Free To Air Satellite TV (FTA) systems are used to receive satellite television (TV) and radio services broadcast in clear (unencrypted) form. Any person with the appropriate receiving equipment can receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscription, other ongoing cost, or one-off fee (e.g., Pay-per-view). In the traditional sense, this is carried on terrestrial radio signals and received with an antenna.
FTA also refers to channels and broadcasters providing content for which no subscription is expected, even though they may be delivered to the viewer/listener by another carrier for which a subscription is required, e.g., Cable television, the Internet, or satellite. These carriers may be mandated (or OPT) in some geographies to deliver FTA channels even if a premium subscription is not present (providing the necessary equipment is still available), especially where FTA channels are expected to be used for emergency broadcasts, similar to the 1-1-2 (112) emergency service provided by mobile phone operators and manufacturers.
Free-to-view (FTV) is, generally, available without subscription but is digitally encoded and may be restricted geographically.
Free-to-air is often used for international broadcasting, making it something of a video equivalent to shortwave radio. Most FTA retailers list free-to-air channel guides and content available in North America for FTA Channels USA use.
What Free To Air Satellite TV System I can use to view the FTA channels?.
Allows you to received channels from one satellite only (one orbital location). Since most of the free to air ethnic channels are on one satellite (i.e. Galaxy 19 at 97W), a stationary system should be just fine. On Galaxy 19 there are over 100 free to air channels from several countries. The system is easy to setup and should not take you more than 2 hrs to get installed.
If you are a satellite enthusiast and want to receive more channels, then a motorized FTA satellite system is the way to go. The motorized system includes a motor that allows you to move the dish East/West to track more satellites. The motorized system is little more challenging to install as it takes more accuracy to align the dish.We have prepared a help page on installing a motorized system which is a must read if you don’t have experience in this.
KU & C Band Free To Air Satellite TV System:
This system will allow you to receive the KU and C band channels. A minimum 6′ motorized satellite dish is required. [More info.]
DISCLAIMER
These free to air channels are samples of the free-to-air (clear and un-encrypted) channels available on North American satellites today. Some of the channels may require a dish bigger than 30″ and/or an HH Motor.
We don’t claim or guarantee that these channels will remain free to air for any period of time. Some of these channels may go off the air at some point or become encrypted and new channels may show up. We are not affiliated with or resell programming from any of the channels above. The list above reflects what is available to our knowledge.
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