Watching and Listening

[Gus Morris]

Despite having lived in France for many years we still like to use Englishh language media.

Once upon a time we could watch live TV from the UK via the Astra satellites. Not any more. At least not in the P.O. Go a couple of hundred kilometers up the road and no problem. With the advances in technology we have grown used to "catch up" viewing via the internet. The same for listening to the radio.

Listening to the radio via the internet is totally legitimate. Watching TV maybe not. The French have an agency called HADOPI which monitors non authorised use of media with a view to protecting the rights of the owners. It seems to concentrate on re-transmission of French pay tv channels and the use of torrenting sites. The rise and rise of the VPN makes this somewhat less effective.

I've heard that the anglophone communities in Spain propose a couple of interesting services. Mucho which re-transmits, via the internet, live UK TV and claims it is totally legit. And access to Intelsat which is used as a back-up. This is encrypted so a special piece of kit is needed.

I know that many of the readers of this site live primarily in the UK. Do they watch French TV back in Blighty?

[russell]

I've used TVMucho for a few years now and find that it works well most of the time. Occasionally there will be buffering problems or a group of channels may disappear for a few minutes but the service seems to be good for over 99% of the time.

Filmon is another similar service but offering a lot more at a much higher price.

If you have a decent VPN you can access live channels using BBC iPlayer or ITV hub etc., for free but I found the TVMucho service to be more convenient.

Russell.

[Gus Morris]

Thanks for replying Russell. Looks like this is a subject that is not of great interest.

I still have fond memories of when we got the first FTA anglophone satellite channels in France. Back then we started with Sky News and Channel 5. This was in the era when the old timers were still listening to BBC World Service on SW radio. How times have changed!

There is another way of watching UK TV over the internet. I know of a couple of cases where anglophones living here have a family member who has set up a dedicated server "back home" and they log in through it.

Gus

[Karrie]

I've used TVMucho for a few years now and find that it works well most of the time. Occasionally there will be buffering problems or a group of channels may disappear for a few minutes but the service seems to be good for over 99% of the time.

Filmon is another similar service but offering a lot more at a much higher price.

If you have a decent VPN you can access live channels using BBC iPlayer or ITV hub etc., for free but I found the TVMucho service to be more convenient.

Russell.

This sounds interesting, particularly the bit about TV Mucho. We have tried so many options since the satellites were changed and none work. We have incredibly poor internet reception where we are and despite having broad-band fed to the village recently, it hasn't been connected up to the houses! Next time wer'e out we will look into Mucho. Thanks

[russell]

This sounds interesting, particularly the bit about TV Mucho. We have tried so many options since the satellites were changed and none work. We have incredibly poor internet reception where we are and despite having broad-band fed to the village recently, it hasn't been connected up to the houses! Next time wer'e out we will look into Mucho. Thanks

Yes most internet TV services require a reliable 2MB/s connection. Although I do note that SFR's TV service allows the user to select various resolutions from 1080p right down to 180p which should work with a much slower connection. What is your internet speed? Perhaps you could get your Mairie to give the internet provider a push. After all we are all being encouraged to work from home again.

Russell

[Gus Morris]

I wonder if people are aware that there are programmes of US/UK origin on French TV where the original soundtrack is available. For example I have just finished watching The Undoing on TF1.

Gus