Kaitlyn, FTA means Free To Air, OTA means over the air. FTA channels are unencrypted signals from satellites received on a satellite dish with coverage based on what is called the satellites footprint (coverage area) while OTA are local channels which can be received free over an antenna. There are also encrypted satellite channels that require a subscription to receive the channel such as DishNetwork or DirecTV. The dish required to receive OTA is larger that those for Dish or Direct (we call the smaller size dishes pizza dishes around here). A Ku satellite channel requires a dish normally at least 33 inches in size while C-band requires a dish over 6 feet which we calls (BUDs - Big Ugly Dishes). The station that originates the signal determines whether it will be free for all with appropriate equipment to watch (FTA) or encrypted requiring a subscription to watch. Hope this helps somewhat. The FTA world is really exciting because there are several hundred channels in almost every major language to watch without a subscription. You may want to google 'Clark belt' (the belt the satellites line up on) for information on the satellites themselves and how it is possible for us to track a number of satellites with a dish, a simple motor and of course an appropriate receiver. Oh, and google LNB or LNBF also depending on how detailed your report is. That is the thingy on the end of the dish that receives the signal from the dish. The type of LNB determines whether you can receive Ku, Cband or subscription - the lnb for each looks the same but is indeed different.
Or maybe I have no idea what I'm doing!! 
