ITV Satellite TV Channels Costa Blanca Spain

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

The ITV channels are split between two satellites, one has a vey strong signal for the Costa Blanca, and the other has a weak signal.

The channels on the stronger signal satellite include the following ITV1 regions: Anglia West, Central SW, Meridian North, Meridian SE, Tyne Tees South, Yorks East  These signals can be received on an small satellite dish, approximately 80cm to 1m in size, although 24/7 reception on the smaller dishes cannot be guaranteed. The frequency these ITV1 regions 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.

These channels are only on this satellite until space can be found for them on the main ITV satellite Astra 2D. Therefore long term reception of these ITV1 regions on this satellite should be not expected, and so caution should be exercised when installers say that you only need a small dish for ITV1 reception.

On the weaker satellite, Astra 2D, there are two "beams", vertical and horizontal. The channels on the vertical frequencies tend to be much stronger than those on the horizontal frequencies. The ITV1, ITV2,3,4 channels are split between these vertical and horizontal frequencies. The vertical channels, like ITV1 London or ITV1 Channel Islands, tend to be on the stronger vertical frequencies .

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

ITV Channel Frequencies for Sky TV and Freesat TV.

The regions for BBC1 and ITV1 on a Sky box channels 101 and 103 are determined by the postcode of the address that you Sky viewing card is registered at.
With no sky viewing card inserted your Sky box loads up BBC1 London and ITV1 Central as the default BBC1 and ITV1 regions for 101 and 103. With the insertion a Sky viewing card, the box then reloads up the EPG so that the 101 and 103 regions will be as per the address of the Sky card.

The only way you can change your 101 and 103 region is by getting a Sky card that is registered at an address in the desired regions of the UK.

Note that all BBC1 regional variations are available on the Sky and Freesat EPG.
Most ITV1 regions can be manually added to the Sky and Freesat EPG.

Update March 2010


"ITV1 Central S" and "ITV1 Central E" (ITV Central South and ITV Central East) have been removed from Astra 2D and have reappeared on the Astra 2B South beam. A Sky viewing card is required for these regions, that used to be free to air - no sky card required. You can add these ITV1 regions using Other Channels. The frequency is: 11973 V 27500 2/3 Its on Astra 2B south beam, so very easy to receive even on a smaller 60cm dish in many areas of Spain - reception will be similar to Sky News! I have no idea for how long these will be available or if this is going to be permanent

ITV TV Channels

ITV1 is the generic brand, that is used by twelve franchises of the ITV Network in England, Wales, the Scottish Borders, the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their eleven regional companies. ITV1 replaced these regional brands completely in October 2002, before Granada and Carlton merged to form ITV plc in 2004. The brand is also used by the non-ITV plc owned Channel Television. The ITV1 brand, however, should be distinguished from the UK-wide ITV, of which ITV1 forms a large proportion. ITV1 and its predecessor channels (collectively known simply as ITV from 1955 to 2001, and always treated as a single channel for ratings purposes), have contended with BBC One for the status of the UK's most watched television channel since the 1950s. However in line with other terrestrial channels, ITV1's audience share has fallen in the era of multi-channel television.

ITV2 is a 24 hour, free-to-air entertainment television channel in the United Kingdom owned by ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998, and is available on digital television via satellite, cable, IPTV and terrestrial (Freeview) platforms. It is also available via analogue cable television. The channel is known for its American programming such as Gossip Girl and Entourage, for reality television spin-off shows such as Xtra Factor and I'm a Celebrity... Get Me out of Here! Now, and for original programming, with shows such as Secret Diary of a Call Girl and Celebrity Juice.

ITV3 is an entertainment television channel in the United Kingdom, that is owned by ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. The channel launched on 1 November 2004. The channel is mainly aimed at the over-35 audience, and much of its output consists of reruns of older ITV drama series and sitcoms. The company are hoping to use it, and extra investment into its ITV2 channel to triple non-terrestrial revenue within five years. ITV's attempt to secure more ratings for the channel has led to the network purchasing the exclusive terrestrial television rights to a number of newer and in some cases popular US drama series, such as NUMB3RS and more recently Law & Order: Trial by Jury. ITV launched a one hour timeshift channel of ITV3 on Monday, 30 October 2006. ITV2+1 launched on the same day. This channel is often unable to broadcast certain programmes "for legal reasons", but the programme in question might still be listed on the EPG. During the 2007 Rugby World Cup, ITV3 broadcast some of the matches while ITV1 and ITV4 were showing live European football matches which were being played at the same time.

ITV4 is a UK television station which launched on 1 November 2005. It is owned by ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. The channel has a male-oriented line-up, including sport, cop shows and US comedies and dramas, as well as classic ITV action series of the 1960s and '70s. The channel has an annual budget of just £15m, compared to £900 - 1000m for the ITV Network. ITV4 is broadcast on Freeview, digital cable, IPTV and satellite television. Sporting coverage includes the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, full afternoon-long coverage of the British Touring Car Championship, Tour de France (Since 2002[3] and until 2013 at least), Legends Football, World Poker Tour, the Grand Slam of Darts, the Isle of Man TT and the Tour of Ireland. The channel also broadcasts a Sunday evening highlights programme featuring rugby union's Guinness Premiership.

CITV, short for "Children's ITV" is a British children's TV station from ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. The channel is aimed at children under 12 years old, showing content from the current CITV library, as well as commissions and acquisitions. The CITV channel is an extension of the original afternoon children's programming block carried on the ITV channel. First called "Children's ITV", the block launched on 3 January 1983 at 15:30. Some years later (following the launch of "Children's BBC", and its subsequent rebranding to "CBBC"), it adopted the shorthand name "CITV". The channel launched on 11 March 2006 at 09:25 on Freeview, Homechoice (now known as TalkTalk TV) and Telewest. It also launched on Sky Digital on 8 May 2006 and NTL on the 6 June.

ITV1 HD is a British free-to-air high-definition television channel operated by ITV plc. ITV HD is available to view in the United Kingdom on Freesat via the red button whilst watching ITV and Freeview channel 51.
ITV HD became ITV1 HD when it relaunched for Freeview HD on 2 December 2009.It continues to operate on Freesat as a red button service on select programming.

It can also be manually tuned to Sky+HD boxes ITVHD on a Sky HD Box