How can I watch Channel 4 and five on satellite if I have no card or a free-to-view card?
Get a replacement card from Freesat from Sky (fSfS)
Get a new free-to-view installation from Sky, by calling their hot-line on 0870-240 5651 and choose option 1. You can pay for a replacement Freesat from Sky (fSfS) card by paying £20 with a credit or debit card.
Get new Sky free-to-view installation
Get a new free-to-view installation from Sky, by calling their hot-line on 0870-606 1111. You will get a new dish, a new Digibox, a new free-to-view card and full installation.
Get a Freeview box
From £20: If you are in a Freeview reception area (see
Freeview Reception) then you can get a Freeview box from a local store. This will give you several additional TV channels ( f-tn, The Box, TMF, UK Bright Ideas, UK History, Sky Sports News) and some extra radio stations.
This will keep your digital wide-screen reception of Channel 4 and five.
Subscribe to Sky for a year
From £157.50: If you have never had a free box and dish from Sky, then the best way is to get the offer from Sky and get a free Digibox, and subscribe to the Value Pack for one year.
Either phone 08705-800874 or visit
http://www.sky.com/ordersky/home
Re-subscribe to Sky
From £15: If you have been a Sky subscriber in the past, you should not have to complete the minimum term of one year. You can re-subscribe to Sky on the Value Pack and cancel again after one month.
Either phone 08708-501 607 or visit
http://www.sky.com/ordersky/home
Watch on analogue cable
From Free: If you have ever had a cable TV service (analogue or digital), the law requires that itv-1, Channel 4 and five are kept available as an analogue service, even if you have stopped a subscription many years ago.
Most systems now use a digital TV receiver to produce the analogue picture for these channels, so the quality is good. However, it is not wide-screen.
You will need a cable to connect the TV Out socket on the cable box using a suitable cable (made from parts 16-0605 and 16-0445 from
www.rapidelectronics.co.uk) and you will have to re-tune your TV or video.
Because of the way that digital TV is carried on cable systems, you must connect the video and TV by a SCART cable, and tune in the video only.
Watch on analogue UHF
From Free: As a final backup, you may still be able to receive an analogue. The picture quality may be poor, and will not be wide-screen.
Updated 27/2/06 to reflect ITV channels being free-to-air
Click here for the list of questions
Click here to ask a new question
Your comments
First comments 
Earlier comments ◊ Later comments
Latest comments
Your comments are always welcome. Please use the form below to add your thoughts or questions to this page. We will get back to you as soon as we can.
William KirkpatrickSunday 18 May 2008 10:14PM
Hi.
When Freesat was first announced some 18 months ago I bought from Maplins a satellite receiver that does not have a slot for a card. Does anyone know if and when I will be able to receive channel 4 and 5 also UK history.Thanks
Bill KirkpatrickfrankWednesday 28 May 2008 11:23AM
Do I need a flat screen tv to benefit from HD freesat?frank: You do get a better picture on a normal TV with Freesat HD, but if you want the whole experience then a widescreen HD screen is necessary. For HD you need a HD ready set, HDMI lead and an HD receiver. steve: Sky does not broadcast BBC or ITV channels, they are provided directly by the broadcaster. Channel 4 is free-to-air, but currently Sky boxes do not use this (there is a separate feed for Freesat at the moment). Five/Fiver/Five US still needs a Sky card. After finishing viewing for the evening and switching my freesat box to standby I`ve noticed thst the box stays quite warm at the top of the box, do I need to unplug my box or will this lose the initial set-up.
Mr Dudley Clark: You can turn the box off, there is no problem with that. If you have the Humax box, there is a menu option to have a "full standby" mode that uses only 1W, but takes a little longer to come on. michael wassSunday 21 September 2008 9:45AM
i want to cancel sky and go on to freesat i cant find my account no but when i have phoned sky in the past they have only asked for my phone no will i need my account no or is my phone no ok or is my account no on the sky boxmichael wass: There is no requirement for your telephone number to cancel your Sky Subscription, only your details.
Your account number is written on your monthly bill. Lorna PorteousThursday 25 September 2008 2:52PM
Lockerbie I have just moved house. The previous occupants had Sky and the Sat Dish is still on the wall along with the cables that fed into the system.. I don't want to have to pay for sky but the picture is so bad. Can the Sat dish and cables be used in anyway to allow me to get a decent signal and allow me to use my freeview box. My new postcode is DG11 2DHStelios VoulgarakisWednesday 8 October 2008 11:04AM
Dear Sir,my wife(she is British)live in Greece on the island of Lesbos.We both miss British TV and wish to receive the normal stations,BBC1,BBC2,ITV,Channel Four and maybe Sky.How do we go about achieving that,Do we need a big sat. dish?Do we need a receiver? Special cards from each station,What is the cost of all this?K. BrownWednesday 8 October 2008 8:53PM
Hello Stelios Voulgarakis, we are British people who live in southern Bulgaria and we brought our SKY BOX with us from the UK and hooked it up to a 120cm dish and it works fine, the only problem we have is that we cannot get BBC 1 BBC2 OR ITV but can get channel 4 and 5 along with all the sky channels. so maybe if you try with this and a large dish then you too will get it working. Does anybody else know of anyway to get BBC AND ITV CHANNELS PLEASE, thanks Kev K. BrownWednesday 8 October 2008 8:59PM
Hello does anybody know the longtitude and latitude points as to the direction of setting up the satelite dish to recieve SKY CHANNELS i believe it is the satelite ASTRA but which one as i believe there is more than one? can anyone help me on this as we had a man set it up for us but have now moved to another house and need the settings please thanks KevDarrenThursday 16 October 2008 6:26PM
I have moved to a new house and used the already installed sat with my old sky box to view freeview channels but now for some reason I can't get Channel 4 and STV (ITV) they don't even appear on the sky guide, also BBC 1 Scotland and BBC2 Scotland has changed from channels 101 and 102 to 971 and 990. Anyone got any idea why this suddenly happened and how I can fix it?Darren either you have no sky card in the box, or the sky card is in the wrong slot or the digibox's card reader or the card is faulty. to fix put a working freesat card in the bottom slot (the right way round ! ) Mark Aberfan Aerials vivienne johnsonMonday 20 October 2008 10:12PM
i have just had sky freesat put in and i cant get channel 4 or 5 what do i do regards vivienne
vivienne johnson: Is the card inserted in the correct slot? vivienne johnsonMonday 20 October 2008 10:28PM
yes it was done by a sky engineer whos been doing it for years,regards viviennevivienne johnsonMonday 20 October 2008 10:52PM
thank you for that clicking on the hyperlink you made i got straight to it.i will try tomorrow as being a pensioner i need my beauty sleep.regards viviennevivienne johnson: good luck. vivienne johnsonTuesday 21 October 2008 9:05PM
to briantist thank you very much for your help,because i had just that day had freesat installed,i rang sky freesat this morning before i tried anything else, and found that they put it right from their end,they re sent the signal to activate and i had all the channels within 30 minutes,the engineer who installed it,had had to resend the info three times before he got the activation and it hadnt gone through right,when i rang they could see the problem and rapidly sorted it,im one happy bunny,thank you again for your kind help.regards viviennevivienne johnson: I'm glad they sorted it for you, seems like they messed up with your card activation... I hope you enjoy your fSfS. pramisThursday 23 October 2008 8:46PM
Bradford when will channel 5 be avalalble on freesatpramis: Yes, "in November" apparently. John EganSunday 26 October 2008 10:57AM
I've been watching "five", "fiver" & "five us" in Ireland using a UK FTA card. I no longer receive "five"'s channels. When they go on FREESAT will they return to users of old style FTA cards? Many thanks if somebody knows the answer.
JOHN EGANricoSaturday 1 November 2008 4:14PM
i have been doing a lot of research into whether to go for sky pay once forever & freesat -any suggestions which service will give me a better selection of channels? & are all the channels in HD on freesat HD?rico: If you want HD, Freesat is your option. If you already have a Sky box and don't want, use FreesatFromSky.
Only the HD channels are in HD on Freesat, but you can watch the SD channels using HDMI which gives them the best possible look from the source signal.
Freesat also will not keep pestering you to subscribe to Sky.... KarenMonday 3 November 2008 3:10PM
Are more companies going to start making telly's with freesat built in so we don't have to have a box?B PardoeMonday 24 November 2008 2:48PM
At present I subscribe to SKY and have a sky+ box.If I cancel my subscription will I lose the sky+ functions and not be able to record etc ?B Pardoe: Yes, that is right, and you can't play back any recordings either.
You can, however, get a subscription-free recorder, the Freesat+ box now, that will continue to work for ever with no monthly payments. AlanThursday 11 December 2008 1:11PM
If i purchase a freesat + box, can anyone tell me whitch of the main channels i will not be able to recieve, ie bbc itv excetraaerialmanThursday 11 December 2008 2:22PM
you will be able to recieve all bbc and itv channels and also the humax box has a manual tune function that scans all ftv channels then are not currently on the freesat epgVince EatonSunday 29 March 2009 5:31PM
Hi we live on the Algarve Portugal and use the Astra 2A satellite via a `Neotion Box` Round about early Jan. 2009 we got Channel 4 and Five together with their varients and had them for several weeks. A few weeks ago my Neotion Box jammed up and I had to reboot it. Since then we can`t get Channel 4 and Five etc. Is it possible to get these channels at this time.
Vince EatonvchidzeyMonday 20 April 2009 3:59PM
Taunton i have lost all freeview channels.why is this and is it supposed to happen.or has my thomson tv recorder broke down.RoyThursday 14 May 2009 11:25AM
I have just got a secondhand Grundig GDS310/2 reciever that I am using for freesat. Everthing is fine execept BBC1 & ITV1 as they both receive southern broadcasts, and I am in Yorkshire and would like to see our local news etc. has anyone any ideas on how to retune these channels. MattThursday 14 May 2009 2:59PM
Mansfield Dunno for sure but if (as i'd assume it is) this is a former sky box, then you need a card registered for Yorkshire to get that region as 103 on the epg. Which region of yorkshire do you want as WEST (leeds) is available fta and you can set it manually to "other channels", but EAST (Hull/Lincolnshire) is still ftv. MattThursday 14 May 2009 3:23PM
Mansfield Ooops just spotted you said bbc1 as well. For some deeply politically reason (which i've forgotten about) all bbc regions are already on the sky epg.... BBC1 Yorkshire (i.e. Harry Gration) is 976 & BBC1 East Yorkshire & Lincolnshire (Peter Levy). If you want the details for the ITV1 stuff post back and i'll list them.MattThursday 14 May 2009 3:29PM
Mansfield I'm such a numpty, meant to say BBC1 East Yorkshire & Lincolnshire (Peter Levy) is 977. IanMonday 27 July 2009 4:17PM
Question.
When precisely will we be able to see Five USA on Freeview?
Or is that a leading question as I believe it should have late 2008 or earlier this year (2009) but so far 'nowt' has happened.
Anybody got a clue please? Ian: FIVE US is on Freeview on Multiplx A and has been since it started broadcasting. RichardMonday 14 September 2009 1:09AM
any visitor from the UK to Southern Ireland should visit LIDL supermarkets and may be able to purchase a complete freesat system for 80 euros. all channels are on EPG no card required for any channel, excellent manual included. the product is a German and called Silvercrest Irish agents are Zintek Systems Greenhills Road Tllaght Dublin 24.It is an excellent product.Richard: Thanks. Such products should not be confused, however, with official Freesat system that provide MHEG5 interactive services and the EPG. I've got sky freesat. I paid £20 for my card about 3 years ago. I've heard that sky are replacing all freesat viewing cards for security reasons. How can I get my card replaced?
I understand that the cards will cease to function during October 2009. 
BBC must improve online offering - …
Ariel - BBC Trust: Online must impr…
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/m…
Google TV: silent but not forgotten…
Ofcom to crack down on sloppy subti…
The quality of live subtitling Impr…
Half-way mark for digital radio lis…
DTG :: News :: Talk Talk reports ne…
BBC iPlayer - Help - Frequent quest…
The Flat Screen TV Guide explains everything you need to know about Flat Screen TV 
Upgrading from Sky to Freesat
Astra 2D at 28.2°E - LyngSat SatTracker - find Astra 2D 
Show: 
