FTA /FTV Cards

Irulan

Can someone tell me please what is the difference between an FTV card and an FTA card.?

Greenman

I don't think a FTA (Free to air) card exists, I only know of the FTV (Free to view) card sometimes known as the (BBC card). I stand corrected.

sergeant121

Originally posted by greenman
I don't think a FTA (Free to air) card exists, I only know of the FTV (Free to view) card sometimes known as the (BBC card). I stand corrected.

No need for a correction - FTA channels are not encrypted and, hence, do not need a card of any sort to decrypt them.

One the other hand, FTV channels ARE encrypted (but access is available free in certain areas - like the UK) so a card IS needed. It just happens to be free.

DMC

What we mean by FTA and FTV......

FTA = Free To Air. These channels are not encrypted, and can be viewed without a viewing card. There is no card.

FTV = Free To View. These channels are only viewable through the viewing card supplied by the BBC, which is free. Read this thread on how to get one.

If people had contributed to the building of the FAQ, in the sticky thread, these posts would be a thing of the past. You asked for it, no-one fully contributed. :rolleyes: Its a valid question, Irulan, dont get me wrong, but it does crop up once in a while

Tony

What kind of contribution were you looking for?

Tony

Originally posted by DMC
What we mean by FTA and FTV......

FTA = Free To Air. These channels are not encrypted, and can be viewed without a viewing card. There is no card.

FTV = Free To View. These channels are only viewable through the viewing card supplied by the BBC, which is free. Read this thread on how to get one.

If people had contributed to the building of the FAQ, in the sticky thread, these posts would be a thing of the past. You asked for it, no-one fully contributed. :rolleyes: Its a valid question, Irulan, dont get me wrong, but it does crop up once in a while

DMC

Anything you feel is needed, some things are mentioned in the FAQ - Your Input thread.

Tony

Thanks, why not just transfer questions (and the correct reply) like Irulan's above as they arise, the FAQ would soon build up then. Thats what I do with my FAQ

Tony

Greenman

Good idea Tony.

DMC

Originally posted by Tony
Thanks, why not just transfer questions (and the correct reply) like Irulan's above as they arise, the FAQ would soon build up then. Thats what I do with my FAQ

Tony

Aye, that could be done.

Tony

Thanks Damo , I owe you a pint

DMC

Originally posted by Tony
Thanks Damo , I owe you a pint

For what? No neeed! Cheers squire!:D

I'll do some work on the FAQ later today. I'll probably have a thread thats one for input, and one that is the FAQ in one post.

Irulan

Sorry to have been a nuisance DMC, but may I say with no sarcasm or rudeness intended. that your reply to a question from Bananas caused the confusion in the first place.

Quote by DMC

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Free To Air (FTA) (without a card)
*On EPG in NI only. Sky News, CNN, QVC, BBC PARLIAMENT, Shop, TV Travel Shop,Sky News Active, ITN News Channel, Radio service. Other non-subscription channels also available.

NI Free To View (FTV) (With card)
Not available ROI. BBC ONE NI, BBC TWO (English), BBC TWO NI (Digital), BBC TWO Scotland, BBC 2W, BBC CHOICE, BBC NEWS 24, BBC KNOWLEDGE, ITV1 UTV, Channel 4, Channel 5, BBC RADIO 5 LIVE, BBC FOUR, CBBC Digital, BBC Cbeebies

There are some other, 5 Live Sports Extra... but thats the height of it.

---

My thanks to all who replied.

DMC

No, you are right, the term FTA appears twice. I'll correct that. Thanks for point that out, I just copied and pasted. Mea culpa

watty

If you have a Sky ROI Family pack, do you really much need a FTV card any more?

* The best of Cbeebies/BBC3 CBBC/BBC4 is probabily eclipsed by BBC1 / BBC2.

* The "BBCNews 24" twin sister BBC World TV is free on HotBirds Analog or Digital.

* TV3 is practically Granada franchise clone. ITV regions are almost homogonised now. Is the desire for UTV nostalgia?

* C4 was groundbreaking over 20 years ago. Often now it's just rude?

* I don't know anyone in UK that watches "five". My mum (in UK) never even realised it existed till browsing the Digibox (She had Sky Analog and also has UK terrestrial, actually living in UK does wonders for UK TV receprtion!)

* UK Drama, UK Gold, UK Horizons, BBC1, BBC2, RTE etc repeat anything "good" premiering on BBC3/BBC4?

What you think?

(I have a FTV box and a Subscription box, I can't remember the last time I watched a channel not on the Subscripton Box... Apart from perhaps recording overlapped films at Christmas).

Is there only real point to FTV if you cancel a Sky Sub?

SkySter

I beg to differ with Watty. We've had an FTV card for over 18 months and its used probably more than the sub card. For example..

CBeebies - The kids love it, best small kids channel by miles
C4 - Still got some good documentaries (e.g. Empire)
BBC 2 - Proper BBC2 programs e.g. Top Gear instead of Kelly
BBC News 24 - Great news channel and no adds every 2 minutes like Sky News
CH5 - Good for films
ITV - The only channel "her indoors" watches on a Saturday

Actually the only reason I have a sub is the documentary channels ( Discovery et al).

SkySter

carrolls

The real qustion is will you stop subscribing to Sky Family pack if you have an FTV card.
In my case yes.
Theres more than enough to keep me interested with an FTV card.
If I was a teenager, 30 music channels would be cool, but I'm not so its not so useful to me.

byte

The only other channel I'd mostly like added to Family Pack would be Channel 4. I couldn't really care less about UTV or any other ITV region for that matter. The one thing I did see good on five was Fifth Gear, which I now see is being shown on Discovery Home & Leisure.

watty

Originally posted by carrolls
The real qustion is will you stop subscribing to Sky Family pack if you have an FTV card.
In my case yes.
Theres more than enough to keep me interested with an FTV card.
If I was a teenager, 30 music channels would be cool, but I'm not so its not so useful to me.

I'd agree with that .. The pay channels tend to recylce the same stuff so after 6mths / 9 mths the tendancy is to cancel the sub for a while ...
I'm enjoying Colombo right now, so I suppose Sky's sub is safe at them moment!