WILL SKY BE LOST TO MAINLAND EUROPE IN THE FUTURE?
There is no guarantee that Sky's pay channels, such as Sports and Movies, will continue on wide beam. Sky may come under political, OFCOM or Hollywood pressure to send everything on narrow beam.
BSkyB will be very reluctant to give up a huge source of revenue from mainland Europe. It is estimated that in excess of 5% of Sky's £3,751 million revenue, from its total of 10,536,000 customers, comes from expats living out of the UK. Expect more of the same easy reception for the time being.
ITV AND CHANNEL FOUR SWITCH LIKELY MONDAY NIGHT
The ITV One and Channel Four group of channels are expected to move to Astra 2E in the early hours of Tuesday morning, 11th. February.
RECEPTION REPORTS
After sifting through many hundreds of your reception reports, it's clear that not just British people living abroad have been affected by the changes, but that all nationalities in all parts of Europe are genuinely dismayed by the loss of the BBC.
AUSTRIA
Reception on a Gibertini 1.0m in Landeck, Tyrol, but nothing on a 1.5m in Wernberg, Villach. A well-installed 3 metre dish receives nothing in Graz, in the south-east.
CANARY ISLANDS
Dishes of 2.4 to 3.2 now necessary. In Gran Canaria, a good quality, and expensive, 2.4m ChannelMaster type is needed with a top quality LNB, but it seems this is too small in Tenerife. Reports of BBC loss on 3.2m dishes in Tenerife.
FRANCE
Large scale losses from the southernmost quarter of the country. Typically dishes have been 80-90cm in the past. In some areas, a re-tune and a better LNB will get the signals back, but with little rain margin. A 120cm. may be needed. Near the border with Catalunya, the signal is worse. There is a report of a well-tuned 90 cm retaining the BBC between Cannes and Nice, but many reports of BBC loss in the region, roughly in a line drawn eastwards and westwards north of Toulouse. Planning regulations in many areas restrict dish sizes to 1 metre.
GERMANY
BBC channels have disappeared from the north around Hanover through Munich and to the Austrian border. Previously, 60 to 90cm dishes were enough. Dishes of around 120cm may be needed. This is guesswork, no-one needed dishes this big before.
GREECE
Complete loss of BBC in all reports.
ITALY
No BBC for most in the centre and south. 1.5m is OK in Verona, 1.25m in Milan. Between this area and Rome, 1.8 to 2.5 metres. Further south, in Potenza, Basilicata (well south of Rome, 40.38N 15.48E), a 3.4 metre (11 feet) Prodelin dish is just about receiving the the 2E UK Spot beam.
MENORCA
BBC signals have disappeared on 1.2m dishes, which 90% of expats have. 1.8m is the new minimum. Only 2.4m Skyware dishes (formerly ChannelMaster) give good rain margin.
NORTH AFRICA
Tunisia and Tangiers, loss of BBC on 2 metre dishes. Perhaps surprisingly, the BBC was easy to receive in N. Africa.
NORWAY
Dishes of 90cm used to be OK in the south, but not now. Upgrades to 120cm may be needed.
POLAND
A 1.0m dish has lost BBC near the German border, 100km east from Berlin.
PORTUGAL
From the centre of the country southwards, little or no signal is being received on dishes of 3 metres. In Coimbra, a 1.5m will give a just-about adequate signal with no rain margin. In Villa Real, in the north, 1.8m works OK. The Algarve is a BBC disaster zone. Nothing on any size dish, even 3 metres and up.
SLOVAKIA
In, Prietrzka (100km N. of Bratislava, near the border with the Czech Republic), a 2.5m prime focus dish has very limited reception of the 2E UK spot.
SPAIN
The lower third of the country has lost all BBC. Dishes of 3 metres are receiving no signal in Costa Del Sol. Most dishes in the Málaga region are 1.2m (1.3m vertically) which will just get the Europe beam used by Sky's pay channels. However, no BBC, ITV, Channel Four and associated channels will be received, even with a Sky subscription. The only ITV channels which can be received are ITV 2,3,4 in HD as part of the Sky HD pack.
The cut off point seems to be around Mojájar. To the north, some dishes are still working. To the south, there are no reports of any dish of any size still receiving the BBC. In Quesada, 1.8m is OK, as is a 1.9m in Alicante. In Benidorm, 1.2m is OK. Mazarrón seems to be OK with 1.8m. A 2.4m in this region gives good rain margin.
In Asturias, Cantabria and the Basque country, many dishes have stopped working. 1.2m to 1.5m may now be needed. In León, a 1.5 receives nothing, as does an 80cm in Vitoria-Gasteiz. In the Balearics, many dishes are still working.
Barcelona and Catalunya are now in a dead spot, with no measureable signal. Previously, 80-90cm dishes were used. The signal starts to appear again south of Tarragona, and north of the French border, but nothing in between. There are reports of plans for 3.0 metre dishes being purchased in Catalunya. It remains to be seen if they will work.
SWEDEN
Losses on 1.2m dishes, but this size may be OK in Gothenburg. 1.5 to 1.8m may be needed in most parts of the country.
More reports to follow.
In all cases, well-installed dishes with high quality components have fared better. Many installations are not up to standard, or have been affected by strong winds, rain, or extreme sunlight. In some cases, a re-tune will help, or a better LNB. (more to follow on this subject)
