By Charlie Charalambous
WITH THE demise of BFBS, BBC Prime out of orbit and now NBC no longer available for free on satellite, the search for non-terrestrial English programmes has become an expensive business.
Many expats and anglophiles turned to satellite alternatives when BFBS went down the tubes for non-entitled viewers, but as the airwaves turn digital, receiving quality English programmes has become an expensive pastime.
Turned-off by the local stations, many viewers invested in cheap satellite systems that picked up many foreign channels and offered popular US entertainment shows on NBC.
But as of July 1, NBC has turned digital — thus becoming part of an expensive subscription package — replaced with the wonders of National Geographic instead.
According to local satellite experts, the days of just installing a dish and having free range of a multitude of foreign channels are numbered.
“NBC has moved from the Hotbird satellite and analogue reception is no longer free. You just can’t depend on receiving programmes free for ever,” said Xenios Savvides, general manager of Malloupas and Papacostas.
He warned that popular programmes now picked up on analogue systems for free would soon be part of a pay-TV package.
“Analogue systems may finish this year or next year; they will soon become purely digital as part of a package.”
Tito Christofi, owner of satellite providers Titosat, said people were being forced to buy bigger dishes to receive channels like NBC.
“NBC stated financial reasons for changing to digital, which means they are looking to increase profits,” said Christofi.
However, he believes there’s still plenty of choice out there for those who want to invest in a one-metre dish for around £170.
The general message is that potential satellite buyers should become more streetwise to what’s happening in space and should do their homework before forking out.
“Programmes for European or English speaking people are thin on the ground; there’s not a lot of choice in analogue of channels showing movies and sport,” said Savvides.
To buy a quality package, which includes Showtime movie channels, MTV, Paramount and Bloomberg news service, would set you back £680 for a receiver and dish, plus an annual subscription of £365.
And who said the CyBC levy was a waste of money?
