Sky Satellite TV Channels Costa Blanca Spain

Sky Satellite TV Channels are transmitted from four satellites, all located in the same "constellation". Sky TV channels are Pay TV channels and require a Sky viewing card to view.

Many Sky TV channels are able to be received on an 80cm dish across most of Europe.

Some Sky TV Channels are on a satellite whose signal tends to be weak during the afternoon. These channels include the majority of the Sky Movies channels, and many of the "+1" channels offered by the UKTV group.

The channels on the stronger signal satellite include Five, Fiver, Fiver+1, Five USA and Five USA+1. This signal can be received on an 80cm satellite dish around most of Europe. As this signal can be received on a smaller dish, these channels are encrypted and do require a Sky viewing card to view.

There are also some Sky TV channels on the weaker satellite, Astra 2D. These include the Disney channels which are on the weakest of the two "beams", the horizontal frequencies.

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

Sky TV Channels

Here are some of the channels available via the Sky TV subscription service, that require a sky viewing card to watch.

Sky1 is a British Sky Broadcasting entertainment channel in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. The channel first launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, and is the fourth-oldest TV channel in the UK, behind BBC One (2 November 1936), ITV (22 September 1955) and BBC Two (20 April 1964). (Channel 4 began later on in 1982). It is available on digital satellite via Sky Digital on channel 106 as well as through digital cable. Sky has commissioned a number of UK-made programmes such as Dream Team, a drama series based on a fictional football team; Al Murray's sitcom Time Gentlemen Please; and Baddiel's Syndrome. Hex, another sci-fi show, had proved popular but was cancelled in April 2006 and Mile High also proved quite popular but it only lasted from 2003-2005. Sky One commissioned Terry Pratchett's Hogfather for Christmas 2006 proving to be their most successful programme ever. Sky also co-produces The 4400 and co-financed the first season of Battlestar Galactica. It also recently has received success with entertainment science shows Brainiac: Science Abuse and spin-offs, Brainiac: History Abuse and Brainiac's Test Tube Baby. Sky1 have also commissioned a number of game shows including Blockbusters. The most recent game show is from Mark Burnett, Are You Smarter Than a 10-Year Old, based on a United States format. On 30 January 2008, Sky One announced plans to bring back the UK 1990s game show Gladiators.

Sky2 is a British television channel, previously known as Sky One Mix, Sky Mix and Sky Two. It was rebranded from Sky Two into Sky2 when Sky's entertainment channels rebranded into the solids, liquids and particles theme. The channel can be received via digital satellite via Sky Digital channel 107, next to Sky1, on digital cable. Sky2 is essentially a "catch-up" service for Sky's main entertainment channel Sky1, broadcasting popular Sky1 shows a few days after their original airing. Doing so, Sky2 described as a timeshuffle channel, so called to distinguish it from other channels like E4 and Living which broadcast on a timeshift basis (i.e. where they have sister channels showing the same programming 1 hour or so later). Sky do not currently broadcast any +1 versions of their entertainment channels.

Sky3 is a free to view British television channel, available on satellite via Sky Digital as well as Freesat from Sky, Freeview, Virgin Media and TalkTalk TV. The channel was launched on 31 October 2005 and is the first free to air general entertainment channel from Sky. Shows on the channel include programming from sister channels Sky1, Sky Arts, Sky Travel and Sky Real Lives.

Unlike Sky1 and Sky2, Sky3 is available Free to view, and does not need a monthly subscription to view. It is available on the Sky satellite platform with a free to view or "freesatfromsky" viewing card.

Dave is a television channel broadcasting in the United Kingdom and Ireland and is owned by UKTV. The channel is available on Satellite, Cable, IPTV and Freeview platforms. A timeshift service with the name Dave ja vu (a play on the phrase déjà vu) is available on the Virgin Media, Sky Digital and Freeview platforms. It was originally called Dave+1. UKTV said the name of the channel was chosen because "Everybody knows a bloke called Dave". Dave is available daily, from 7 am to 3 am, on all platforms. It uses the tagline "the home of witty banter". From 31 January 2008, Dave began broadcasting in widescreen, along with the other UKTV channels. In April 2009, Dave aired 3 new installments of Red Dwarf, entitled Back To Earth. This marks the channel's first foray into scripted original programming. During the airing of the Red Dwarf miniseries the Dave DOG in the top left corner of the screen had the word 'Lister' added after it in the same font after the show's lead character; during the show it is even suggested that the station is named after him. Back to Earth brought Dave record breaking viewing figures, not just in the context of Dave's past, but for digital television in general.

G.O.L.D. is the main channel of the UKTV network, and is a backronym for "Go On Laugh Daily". It broadcasts in the United Kingdom and Ireland and broadcasts comedy films and comedy programmes. It launched on 1 November 1992 as UK Gold, and is currently available on Sky Digital, Virgin Media, TalkTalk TV and terrestrial subscription via Top Up TV. It competes against ITV plc's archive channel ITV3, which has a 1.8% share higher than that of G.O.L.D. The output of the channel is mainly British comedy programmes and sometimes feature length films. These are a combination of internally produced shows and repeats of shows from the BBC & ITV archive.

Virgin1 is the flagship television channel operated by the British broadcaster Virgin Media Television. The channel was launched on 1 October 2007 at 9pm on Freeview, Virgin Media and Sky Digital. The channel is broadcast 24 hours on cable, satellite and Freeview complemented by timeshift channel Virgin1+1. The schedule for Virgin1 currently consists of a mixture of American and British comedy, drama and factual programming, both acquired and commissioned. The channel is pitched between female-targeted channel Living and male-targeted channel Bravo. In addition to exclusive content, Virgin1 shows some content from Living, Bravo and Challenge.

Discovery Channel operated by Discovery Networks UK produces an English speaking channel which targets the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Iceland. The channel's programming is based on programming produced by Discovery Networks Europe, Discovery Channel Canada and Discovery Channel from the US. The Discovery Channel first became available in the UK on April 1, 1989 when Discovery Channel Europe launched. It was the first extension of the Discovery Channel outside the United States. Discovery Channels programmes include MythBusters, American Chopper, Extreme Engineering, How Do They Do It?, Deadliest Catch, Storm Chasers and Time Team.

MTV is a music and general entertainment channel. It first broadcast in the UK and the rest of Europe on August 1, 1987 as MTV Europe. On July 1, 1997 as part of a localization of MTV channels in Europe. MTV Networks Europe launched MTV UK & Ireland. In 2007 the channel was rebranded as MTV One. On July 1, 2009 MTV One was rebranded to MTV. This version of MTV is aimed at audiences in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. The channel is in over 10 million homes in the UK and Ireland. MTV also operates MTV Base, MTV Two, MTV Dance and MTV Hits.

The National Geographic Channel is a television channel that features documentaries produced by the National Geographic Society. It features some programming similar to that on the Discovery Channel such as nature and science documentaries. The channel was launched in Europe in September 1997 and time shared initially with the failing NBC Europe until NBC Europe's demise in 1998. It was later launched worldwide including in Asia and the United States. Today, the channel is available in over 143 countries, seen in more than 160 million homes and in 25 languages. National Geographic Channel HD available in the UK and the Republic of Ireland, is available on Sky Digital, on which it launched in February 2006, it is available on EPG channel 543. The HD version available in the UK and Ireland is not a simulcast and has a separate schedule to the Standard Definition version of the National Geographic Channel.

Sky Movies is the collective name for the premium subscription television movie channels operated by Sky Television, and later British Sky Broadcasting. It has around 5 million subscribers, via satellite, cable and IPTV in the UK and Ireland. In addition to the television channels, it has an interactive 'red button' service, a website (sky.com/movies) and recently launched a 3G Mobile service via Vodafone. Sky Movies is said to be the largest television movie service in the world. Sky movies has several channels, each with its own genre of movies, Sky Movies Premiere, Sky Movies Premiere +1, Sky Movies Comedy, Sky Movies Action & Thriller, Sky Movies Family, Sky Movies Drama, Sky Movies Classics, Sky Movies Sci-Fi & Horror, Sky Movies Modern Greats, Sky Movies Indie, Sky Movies HD1 and Sky Movies HD2. There are HD versions of these Sky Movies channels available also.

Sky Sports is the brand name for a group of sports-oriented television channels operated by the UK and Ireland's main satellite pay-TV company, British Sky Broadcasting. Sky Sports is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It has played a major role in the increased commercialisation of British sport since 1990, sometimes playing a large role in inducing organisational changes in the sports it broadcasts, most notably when it encouraged the Premier League to break away from the Football League in 1992. Sky Sports 1, 2, 3, and 4 are available as a premium package on top of the basic Sky package. These channels are also available as premium on nearly every satellite, cable and IPTV broadcasting system in the UK and Ireland. Unlike the other channels, Sky Sports News is provided as part of basic packages and also broadcasts on Freeview, but not on Freesat. Sky Sports is perhaps best known for its Premier League football coverage. There are HD versions of these Sky Sports channels available also.