English speaking Foreign Stations

[taelon721]

Why aren't there any English speaking foreign TV stations on the North American continent? I mean, why don't we have channels like the real BBC channels on a satellite like Intelsat 5? Is it because we could actually understand it? Or is there some type of law that prevents things like actual UK channels appearing in the US?

My curiousity has got to me. You can't even get real UK channels on special package deals on the big providers. If I was Chinese, Iranian, Vietnamese, Korean, Polish, etc... I could see some programming from my home, but if I am Scottish, Irish, English.... No way! All you are allowed access to is BBC America.

 

[PSB]

Its so unfair

If you want QUALITY UK programming the only choice is the pay service of Star Choice!

 

[taelon721]

Its so unfair

If you want QUALITY UK programming the only choice is the pay service of Star Choice!

I think I might have to check into that. I would love to get Scream! and Drive-In Classics. Those stations sound to cool for our US providers to carry.

 

[PSB]

A lot of good info in our Canadian Satellite services area!



http://www.satelliteguys.us/forumdisplay.php?f=28

 

[taelon721]

A lot of good info in our Canadian Satellite services area!



http://www.satelliteguys.us/forumdisplay.php?f=28

Cool. Thanks....

 

[icstephen]

Are there any full time channels on SC besides bbc kids and bbc world?, They do have various programs from the UK but no specific channel (or am I missing something). I have SC and I too really would like to get channels from the UK/Australia or other English speaking countries...BBC America is a waste, they will put somethings on for a short time and then take them off, with the exception of footballers wives, cash in the attic and bargain hunt which they run constantly. We where watching BBCA allot about 2 months ago and they took everything that we where watching off...I am so aggravated about missing one of those shows that I am going to get a multi-region DVD player (PAL/NTSC) and just buy the dvd's. Also the shows that are on SC from the UK are less molested than they are here, where the broadcasters feel they must hack them to pieces (Ie, Doctor who & Ramsays kitchen nightmares). I do make a point to bug D* everytime I talk to them and occasionally send them a letter about adding some of that stuff to the international pack...I doubt it will do any good...but it makes me feel better

 

[mark_calgary]

Are there any full time channels on SC besides bbc kids and bbc world?, They do have various programs from the UK but no specific channel (or am I missing something). I have SC and I too really would like to get channels from the UK/Australia or other English speaking countries...BBC America is a waste, they will put somethings on for a short time and then take them off, with the exception of footballers wives, cash in the attic and bargain hunt which they run constantly. We where watching BBCA allot about 2 months ago and they took everything that we where watching off...I am so aggravated about missing one of those shows that I am going to get a multi-region DVD player (PAL/NTSC) and just buy the dvd's. Also the shows that are on SC from the UK are less molested than they are here, where the broadcasters feel they must hack them to pieces (Ie, Doctor who & Ramsays kitchen nightmares). I do make a point to bug D* everytime I talk to them and occasionally send them a letter about adding some of that stuff to the international pack...I doubt it will do any good...but it makes me feel better

They do have BBC Canada as well although they seem to act a bit like your BBC America and pull shows I have been following. I do recommend a region free DVD player that converts PAL to NTSC. A British friend of mine is always getting shows off of ebay UK and Amazon UK and lending them to me long before they would ever show up here (Canada), if ever.

I agree about the molested shows. I had the (dis)pleasure of watching a show last weekend on A&E that used to appear on BBC Canada. The cut it up to fit in a 60 min slot whereas it took 90min on BBC Canada (both had lots commercials of course). I was a bit pissed.

 

[mastermesh]

well, I guess you could count Russia Today as English Speaking foriegn channel?

 

[GaryPen]

If anyone has a friend or relative in the UK (or any country for that matter) with a broadband connection, they could use a Slingbox and a DVR/cable box/satellite receiver designed for that country to view on a PC here, whatever programming is available on that receiver in that country.

Of course, you'd need to connect a PC to your TV. But, a lot of people already use an HTPC. This would just be one more thing to watch with it, along with QAM, ATSC, FTA, DVD, etc.

http://www.slingmedia.com/us/

Actually, there's a UK version with built-in DVB-T tuner that seems to work with all terrestrial signals there. (You'll still need a DVR, if you want to time-shift. The Slingbox software doesn't have DVR capability. But, it can control your DVR remotely.)

http://www.slingmedia.com/uk/slingbox/

 

[icstephen]

I am probably going with the region free dvd...sad thing is I would pay for non American English channels. Also I think that BBC Canada is probably ran by Discovery networks...that's who runs it here (I think), I like to watch "Gordon Ramsey" on Food tv Canada because they do not edit all the swearing like they do on BBCA. Same thing with "Most haunted"..although they tend to edit out the "F" word on that channel. I have noticed that here (in the U.S.) that the Cartoon network is now even censoring "Futurama"....I am getting to the point where I am about to ditch the Directv, keep the SC and just buy the shows I like on dvd, then I could watch them the way they originally aired.

Yes "Russia Today" is an English speaking foreign channel but its all news, like BBCW...I am more interested in entertainment channels. There are some stations from around the globe on the web but it seams like there always buffering + I don't want to watch tv on my computer...I spend about 60 hours working in front of the computer and want nothing to do with it when I'm not working.

 

[Keith Brannen]

Yes "Russia Today" is an English speaking foreign channel but its all news, like BBCW...I am more interested in entertainment channels.

Yes, the pickings certainly are slim, only ones to qualify at all are MRTV-3 (Myanmar(Burma)) and NTA2 (Nigeria) on IA5. While I do enjoy the foreign programming with English subtitles, nothing would please me more than a station or two from the UK, and especially from Australia and New Zealand (very little programming from those two countries ever makes it to any North American TV station).