Join Freesat

Hopefully in the future not a lot! FTA stands for ‘free to air’ and FTV ‘free to view’. Without going into too much detail, its refers to their accessibility on the satellite platform.

FTA channels, such as BBC and ITV’s are available with any satellite receiver capable of picking up UK channels.

FTV channels, such as C4 and Five are encypted and therefore only available through a select service capable of accessing them. At this time, C4 and Five are held within contract with Sky (as discussed below). As soon as C4 and Five complete their contracts, their channels will become FTA.

So why do we have FTV channels? Money and availability! By restricting access to only one satellite provider, in this case Sky, it forces consumers down a particular path and in turn increases profits. Up until now there has only really ever been one satellite provider, but with the launch of freesat soon, I bet C4 and Five are hoping to leave the FTV scene as quickly as possible (although Five seem to be happy according to sources!)