Watch French Channels in the UK – 2

French Satellite TV

Updated 2023 Apr 

French satellite tv is available on the Hotbird, Astra 1, and Eutelsat 5w satellites, so in most cases, it is easy to find at least one which is receivable, anywhere in England, Wales, or Scotland. 

Different dish sizes will be needed, especially with Fransat, as the latest satellite, launched in  2020, has a problem

A Brief History

For the last few decades, French satellite tv has been Analog and FTA (free to air), then  Digital Since 2005. After Nov 2016 all the main French channels have been encrypted. There are no longer many free channels, with the exception of a few on each of the satellites listed below, I have a list of the FTA channels here.

French Satellite TV Now

The best and simplest options today, to watch all the main channels – TF1, France 2,3,4,5 etc are to purchase one of the French receivers, together with a viewing card.  The TNT and Fransat cards are not monthly subscription-based, so after the initial purchase of dish and receiver, there is only a small ongoing cost, when renewing the card (** see Costs below )

The Main TNT & Fransat Channels

Receiving The Main French Channels

France has had its main channels TF1, France 2, 3, 4, 5, M6, and others available by TNT, Fransat, Canal Plus, and BIS for quite a few years now. 

Each of the 3 main French satellite tv services are broadcast from a different satellite:

• Fransat – Eutelsat 5w ( formerly Atlantic bird 3 ) @ 5° west
• TNT , Canalplus  &  Canalsat – Astra 1 @ 19.2° east
• BIS – Hotbird @ 13° east & Eutelsat 5w @ 5° west

This can be an advantage in difficult circumstances if for example one satellite is blocked by trees or a tall building, the others may be possible. To assess your options, please fill in my Quote form

When you submit your Quote form, I will be able to use Google maps to assess a good dish position. 

If the tree in this picture was too tall, the 13° and 19.2° satellites might be blocked, leaving only the 5° west satellite.  Fransat would be the obvious choice in this case.

 The 4 options above can be arranged anywhere in England, Scotland and Wales.  The channels shown above are present on all the 3 main services TNT, Fransat, and BIS. TNT and Fransat are VERY similar, only the regional channels are different.

Subscription Services

Canal plus, the main subscription service, also offers these main channels, along with documentaries, sports, and films. However unless you already have a  Canal+ account or have a French bank account and address, it would be almost impossible to arrange a Canal+ account. These have to be installed with a Canal+ official box  ( le Cube) and card, which are rented, not purchased.

Things are changing though, Czech, Dutch, Portuguese and Spanish main channels which once were similarly difficult to obtain can now be purchased with any card or bank account.

Canal+  had a very bad 2018 losing the rights to broadcast French football, it dropped the Motorsport channel in August and its IPTV service Canalplay lost customers to Netflix.

CanalSat which has been available for many years, as an add-on to the standard TNT box and card, has been dropped. Canal+ still carries all the Canalsat channels though.

Cost of Installing French Satellite TV

Fransat used to have a one-time payment for their card but now both TNT and Fransat operate the same policy of a 4-year card. After 4 years you will have to renew the card. 

Renewal of the 4-year cards is a reasonable cost. If you live in France, just register online with TNT or Fransat and the card is €15. For us in the UK it is currently around £50 + postage for my own customers. After Brexit, the postage, handling charges and customs have added significant amounts to the costs.

Beware! Some UK sellers are making a killing on the sale of TNT cards. Always compare prices. £50 for all my previous customers, but some online sellers are charging over £80  

BIS has several packages, with 12-month cards costing between £100 and £250 per year approx. Bis can also be arranged with BeIN sport ( France ) subscription added.

Multi-Satellite

If you are considering French satellite tv plus another service :

• French+German 
• French+ UK Freesat
• French + Italian
• French + Spanish

Please check out my Multi-sat dishes on the All Europe pages.

I can supply the correct fully compatible receiver, for the encrypted French channels plus the FTA German/UK/Italian or Spanish channels, including cam and card. The cams do work, but only in full spec ci+ boxes.   

All the 3 French services provide sub-titles ( in French ), they can be switched on and off from the main menu.

Subtitles – Sous Titres

Recordings made from the box with an HDD will have the subtitle data available. Accordingly Subs can be selected or deselected, during playback. 

The popular channel TV5monde Europe, on the Hotbird satellite does carry English OR French subtitles on most broadcasts. I have compiled a list here showing which satellite carries TV5 subtitles and in which language

EPG – Electronic Programme Guide

On TNT and Fransat boxes a simple now and next Electronic Programme Guide is available. The full 7 day EPG is not possible except on the Canal Plus system.  In this respect France lags way behind UK, German and Italian channels, which all offer a 7 day guides, from which you can easily set recordings.  One common solution is to use TV Pocket website, very handy to have on your tablet device.

France TNT

Click this Quote Me button & fill in your details, to get a FREE map survey and quotation for a French TNT channels installation

TF1 , France 2,3,4,5 France Ô, Canal+ ( en clair ) Arte, M6, C8, W9, Monte Carlo, TFX, NRJ12, LCP, BFM Cnews, Cstar, Gulli, L’equipe, 23, RMC Decouverte, Cherie 25, 6Ter, TF1 films LCI , FranceInfo. All the regional France3 variations.
Plus : i24, RT France, France24, CCTV, TV5monde, TV5 FBS, M6 Boutique, EuroNews

What receiver do I recommend for the TNT package?

TNT HD receiver complete with card

Note: Choose Fransat if you want the RMC addon, choose TNT if you also want the German and Spanish FTA channels

For French TNT reception in all UK regions, the 65cm dish is perfect for the job. The Technomate TM1 or Inverto LNB gives a good signal, with high gain, low noise factor plus the TNT signal over the UK is strong.

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France FRANSAT

Click this Quote Me button & fill in your details, to get a FREE map survey and quotation for a French Fransat channels installation

With the exception of a few additional regional channels, including Vosges, and the Berber TV channels, Fransat has all the same main French channels as TNT:

TF1 HD, France 2,3,4,5 France Ô Canal+ (programmes en clair) . Arte M6, C8, W9, TMC,TFX NRJ12, LCP Public Sénat,BFM,Cnews, Cstar, Gulli, TF1 films, L’equipe, 6Ter, RMC story, RMC decouverte, Cherie 25, LCI, FranceInfo. All the 24 regional France 3s.
Plus RT France, TV5monde, KTO, QVC, MontBlancLive, Dici, Vosges, Berber Jeunesse, Berber Music, Berber Television. ( Eitb Basque TV, 1 & 3 can be activated on application)

What receiver do I recommend for the Fransat package?

A Fransat HD receiver complete with card

Note: Choose Fransat if you want the RMC addon, choose TNT if you also want the German and Spanish FTA channels

I want UHD 4k What receiver will I get with this package? 

TF1 is the first in France to have an Ultra High Definition Channel, if you have a 4k TV perfect ! It will give an excellent picture on an HD tv as well

For the Full story on TF1 UHD see our French blog frenchchannels.

In London – up to Manchester a Single lnb, 80cm coated steel dish from Triax or Technomate,  with tm1 or similar good lnb, will be ok. 

Further North, the signal from the new satellite Eutelsat 5wb is lower. This means it may be necessary to increase size to 90cm or 1m.

Attention Sports Fans! RMC Sport added to your Fransat card !!!

• Subscriptions – without commitment .  You can buy with contract or without ! 
• You can subscribe for 1 – 11 months – cancel at any time, or purchase at a discount with 1 year commitment.
• Watch on TV or Mobile / laptop with app
• To buy simply email me with your details and requirements

France BIS

Click this Quote Me button & fill in your details, to get a FREE map survey and quotation for a French BIS channels installation

BIS tv is available in 3 different packages Panorama, Cinesport, Night and Ultimum . French BeIN sport can be added on  too. Panorama package shown below. All versions include the standard TNT channels TF1, France 2, 3, 4 …. etc

 What receiver will I get with the BIS packages?  The reliable and versatile Technisat single tuner receiver with BIS ( viacess secure ) cam ensures reliable updates. Since 2016 many older receivers with embedded viacess firmware fail to update the card properly. 

The Bis signal is available on Hotbird or Eutelsat 5w.

For Hotbird, a 65cm dish is ok

If using Eutelsat 5w for BIS, see dish sizes above ( Fransat )

France Canal plus

Click this Quote Me button & fill in your details, to get a FREE map survey and quotation for a French Canal+ channels installation

 Note: French Address and Bank requirement.

Canal plus, the subscription service, also offers the TNT channels, along with documentaries, sports, and films, but unless you have a French bank account and address, it would be almost impossible to arrange a Canal+ account.

These have to be installed with a Canal+ official box  ( le Cube) and card, which are rented, not purchased. Things are changing though, Czech, Dutch, and Spanish main channels which once were similarly difficult to obtain, can now be purchased with any card or bank account.

Canal+ had a bad year in 2018 losing the rights to broadcast French football, it dropped the Motorsport channel in August and its IPTV service Canalplay also lost customers to Netflix.

CanalSat which has been available for many years, as an add-on to the standard TNT box and card,  was dropped in 2016 as a brand, though its services are still available, just switched to Canal+.

What receiver will I get with the Canal + package?  Canal Plus will supply the official receiver ” Le Cube” 

For French Canal+ reception in all UK regions, the 65cm dish is perfect for the job. The Technomate TM1 or Inverto LNB gives a good signal, with high gain, low noise factor plus the TNT signal over the UK is strong.

France FTA (Free To Air)

Click this Quote Me button & fill in your details, t

to get a FREE map survey and Quotation for

FTA French channels

All the French language channels – unencrypted, from 3 satellites

What receiver will I get with this package?  The reliable and versatile Amiko MIRA X, the latest in the HD mini series from Amiko.

For these channels I recommend the 80cm dish for 3 satellites

Not only the free French but also German, Hungarian, Polish, Italian and Arabic channels are available

Motorised and Multi-Satellite Reception

If you want to combine French with channels from other satellites, you can choose a motorised or multi-sat dish

A 1 metre dish with a diseqc motor can receive European, African and Asian satellites from 30 ° west to 32  or even 56° east, in most UK locations.

read – Motor Dish Page

A standard, fixed position 80cm parabolic dish can be fitted with 2,3 or more LNBs. Allowing satellite reception, from eg. France, Germany, Italy & Spain

read – All Europe dish

A Special fixed position toroidal dish can be fitted with 2 to 8 LNBs for up to 40° wide-angle multi-satellite reception. 60cm or 112cm dish sizes

read – All About Toroidal dishes

What receiver will I get with the combined package?  The reliable and versatile Technisat single tuner receiver with Fransat cam will enable combinations of French satellite tv channels with German, UK, Spanish,  Italian, Hungarian, Arabic and many more

Dishes not Allowed on Your Building?

Invisible Dishes

There are plastic see-through  dishes available for TNT (65cm) and Fransat (80cm)  Check out these on the Dishes in Disguise page.

Human Rights

The Human Rights bill entitles everyone to a dish (or other means) of receiving any service important to the individual.

You can appeal a “No Dishes Allowed” order, in court!

IPTV from France

I can now offer you French TNT channels through IPTV: please read my article on iptv on my separate blog – frenchchannels.co.uk  

FAQ

Are there any French channels on Sky UK?

A. No, only the English version of France 24 is available on both Sky and Freeview.

Can I get French TV without a dish?

A. Yes, with IPTV, but there is a yearly or monthly subscription, the quality is dependent on your internet speed and iptv takes a huge bandwidth. This might impact being able to watch iptv and use internet for other things together.

Which is the best French satellite box to buy?

A. Once you know which service (TNT, Fransat or BIS) you are going for, look at the receivers in the sidebar, or simply ask me via email.

Are there any French Channels on Freesat?

A. No. The best solution is to upgrade from a Skydish, to a 65cm dish, with 2 lnbs, then add a TNT box. Most will allow you to tune in the UK Freesat channels too.

What is the Fransat satellite Position?

Fransat is from Eutelsat 5wb which is 5° West of South. The 5Wb satellite replaced 5Wa in 2020, it is at the same orbital position, but may be weaker if you’re north of Birmingham latitude.