5* Television Channel - The Sat & TV Guy

5* 5star

5* (pronounced “five star”) is a sister channel of Channel 5. 5* was previously called Fiver.

5*current schedule includes a variety of programming, including reality series, American series, and Australian soap operas Home & Away and Neighbours. 5* offers a ‘First Look’ screening of Home and Away from Monday to Friday with the new episodes following the Channel 5 broadcast.

Most Channel 5 TV channels are are available for free on satellite, without viewing card or subscription. They are classed as “free to air” channels, and can be received on most digital satellite receivers, including Sky digiboxes and Freesat set top boxes.

Initially 5* was a “free to view” channel, and available on satellite only with a Sky viewing card but no monthly subscription.. As it was encrypted, it was transmitted on a European beam of the UK TV satellites.

A “free to air” version of Channel 5 was launched on 5 November 2008, to enable its availability on Freesat. This free to air version of Channel 5 was transmitted from the Astra 2D satellite with its “spot beam”, aimed at the UK. This tried to limit reception of Channel 5 channel in Europe. To some extent this worked, as some areas of Spain, like the Costa Blanca, had to use large 1.8m satellite dishes, 1.9m satellite dishes, and 2.4m satellite dishes to watch Channel 5 TV channels. Some areas of Spain were more lucky, like the Costa del Sol, where they could use the smaller “125x135cm” ( or a “1.4m” ) satellite dish.

In November 2011, the Channel 5 TV channels moved from their satellite, to a temporary home on the Astra 1N satellite. The Astra 1N satellite “signal footprint” is more generous to expats in Spain, and so the Channel 5 TV channels on Astra 1N could be received on a satellite dish as small as 90x100cm, a “1m” satellite dish. This was also when Channel 5, Channel 5+1, 5* and Five USA became available on Freesat.

During December 2012, the Channel 5 TV channels on Astra 1N moved to the UK beam on their new satellite,Astra 2F.

During June 2015, the Channel 5 TV channels moved from Astra 2F to the UK beam on the new satellite,Astra 2G.

The new Astra 2F and Astra 2G satellites UK “spot beam” or “narrow beam” signal footprint is different to the previous UK TV satellites UK beam. This has meant that reception of channels on the new Astra 2 satellites will be different to previous reception. In the areas between Valencia and Alicante, our service area, the Channel 5 channels on the new Astra 2 satellites UK beam can still be received on a small satellite dish – as small as a 110x120cm satellite dish with a 125x135cm satellite dish being the recommended size satellite dish.

However, in other areas of Spain, reception of these Channel 5 TV channels on the new Astra 2 satellites UK beam has become harder. For example, in areas such as Barcelona, Catalonia and Zaragoza, you need at least a 1.8m satellite dish to receive these channels on the Astra 2F UK beam, whereas previously you only needed a smaller 80cm satellite dish. It is a similar story in the south of Spain, in areas like the Costa del Sol, Malaga, Almeria, Seville, Gibraltar and even Portugal, where even the larger 2.4m satellite dishes are struggling to receive these channels on the Astra 2 satellites UK beam.

5* on Freesat and Sky

5* is on Freesat channel 131.

5* is on Sky channel 176.

5*+1 on Freesat and Sky

5*+1 is a one hour timeshift of 5*. 5* +1 launched on 4 November 2014.

5*+1 is on Freesat channel 132.

5*+1 is on Sky channel 190.

Channel 5 TV Channels:

Channel 5 TV Channel 5 : Channel and frequency Information