English TV Abroad

Well in theory the BBC aren't actually broadcasting in Holland. A cable operator is broadcasting the BBC services. So the BBC have a legal agreement with the cable operator (and also the rights holders that the BBC deal with domestically) that allows that operator to re-broadcast the BBC's services.

It isn't as if the BBC are aiming their terrestrial transmitters at the Netherlands (in fact quite the opposite - we are careful to design our transmitter arrays to reduce interference in Northern France, Netherlands and Belgium)

(Growing up on the South Coast we used to get Dutch and Belgian TV signals quite regularly and with good quality colour pictures during certain atmospheric conditions - though we only had a PAL I set so got no sound. We got French TV signals all the time - but didn't have a SECAM L set, so couldn't lock to positive modulation and receive the AM sound they used at the time. French DVB-T is definitely a possibility though)

As I understand it, yes, UK FTA broadcasters must pay extra to be on the ROI EPG. One thing this is resulting in is increasing numbers of FTA channels not appearing on the Irish EPG, or channels being dropped from the Irish EPG when they go FTA (having previously been part of the Sky package). Sky's rate card is here - http://corporate.sky.com/documents/pdf/20c24d2e1c62406594e1a79de5f917db/BSkyB_and_SSSL_Published_Price_list - so make sense of it if you can, I can't!

Although commercial agreements are not public knowledge, it is suspected that Sky pay the BBC in order to list them on the ROI EPG. This is done by regarding them as being pay channels and part of the Sky package - once this was true, although since the BBC went FTA is basically a legal fiction. It is known that the original deal for the BBC to be part of the Sky package in ROI was made with BBC Worldwide and not the BBC directly.

One consequence of the move to DTT is that hotel operators are starting to simply distribute an aerial feed to each room and use integrated digital sets rather than using satellite. This means that often only local programmes are available rather than the usual selection of satellite channels. At one time you could usually rely on having BBC World and CNNi in English, but that is no longer guaranteed.

I used to live in Almere (20 mins outside Amsterdam) and ever since I was there which was from early 2001 I had cable (UPC) which included BBC1 and 2 as FTA whilst 3 and 4 are subscription. They did not, and still don't broadcast CBBC, CBeebies, BBC Parliament or BBC News 24/Channel, but they do broadcast BBC Prime/Entertainment and BBC World. More recently they were also carrying BBC1 HD and BBC/2HD channels at a small extra cost as part of the HD Packages.

In fact ALL platforms, even before going toally digital (years before the UK) BBC1 and 2 were fta. After going digital only, the only platform that didn't carry the BBC Channels was KPN's Digitenne - basically very much like the ITV Digital/Freeview platform (although it is a subscription service and as such very much akin to ITV Digital). BUT the BBC channels were available to the KPN cable service.

In fact for a time, to build up the cable servies (to compete against Canal+ satellite service) they also carried the ITV Channels!

From what I have read it all stems back to just after the last World War in which the BBC allowed the Dutch government to carry the TV signals - from what I remember they were cabled from London to a distribution centre in Hilversum. I just thought it carried on being relayed like that, rather than taking the feed from Sky/freeview platforms (mainly because when the bad weather occurred I could easily swap from satellite to cable with no picture loss!!!)

But it was weird, for a while, watching BBC London, rather than BBC North West! It just didn't feel or look right!

http://www.upc.nl/televisie/tv-zenders/

http://www.digitenne.nl/digitenne-zenders/

Don't think it was a cable - AIUI the cross-channel circuits used by Eurovision etc. pre-satellite were microwave. However ISTR that off-air reception was used for cable feeds - just as was the case with the Channel Islands.

On the other hand, some hotels carry domestic British television. When we stayed in Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands last year, our television included three domestic British channels, BBC1 Scotland, ITV Meridian (South) and Channel 4 (with audio description).
An eclectic mix.
The hotel bar showed a bit of BBC1 Scotland too.
I'm assuming they were picking it up from satellite and rebroadcasting it on the hotel's network.

Is it possible to hoodwink Sky by paying for a package with a UK address and simply moving the box and the card abroad?

You wouldn't need it for the scenario you describe above, but given that I was in a bar in Budapest last month that was showing Sky Sports, I'd say yes, you probably can.

What you're describing is a hotel closed circuit system. As mentioned, several hotels are now ditching these systems in favour of just having digital tellies. This arguably offers a better experience for most of their customers (with a proper EPG, better picture quality generally and AD/Subtitle options), and costs less as all the hotel needs to do by way of infrastructure is provide a connection to an aerial to each room. The downside is they then sacrifice the ability to have channels which are not on DTT, or premium services like Movie channels.

As a kind of post-DSO worst of both worlds, I was in a Travelodge earlier this year which clearly had a closed circuit type system which they were using to broadcast BBC1, BBC2, ITV, C4 and C5. I imagine in their newer sites they just use Freeview.

There's (physically) nothing to stop you taking a Sky box with an active subscription abroad, and they've no way of telling (provided you're not in your first year after activation, when you need to leave the box connected to a UK phone line). It's against the terms of service, but plenty of ex-pats do it.

I did exactly that. I used my parents address for correspondence etc with Sky whilst I had the box and card with me in The Netherlands. It was better than Dutch TV, plus I had my own regional news (NWT & GR) than BBC London!

In fact in the major Dutch cities it os common practice and virtually all bars show Sky (UK & Ireland).

The bar I went to had Sky (UK & Eire), Sky Italia, Sky Deutschland, UPC (NL), Greek TV, French Channels etc etc etc

"UK TV" packages are available widely in Spain for the ex-pat/holiday community, utilising a free-to-air satellite decoder and a fairly large dish. Presumably there's no guarantee that channels will be available forever and I've seen disclaimers in holiday flat information packs that point out that reception isn't always possible in certain weather conditions and advising you to try a different ITV/BBC region if you have problems. I had no problem watching FTA channels though. From the look of advertising hoardings in the area, you can also get subscription packages from operators out there, to channels like Dave. Quite how legal it all is I'm not sure...!

On another note, I distinctly remember viewers from Benelux countries occasionally entering competitions or writing to Swap Shop/Saturday Superstore. I've a vague memory of an OB from Holland or Belgium as part of one of those shows too...

Yep - and the weather maps used to have symbols over that part of the coast as well ISTR.