Channel Four (4) E4 More4 Film Four (Film4) Satellite TV Channels Costa Blanca Spain

Channel Four Satellite TV Channels are transmitted from two satellites in the same "constellation". On one satellite the channels are available for free, with no viewing card, whilst on the other satellite the channels require a Sky viewing card to view.

The Channel 4 channels are split between two satellites, one has a vey strong signal / frequency for the Costa Blanca, and the other satellite has a weak signal / frequency.

The channels on the stronger signal satellite include the Irish version of Channels 4, Channel 4+1, E4, More4 and a channel labelled as TTon4. This signal can be received on an satellite dish larger than 1m is size, although 24/7 reception on the smaller dishes cannot be guaranteed. The frequency these Channel 4 are located does tend to be the weakest during the afternoon. As this signal can be received on a smaller dish, these channels are encrypted and do require a Sky viewing card to view, except for TTon4.

TTon4 is a left over test signal for Channel Four. Its availability should not be guaranteed for the long term. Caution should be exercised when installers say that you only need a small dish for Channel 4 reception.

On the weaker satellite, Astra 2D, there are two "beams", a vertical frequency and horizontal frequency. The channels on the vertical frequencies tend to be much stronger than those on the horizontal frequencies. The C4+1 and E4 channels on the stronger vertical frequencies. The C4 channels (104 on a Sky and Freesat EPG) are on the weaker horizontal frequencies.

Reception of the frequencies on Astra 2D are the ones that require a "big dish".

Channel Four (4) frequency settings for Sky TV and Freesat TV.

To add any extra ITV regional variations to your Sky box

Press SERVICES
Press 4 - SYSTEM SET UP
Press 4- ADD CHANNELS
(input the frequency details for the required channels)
Go to FIND NEW CHANNELS and Press SELECT
Press YELLOW to put a "tick" next tot he required channels
Press SELECT to add
Press SELECT to complete the process

To access these "extra" channels
Press SERVICES
Go to "OTHER CHANNELS"
Go to the desired "extra" channel and press SELECT

TTon4

It looks like that, as from January 2010, the TTon4 channel is no longer available.

In the Costa Blanca area, many people used TTon4 to view Channel 4, which was useful for people who used to use this to watch Channel 4 on Freesat receivers, as the main Channel 4 frequency has limited reception in the Costa Blanca Spain.

This was helped by the fact that it could be viewed for free, without a Sky card, and on a small satellite dish.

As I have mentioned in the past, this TTon4 channel was a left over test signal, which could be removed at any time, and it now appears that C4 have now removed this and so it has disappeared from the "Other Channels" list.

However, the Irish Channel 4 variations on 12480 are still currently available.

Channel 4 TV Channels

Channel 4 (Channel Four) is a UK public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA), the station owned now and operated by the Channel Four Television Corporation, a public body established in 1990, coming into operation in 1993.

The channel was established to provide a fourth television service to the UK that would break the duopoly of the Licence Fee-funded BBC's two established services and the single commercial broadcasting network, ITV. Channel 4 enjoys almost universal coverage in the UK and some neighbouring countries and a significant audience share, despite having seen new competition with the growth of cable, satellite and digital services.

Channel 4 was established with, and continues to hold, a remit of public service obligations which it must fulfill. The remit changes periodically, as dictated by various broadcasting and communications acts, and is regulated by the various authorities Channel 4 has been answerable to; originally the IBA, then the ITC and now Ofcom.

The preamble of the remit as per the Communications Act 2003 states that:

"The public service remit for Channel 4 is the provision of a broad range of high quality and diverse programming which, in particular:

- demonstrates innovation, experiment and creativity in the form and content of programmes;
- appeals to the tastes and interests of a culturally diverse society;
- makes a significant contribution to meeting the need for the licensed public service channels to include programmes of an educational nature and other programmes of educative value; and
- exhibits a distinctive character."

E4 is a digital television channel in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, launched as a pay-TV companion to Channel 4 on 18 January 2001. The "E" stands for entertainment, and the channel is mainly aimed at the lucrative 15 - 35 age group. Programming includes US imports such as Friends, The O.C., Smallville, Veronica Mars, The Cleveland Show, The Sopranos, What About Brian?, Desperate Housewives, 90210, Gilmore Girls, One Tree Hill, Scrubs, and British shows such as Shameless, Hollyoaks, Skins, The Inbetweeners and Misfits. Some of the imports, e.g. Desperate Housewives and Ugly Betty are screened on E4 up to one week ahead of their Channel 4 broadcasts. Its most successful airing was on 25 January 2007 when the first episode of Skins gained 1.5 million viewers, the highest ranked audience of the channel's history, beating previous record holder an August 2005 episode of Lost. E4 was originally available as part of the basic Sky Digital satellite subscription channel package, only becoming free-to-air in 2008.

More4 is a digital television channel, produced by United Kingdom broadcaster Channel 4, that launched on 10 October 2005. It is carried on Freeview, on satellite broadcasters Freesat and Sky Digital. More4 centres around lifestyle, documentary, and arts programming, and competes with the BBC's similar offering, BBC Four. More4 airs from 9:00 am until about 3:00 am. The channel's annual budget is £33 million, of which £20 million is earmarked for original programming. Peter Dale, Channel 4's current head of documentary events and the new channel's chief said it would be "television that restarts the conversation". MOre4 E4 was originally available as part of the basic Sky Digital satellite subscription channel package, only becoming free-to-air in 2008.

Film4 (Film Four) is a free digital television channel in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, owned and operated by Channel 4, that screens films.Film4 did not originally focus on broadcasting blockbusters, but nowadays broadcasts mainly mainstream Hollywood movies. The channel frequently has themed nights or seasons in which a number of films centred around one genre, director or actor are shown. As Channel 4 also owns a film production company, Film4 Productions, it shows many of its in-house productions. Occasional non-film (but film-related) programmes are also shown. Wherever possible, films are shown in their correct aspect ratio. No digital on-screen graphics are superimposed. Under UK broadcasting rules, it was able to screen most films unedited and in earlier timeslots when it was a subscription channel, but these concessions were lost when it became free-to-air, and more adult material is now confined to after the 9pm watershed. Film4 was originally known as FilmFour and became Channel 4's second channel (after Channel 4 itself) when it launched on 1 November 1998. It was a subscription-only service available on satellite television via the Sky Digital platform. It cost £6.00 a month , eventually rising to up to £7. The subscription service ended on 19 July 2006 and the channel re-launched (under the slightly modified name of Film4) as a free-to-air service a few days later on 23 July. Due to the change, the channel's availability increased from 300,000 (subscribers) to 18 million households. It also changed its broadcasting hours to 1.00pm-8.45am, and commercial breaks were included during films for the first time.