1. The background to it all
2. What does it all mean for caravanners?

The background to it all.

There are 3 satellites in the Astra 2 cluster, close together in space so that your dish sees them as a single item. Between them they carry all the 200 or more channels transmitting to the British Isles via satellite. In Britain that's fine but elsewhere there's a problem. The 3 satellites all transmit beams that vary in the amount of ground area they cover. The 2 older satellites have beams that between them cover virtually the whole of Europe. For a public service provider like the BBC, with copyright and contractual agreements limiting its coverage to the UK only, that presents a real problem. All the terrestrial broadcasters began by using Sky's encryption technology to restrict viewing just to those people who have a UK address. Other broadcasters on the other hand (like the various shopping channels for example) are happy for anyone to see their programmes regardless of where they live and therefore transmit their signals clear.

However the latest satellite, the Astra 2D, has a much narrower beam. The older satellites can be thought of as flood lights lighting up a huge area of Europe, whereas the newer 2D is more like a spot light. In theory it only covers the UK and Ireland, though in practice its beam does spread wider. When it reached the end of its 5-year encryption agreement with Sky, the BBC decided that it could avoid the cost of encryption by transferring its operations over to the 2D and transmitting clear. It recognises that some people in Europe will be able to receive the signal but the numbers are not large and the BBC doesn't see it as a major problem. (I think it's right - most Europeans are not going to buy a huge dish to watch programmes in a foreign language and the number of expat Brits who get the signal, even if they do buy that massive dish, will be minute compared with the BBC's total audience.)

Note that it is not illegal to watch the BBC from outside the UK. The BBC might not like the idea but there is absolutely nothing it can do about it (other than by returning to encryption again, and there's no chance of that). As long as the BBC transmits its satellite output without encryption, there is nothing in the laws of any European country to prohibit you from watching it.

The BBC has bought a regionalisation service from BSkyB to ensure that viewers within the UK with current Sky or FTV viewing cards will continue to automatically receive the right national and regional versions of BBC 1 and BBC 2 at 101 and 102 respectively. In addition to having their local region in slots 101 & 102, all the regions are available in consecutive slots from 941 to 962 (971 - 992 from 28 February) so viewers can access any of them by simply keying the appropriate 3-digit EPG code. This enables a Scottish viewer living in London for example to watch BBC1 (and BBC2) Scotland if he so wishes.

So, what does all of this mean for caravanners?

Well for a start the majority of caravanners can probably forget any idea of watching BBC down in the south of Italy, Portugal or Spain. The size of dish you'd need will be far too big for most outfits to carry. (Though see the additional note highlighted in red below.) You'll be left with Sky News and a few other Sky channels. Or if you want something really entertaining, try Euro News. It's so bad, it's cult viewing!

For people wishing to listen to the radio, there is some good news. In the case of Radios 2 and 4 the BBC, having recognised that there was an established and legitimate expat audience for them, backtracked on its decision to move its entire satellite operation to the 2D, and as a result those 2 radio stations are once again transmitting on the south beam.

You should still be able to get the BBC (together with ITV) in most parts of France except the far south, even with a small 44cm zone 1 minidish. You'll also get it in Holland and Belgium. A 60cm zone 2 dish (the type recommended for Scotland) should fill in the gaps in the rest of France and also give you some reception as far away as those parts of Spain, Germany and Switzerland adjacent to the French border but beyond those areas you're going to need a progressively larger dish. Paradoxically, there does appear to be a reception hotspot around the southwest of Spain, which means that between say Marbella and Gibraltar you might get away with a 1 metre dish, just about within the carrying capabilities of some outfits (though sadly not mine!).

If you use satellite TV in this country you will be able to watch your home region on BBC1, regardless of whereabouts in the country you are. But if you want the local region, say for local weather reports, you'll be able to get that as well.

Incidentally, some people have asked me whether taking out a Sky subscription will enable them to get the BBC further away. The answer is no. It doesn't matter whether you have a Sky contract or not. Remember each station is transmitted by only one of the 3 different satellites, and its signal on the ground is therefore determined by that one satellite's footprint. In the UK, it doesn't matter which of them any station transmits on because they all cover the UK anyway. Abroad it's a different kettle of fish and if the beam that carries the station you want to watch can't be received where you happen to be, you can have all the contracts you like and you still won't get a signal.

My database of BBC/ITV availability around Europe is growing, thanks to the generous help of others, and it would appear that a 60cm dish is clearly sufficient anywhere in France.