Free-to-view (FTV) is a term used for audiovisual transmissions that are provided free without any form of continual subscription. It differs from

free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscri ...

(FTA) in that the program is encrypted.

Free-to-view vs. free-to-air

The free-to-view system contrasts with

(FTA), in which signals are transmitted in the clear, without

encryption In Cryptography law, cryptography, encryption (more specifically, Code, encoding) is the process of transforming information in a way that, ideally, only authorized parties can decode. This process converts the original representation of the inf ...

, and can be received by anyone with a suitable receiving dish antenna and DVB-compliant receiver (although these services can include proprietary encrypted data services such as an EPG that is only available to reception equipment made for, or authorised by, the FTA broadcaster). Free-to-view services are broadcast encrypted and can only be viewed with reception equipment that includes a suitable

conditional-access module A conditional access module (CAM) is an electronic device, usually incorporating a slot for a smart card, which equips an integrated digital television or set-top box with the appropriate hardware facility to view conditional access content t ...

and viewing card, in the same way as a pay-TV satellite service. However, the FTV service viewing card is not subject to a continuing subscription payment for viewing the service's channels and may be available for a regular fee, a one-off payment or even for free. Services which charge a regular fee for reception can still be considered free-to-view, and not pay-TV if the fee is not for the programming content but for the delivery. For example, the HD+ service in Germany, which broadcasts HD versions of channels which are also available free-to-air in standard definition, defended its service fee saying it "is related to the reception of the offer and not to specific content, parts or packages of the offer".

Commercial restrictions and targeting

The free-to-view system allows for restricting access based on location of the viewer. For example, in the UK prior to the launch of Astra 2D, UK channels broadcasting from the Astra 28.2°E satellites used a wide beam and could be received across Europe on small dishes. Those channels which were non-subscription but aimed at the UK only, or restricted from broadcasting outside the UK by way of programme rights (such as Channel 5) or governance (such as the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

channels), were broadcast encrypted using Videoguard (as used by

Sky (UK) Sky UK Limited (formerly British Sky Broadcasting Limited (BSkyB)), Trade name, trading as Sky, is a British broadcasting, broadcaster and telecommunications company that provides television, broadband internet, fixed line and mobile telephone ...

for its pay-TV services) with viewing cards made available to UK residents only. The launch of Astra 2D with a broadcast beam narrowly aimed only at the UK and Ireland enabled UK channels to switch from broadcasting free-to-view to free-to-air, while maintaining their UK exclusivity. The decline of UK free-to-view in favour of narrow-beamed free-to-air has been gradual: *The BBC's eight digital channels were encrypted under the scheme from their launch on digital satellite until 14 July 2003, when they became free-to-air. *Shortly after this, ITV stated its intentions to go free-to-air eventually, and launched their newest channel,

ITV3 ITV3 is a Television in the United Kingdom, British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. The channel was first launched on Monday 1 November 2004 at 9 pm, replacing Plus (British TV channel), Plus ...

, in the clear on 1 November 2004. *This was followed up by ITV moving its Men & Motors channel to FTA in July 2005. *This gradual conversion was completed on 1 November 2005, with

ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the ITV (TV network), Channel 3 ...

and

ITV2 ITV2 is a Television in the United Kingdom, British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998. For a number of years, it had the largest audience share after the fiv ...

going FTA. ITV's latest channel, ITV4, was launched at the same time, also as a free-to-air service. All the BBC and ITV channels at this time could be viewed FTA without any subscription or purchase from Sky. *However, in June 2008, some ITV regional channels were encrypted again due to one of their narrow beam transponder agreements ending. *In April, 2011, high definition Channel 4 HD moved from being a free-to-view channel to a free-to-air channel (when moving to a transponder on Eurobird). *1 December 2011,

5USA 5USA is a British free-to-air television channel owned by Channel 5 Broadcasting Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global, which is grouped under Paramount Networks UK & Australia division. It was launched on 16 October 2006 as ...

, 5USA+1, 5* and 5*+1 became free-to-air after moving to Astra 1N. *6 June 2012, Pick TV and Pick TV +1 became free-to-air. *During October 2012, the final free-to-view regions of

, ITV1 +1 and ITV1 HD became free-to-air. *25 March 2013, Viva went free-to-air. *28 October 2013, Channel 5 HD switched from free-to-view became a subscription channel on the Sky digital satellite platform and is no longer a channel. * LFC TV switched from free-to-view to Sky subscription only. *7 February 2017, 4Music became free-to-air, although it reverted to being free-to-view on 12 December 2018, but later became free-to-air again on 1 February 2022. The remaining channel aimed exclusively at the UK that use the Astra satellites at 28.2°E with a Europe-wide beam and remain free-to-view and encrypted is regions STV HD (

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

), London TV and they can be viewed with a Sky Videoguard receiver and a Sky viewing card, either an inactive former Sky pay-TV card or one for the Freesat from Sky package, bought for a one-off fee.

Free-to-view networks

Freesat Freesat is a British free-to-air satellite television service, first formed as a joint venture between the BBC and ITV plc and now owned by Everyone TV (itself owned by all of the four UK Public broadcasting, public service broadcasters, BBC, ...

from Sky A UK satellite service from Sky (UK) offering 240 free-to-air and free-to-view TV channels and the Sky EPG, with a one-off payment for a Sky receiver, dish, installation and viewing card. * HD+ A package of 21 high definition digital satellite TV channels for German-speaking viewers and a subsidiary company of satellite owner SES, with a monthly or annual fee for the viewing card. * Viewer Access Satellite Television Australian satellite television platform providing digital TV and radio services to remote and rural areas, and terrestrial black spots. VAST is partly funded by the Australian Government and requires a certified set-top box and viewing card. *Fransat A package of mostly HD channels broadcast to residents of France who cannot receive the digital terrestrial TV channels. Can be received all over Europe on Eutelsat 5WA, historical position for French free TV. Viewing card does not expire. * Tivùsat Italian package of 68 free-to-air and free-to-view satellite channels for viewers unable to receive them on national terrestrial TV networks. Requires a

Nagravision Nagravision (or Nagra Kudelski or simply Nagra) is a company of the Kudelski Group that develops conditional access systems for digital cable and satellite television. The name is also used for their main products, the Nagravision enc ...

receiver and viewing card. *TNTSAT Same as Fransat, TNTSAT broadcasts the all-HD channels from French free digital terrestrial television. TNTSAT is issued by Canal + group on its main position, Astra 1. Viewing card has to be renewed every 4 years. TNTSAT compatible equipment is also compatible with CANALSAT pay TV. * Tricolor TV Russian satellite TV service partly operating within the free-to-view model. *SAT HD Regional A Brazilian satellite TV service from

Grupo Globo Grupo Globo (), formerly and still legally known as Organizações Globo (), is a Brazilian privately held company, private entertainment and mass media conglomerate (company), conglomerate based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Founded in 1925 by I ...

and

Embratel Embratel is a major Brazilian telecommunications company headquartered in Rio de Janeiro. The company was the long distance arm of Telebras until it was bought by the U.S. company MCI Communications for 2.65 billion reais during the 1998 bre ...

. Can be received all over Brazil on Star One D2. *Nova Parabólica A Brazilian satellite TV service from SKY Brasil. Can be received all over Brazil on Sky Brasil-1 (also called Intelsat 32e). *MagicTV A Chilean satellite TV service from Ríos y Compañía SpA.. Can be received all over Chile on Hispasat 74W-1. *TDT Complementar Portuguese satellite TV service from MEO for viewers unable to receive them on national terrestrial TV networks. Requires a

receiver and viewing card. Can be received all over Portugal on Hispasat 30W-5 (also called Hispasat 1E).

References

External links

Free-to-view satellite television channels
{{DEFAULTSORT:Free-To-View Television terminology

Free-to-view vs. free-to-air

Commercial restrictions and targeting

Free-to-view networks

See also

References

External links