"There are over 55 satellites in simultaneous orbit over Europe transmitting almost every language and from every nation you can envision. French is well catered for with 3 satellites covering all European territory, French residents residing in or out of France can receive, with domestic size satellite dishes of less than 1 metre size, these signals with the minimum of devices.

Within France many of the country is covered by the typical terrestrial transmitters and an aerial is all that is needed to pick up all the main French channels, such as TF1, France 2 etc. Those living in remote corners or often in developed locations, with bad aerial reception, have to utilize the satellite systems to receive them. Outdoors France of course just the satellites are usable.

Hotbird, Astra 1 and Atlantic Bird3 are the three satellites used for all the French services. These are various suppliers, but primarily distribute the exact same group of channels. TNTsat and FranSat have similar lists of channels including TF1, France 2, France3, France4, France5, France o, Arte, direct 8, Monte Carlo and a lot more.

A 3rd service by the supplier BIS is offered on both Atlantic Bird and Hotbird satellites. At the moment the signals from Hotbird are transmitted in MPeg4 format, which is generally used for HD, whereas the Atlantic Bird transmission is the older Mpeg2, so with an HD receiver the photos from Hotbird are very great undoubtedly. Unusually the TF1 channel, which is in HD on both TNTsat and FranSat is currently only in Mpeg2 (basic definition) on Hotbird. The primary 4 channels TF1, France2, M6 and Arte are repeated on HD channels on both TNT and Fransat.

When getting the French channels in the Uk, which system should you choose? The TNT and FranSat deal of 18 channels (plus a few more giveaways) is extremely appealing. Most likely the least trouble is FranSat who do not put a time limit on their card, unlike TNTsat which will end after 4 years, however the renewal fee after the 4 year period is just 15 Euros, so there is only the little concern of in fact renewing it. This is done for the majority of French people online, on the TNT website, however you have to be in French territory to be qualified to utilize the website, so prior to the renewal dates are due, lets hope there is a procedure to enable Uk TNT watchers a method of renewal in location.

The set top boxes are now typical in Darty and other electronics stores throughout France and many supermarkets too at around 120Euros for the SD basic meaning box. Do not get confused with the terrestrial boxes though if purchasing in France, guarantee that you are purchasing a satellite set top box. There are some boxes with very couple of extra functions beyond the standard setup and some which can be utilized on more than one satellite and can be better arranged into several 'preferred' groups, useful if you are seeing different languages. A lot of receivers readily available today are great, however there are still some early boxes around with bad remotes and dependability problems.

BIS in spite of its yearly membership charges, provides a minimum of 3 various cards. The base card is the Panorama, costing around 100 Euro and entitling the user to all the typical French channels to be found on the TNT platform. Next is the Cinerama, at around 160 Euros, also has the film channels from the AB sat platform - Cine FX, Cine First, Cine Polar and Action. Included too are channels like Orange Sport tv, Animeaux, Game One, L'histoire and RTL 9. Lastly the leading package includes adult home entertainment to the mix. BIS is provided as a pre paid card so the years payment is 'in advance' and there is no phone call required to trigger the card, simply insert into your Viaccess decoder card slot and rely on Hotbird or Atlantic Bird.

Last but not least there is constantly the complimentary channels alternative. With an excellent satellite receiver and meal with several LNBs or a motorised satellite dish, it is possible to get an excellent choice of the primary and some of the smaller channels without a special box or a membership, as long as you are not wanting TF1 or M6 channel, such a system will still receive some 30 possible French channels including France2 and 3, ARTE (likewise French language from other countries throughout North Africa.)"