How to Watch German TV in the UK
Kripo Live in Studio 1 of MDR by Tilo MIttelstrass (Details at the end of the text)
A question often asked is “Can I watch live German TV in the UK?” If you’ve got a Sky or Freeview dish you may have tried, but no matter how much you search, you’ll not find any German television channels.
The reason your Sky or Freeview box won’t receive German TV is the satellite that broadcasts into Germany, and a number of other countries on the Continent, is located at a different point in the sky to the one that broadcasts to the UK and Ireland – and there’s a bit more to it as well.
The satellite TV beamed into the UK and Ireland uses a different software standard to that used on the Continent, so even if you point your Sky or Freeview dish at the right satellite, you still won’t see anything.
What can you do?
To watch live German television on your TV set you need three simple things: A suitable free-to-air satellite receiver ( but NOT a Freeview box ). These start at just over £100. You need a suitable satellite dish – these are just slightly larger that a Sky dish, - and you need an installer who knows what they’re doing.
Fortunately, there are suppliers located around the UK who specialise in providing and installing the equipment you need to watch foreign TV. Yes, Italian, Greek, French, Spanish and other communities in the UK all want to watch their favourite TV programmes in their own languages!
Search online for “foreign TV in the UK satellite” or similar search terms – and you’ll find suppliers who can provide the right equipment – and don’t forget to add your location to the search, there may be a dealer on your doorstep!
Watching German or Austrian television on your TV at home isn’t very expensive, and the great news is most of the German TV channels are subscription-free. This includes all of the regional public broadcasters in Germany, together with the ARD and ZDF, Deutsche Welle, specialist channels and many commercial television stations too.
Fröliches Zappen!
Image Credit: “Kripo Live” in Studio 1 of the MDR.
Photographer: Tilo Mittelstrass
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MDR_Kripo_live.jpg
