How to get Italian satellite TV in the UK Tivusat and Sky Italia

“Ciao”

Here is a service that we often to do for customers. Satellite dish installation for Italian TV. The blog describes the most popular ways of getting Italian TV here in the UK.

What satellites do I use to get Italian TV in the UK?

Italian TV can be received from several different satellites but I strongly recommend that you align your satellite dish to the Hotbird satellites at 13E of south.

As is becoming the norm these days the majority of Italian TV is encrytpted. Unlike the UK (except Sky) this means that specilaised viewing equipment will be required to receive the TV package. You can still receive a few Free To Air services but the number of channels are still very limited. To receive Free To Air services on any satellite all you would need to do is align your satellite dish, plug in your satellite dish receiver and perform a blind scan. In this case it would be to align your satellite dish to Hotbird 13E.

Tivusat – 13E – Hotbird

If you are just looking for the Italian version of Freesat then I would suggest that you opt for Tivusat. This is a completely subscription free satellite TV service from Italy. To receive Tivusat I would recommend an 80cm satellite dish, although you could get away with a 65cm in the south. If you’re in doubt go for the 80cm - if you wife will let you whack up a big dish on the house!

One important thing to take into consideration is that to use Tivusat this needs to be registered via the “Codice Fiscale” which is like the Italian national insurance and needs registering with an Italian address. So if you have any friends or family in Italy now is the time to add them to your Christmas card list. If you are in doubt I recommend purchasing the box from an expert company who for a small free can register the box on your behalf, the Tivusat boxes we purchase from our suppliers actually come pre-registered upon dispatch so we can get around this way.

Tivusat offers lots of services including RAI 1, RAI 2, RAI 3, RAI 4, RAI 5 Arte and TRTWorld. A full range of Tivusat channels can be found on the page of their website. If you are having any problems navigating the Italian language I recommend using Google translate – As I did!

SKY Italia – Hotbird – 13E

If you are looking for a premium satellite TV service from Italy I recommend Sky Italia. This is Sky’s offering for the Italian market. Like Sky here in the it is a subscription based TV service so will require setting up a direct debit back at an Italian address. So if you have any friends and family in Italy now is the time to maybe send them an Easter card as well as a Christamas card.

To receive Sky Italia in the UK I recommend installing an 80cm satellite dish aligned to the Hotbird satellites at 13E although you could get away with a 65cm satellite in the south of the UK, but it would be best to err on the side of caution if you are in doubt and go for the larger dish.

Sky Italia offers various TV channels including Sky Uno, Fox and so on. A full list of services can be found here.

I hope that this blog was of some help to you, as always if you found this useful or would like any more information of Italian TV here in the UK please LEAVE A COMMENT in the section below.

Bye for now. Or “Ciao” J