Many thanks


You would need a 1 metre diameter dish, however, I would recommend holding off for the time being. The group of satellites are coming to the end of their working life. Channels are being transferred to the 1N satellite which has a narrow beam on the UK. We have already lost Ch5 and ITV and there is some uncertainty what will happen to Sky channels later this year.


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## Downunder55

bobster112 said:


> The best way to watch all UK channels and US channels is with a website called FilmOn. Its completly free and you can watch nearly every freeview channel. It streams from the internet. If you have a cable that links your computer or Ipad to the TV it will be perfect, thats what i do and watch UK TV every night with no problems.


Bobster112, thanks so much for this, been playing with FilmOn a little and it is great and a simple solution, I was looking at far more complex arrangements with limited success.

Currently only viewing on my laptop until I can get a larger screen, how does the SD feed look on a larger screen ? Anyone subscribed to the HD feed ?

Have been streaming using Cosmote wireless prepaid Internet with only a few freezes occasionally but no real problem, other than cost. In SD it seems to run around 450Mb per hour in download so on the wireless plan a bit expensive, but until I can work out something better for an Internet connection.


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## bobster112

I have forthnet broadband and it works fine with that. On a large TV it works well, i have cables which i got from Media Mart that go from my computer to my TV and you would not know the diffrence with quality. I not tried HD as yet but am happy with the service it does espically for free. Although it freezes every now and then i think its a great service.

Glad its been of use to you







Downunder55 said:


> Bobster112, thanks so much for this, been playing with FilmOn a little and it is great and a simple solution, I was looking at far more complex arrangements with limited success.
> 
> Currently only viewing on my laptop until I can get a larger screen, how does the SD feed look on a larger screen ? Anyone subscribed to the HD feed ?
> 
> Have been streaming using Cosmote wireless prepaid Internet with only a few freezes occasionally but no real problem, other than cost. In SD it seems to run around 450Mb per hour in download so on the wireless plan a bit expensive, but until I can work out something better for an Internet connection.


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## bbflboy

No need to bother with a dish to get Sky these days. Quite a few UK forms are offering access to Sky Go online with a VPN thrown in. I started using about six months ago and it's great. No expensive dish installations and dirt cheap too!


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## tommya

I have tried a few routes to get cheap(ish) IPTV and am not having much luck. So far I have tried:

TVCatchup - doesn't work, these guys are hot on blocking VPN and DNS services, and only accept connections from UK ISPs so it is not going to work

BBC iPlayer - works via DNS services (I used Unotelly - it is free but not sure now). Only BBC catchup services and not live TV tried. 

SkyGo - works with some VPNs. Does not work with DNS services. Sky have said that they are going to be following TVCatchup routes of only allowing UK ISPs soon. I have an old xbox with Sky player on it and would love to get it to work but it doesnt support VPN connections directly. 

Ideally I would like live TV rather than catcup services. I have looked at FilmOn but it looks a little dodgy - has anyone tried this?


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## Jolly Roger

FilmOn seems to work ok, but you need to register (free) to get full screen. Also works well without the need to use a blocking software such as Expat Shield.


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## xenos

expat shield works fine as long as you have a reasonable connection. all of the bbc and itv channels work for me without a problem.


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## Jolly Roger

Further to this thread, BBC radio 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 have all now moved to the 1N satellite. So no longer available on satellite in Greece without a 3metre+ dish.


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## bobster112

Downunder55 said:


> Bobster112, thanks so much for this, been playing with FilmOn a little and it is great and a simple solution, I was looking at far more complex arrangements with limited success.
> 
> Currently only viewing on my laptop until I can get a larger screen, how does the SD feed look on a larger screen ? Anyone subscribed to the HD feed ?
> 
> Have been streaming using Cosmote wireless prepaid Internet with only a few freezes occasionally but no real problem, other than cost. In SD it seems to run around 450Mb per hour in download so on the wireless plan a bit expensive, but until I can work out something better for an Internet connection.


Hi Downunder55

I only use SD which works perfectly. I have filmon as an app on my iPad, I have a cable that goes from this to my tv (same can be bought from kotovolos for a pc), my tv is 47' and the picture is perfect. When you click on the arrows to make the tv screen bigger it extends to full size on my tv and you would not know the difference between filmon and regular tv.

In regards to Internet costs I have broadband so I only pay one cost. If your staying in Greece it maybe worth looking into. I am with forthnet and pay about 25e a moth for unlimited broadband and phone with free landline calls to all of Europe so I call the uk for free.

Hope this helps, Bobbie


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## bobster112

Hi,

I use filmon every day for the past year and it works really well.


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## adrienneshelley944

The Grocer said:


> TAKE CARE and do not spend your hard earned money to quickly. Sky are moving channels virtually each month to Astra 2d & the new Astra 1N. These are very tightly focused on the UK and to my knowledge you would not be able to receive. Have a look at what Astra satellite and transponders the channels you want are on (a good link is KingOfSat - European Satellite Zapping & Directory ).
> 
> I suspect ITV (which is now only available by adding it as an extra channel on the Sky box will also soon disappear.....
> 
> If you can get a good fast broadband connection it may be the better way to go.


hi im retiring to crete, would i be able to get freeview connection any way in crete please, to watch channels like pick etc.


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