Television options

The most popular way to receive UK television is by satellite using a Sky decoder.  Receiving the signal is not illegal, but in order to buy a Sky card and subscribe to the service, you need an address in the UK, as well as a bank account there to pay the bills.  Companies in Tenerife will sell cards with subscriptions in place, but you will generally have to pay for your subscription with a Visa or Mastercard.  You will need to pay for the Sky subscription, as well as charges such as hosting fees.

To view Sky digital you will need a Sky digibox with a Sky card to decode the signals from the Astra 2D signal at 28.2º East.  Available channels will depend on your subscription, but even if you do not pay for one and simply buy a free to air card, there will still be a few channels available to you: which ones you receive will depend on your dish.  You will need a satellite dish with a minimum diameter of 1.20 metres on which will receive some free channels (mainly news).  On this smaller dish, the options for subscriber channels are also more limited.  In order to view a wider selection of channels, including BBC1, BBC2, ITV, Channels 4 and 5, you will need a larger dish.  You can either choose between a 3.10 m prime focus dish or a slightly more expensive and better quality 3.0 m dish.
   
An alternative to Sky, particularly popular with football and sports fans, is the Showtime card.  This decodes a number of English language channels such as movies and news, and is a more economic way to see premiership football matches than the Sky alternative and only requires a 1 metre dish.  The slight downside of the channel is that you may have to put up with Arabic subtitles on some of the programmes.

Spanish Satellite Canal + provide limited English language options, such as movies, news and a few entertainment channels.  You can select English easily by selecting the language in the set up.  Telefónica and ONO cable TV also offer some English language TV channels, and some packages iclude ADSL and phone services, however availability is limited to parts of La Laguna and Santa Cruz.  Whichever solution you choose should be based on your viewing habits and, of course, your wallet. 

Many complexes that have expatriate residents have a 3 metre dish and residents can receive Sky digital signals with their own decoders.  If you live on a complex that has this facility, then it is a simply a matter of connecting your Sky box to the communal system and getting a card.

Choosing a satellite installer

Satellite installers have suffered a rocky reputation in Tenerife and problems with TV receptions tend to send many expats into a blind panic.  In choosing an installer, you should choose one that is well established, with a history of successful installations and who you can rely on to still be in business if anything should go wrong.  Equally important is to ensure that the installer is registered with the Spanish Ministry of Telecommunications and operates on a legal basis.  The cost of service from an authorised and insured supplier is no more than those who operate on the fringes of the industry, so it is worth finding one that complies.