For those outside of the US. TV how do you get it and how many channels

[markrb]

I am very curious for those of you outside of the US, where it seems everyone has 500 channels of Sat or Cable, how do you get TV(AIR, CABLE, SAT) and how many channels do you get? Please include what country you are from to.

Do you have to pay a TV tax to own one?
I think England has or had this.
Is your TV State run or controlled?

I am in the US, so my question doesn't apply, but to get it started.

I am in the US.
Use Digital Cable.
Get up to 250 channels if you count all the Pay Per View and Sports packages.
No TV tax.
TV is not State run.


Mark

[twistee]

Hi,

Im from Australia and i get 5 channels :) (there is a 6th channel...but all you get is static unless you live in the middle of sydney...its a community channel or something...but noone watches it) As i dont have cable tv or anything. If you get cable or satellite tv you can get 30-50 (im not sure)...but it costs a fair bit.

i forgot to add this earlier, there are 2 owned by the government and 3 private (i think)...i just watch the thing...i know hardly anything about it :)

[Ookami]

Ummm...

Croatia:

(AIR)

-5 Channels


3 State sponsored (monthly cost for every TV set is 53 Kn)
2 private

But I'm planning to get DVB this year :D .

Cheers,

Ookie.

[dvd2svcd]

Denmark:

(AIR)
3 tv stations. 1 Government paid 2 private.

(SAT, MOTOR, DIGITAL):
Too many to count (way beyond 1000), but only a fraction is seen by Danes, and almost all are scrambled.

(CABLE)
Don't have a clue, way too expensive.

[theReal]

I am in Germany, I have cable (the fee is included in the rent, but I think it's something like 12-15EUR/month).
Monthly fee for TV in general is also about 15 EUR/month.
It's about 40 channels (I really don't know exactly :) )


Of these, there are 2 main government paid, about 5 or 6 regional government paid, 1 special government French/German cultural project ("Arte"), 2 Swiss government paid, 1 Austrian government paid, 1 pay-tv (nagravision, so no problem ;) ), the rest is private (amongst which is CNN world and NBC Europe as the only partially non-German language programs)

With satellite you can get anything between 50 and 500 programs (or more?) depending on your equipment.


P.S.: I forgot there is also TRT (Turkish) and TV5 (French), but I never watch these as I don't understand a word... (well some words in French, but not enough)

[gooki]

New Zealand
Air (UHF)
2 State owned channels
4 Private (of which one is total crap)

Optional satelite TV
Option cable tv in very few area's

No TV tax at moment - however there used to be TV tax three years ago.

[Mikele]

Well, stats from Argentina:
Air: 5 channels (1 state owned, 4 private) + a couple of UHF private stations.
Cable: 70 channels + HBO, Cinemax, adult channels, etc.
DirecTV/Sky: lots of channels :)
I don't know if there is any FTA/scrambled sat channels. Sat dishes are not popular here (at least not in Buenos Aires), I'd say that 90-95% people paying for TV has cable, the rest has Directv/Sky.

[cofferscuffs]

UK:

(illegal) tax... everyone who owns a tv, no matter if they dont watch the state channels has to pay it :( its about £110 per year now... for 2 channals!!

UHF
5 channels - 2 state ones 3 commercial ones

Sky Digital (DIGI SAT)
a lot of channels (mostly crap)...300-400

ntl, Telewest etc (DIGI CABLE)
about 100-200 channels

others:
FTA analoge and digital @ 19.2 E.. about 20 channels

[Mikele]

What do you mean by TV tax? You have to pay a special tax to own a TV? You know, in countries like mine we are used to new strange and unfair taxes when our goverment needs to steal some extra money, but I've never heard of something like that :) I just hope our authorities aren't reading this thread :)

[markrb]

@cofferscuffs I read not to long ago about a guy that removed the ability to get certain channels from his TV and he sued the Government there, but lost. They said that he could always put the ability back to get State run TV. Don't know if it's one of those fake internet tales or not, but the site I read it on was pretty reliable.

Aren't the private stations sorta new, maybe 10 years old at most? I thought for along time all you had was 4 state run stations. Used to watch alot of British shows and at the end it would always have that it was a production of channel whatever. My favorites were Dr. Who and Benny Hill shows. They don't show them around here anymore and I miss them.

How many US shows do you get? How would you compare them agianst your own shows?
For those with only a few channels. Do you find yourself doing other things more then watching TV? Here TV pretty much rules most folks and with a TV in every room nobody watches together anymore.

Mark

[cofferscuffs]

yes we had 4 stations for a long time, but we got a 5th public one about 3-5 years ago...

I read not to long ago about a guy that removed the ability to get certain channels from his TV and he sued the Government there, but lost. They said that he could always put the ability back to get State run TV. Don't know if it's one of those fake internet tales or not, but the site I read it on was pretty reliable.

If this were true the press would have a great story... no one wants this (ilegal) tax for 2 channels I dont watch...

Programs like Doctor Who is on pay tv channel UK Gold all the time...

There is not that much us programs on public tv, but on pay tv 50% (maybe more) is... but it has been slowly getting more geared towards uk produced programs... I actually prefer uk shows, Simpsons, Friends etc are boring... but it wouldnt be tv without them if you get my drift...

[cofferscuffs]

Originally posted by Mikele
What do you mean by TV tax? You have to pay a special tax to own a TV? You know, in countries like mine we are used to new strange and unfair taxes when our goverment needs to steal some extra money, but I've never heard of something like that :) I just hope our authorities aren't reading this thread :)

Technically (in my mind and most other uk resident minds) the TV Lisence is an illegal tax made by the government. It allows you to watch tv... but all proceeds go to the 2 state channels. If you do not watch those channels (most ppl dont as it is 80% crap now), you still have to pay it.. that is why its considered illegal.

And why does 2 channels need £110 from each person in the uk from every year? thats a lot of money... i remember a time it used to be much cheaper, but over time the 2 state channels have got worse and worse..

[Nic]

"(most ppl dont as it is 80% crap now)" - Not quite true....

BBC1 is still the most watched channel in the UK, & will be for a while yet (why millions of drones watch Eastenders is beyond me, but they do :) )

The Beeb are quite a mysterious company actually....But im not allowed to say why..... Thats is why they need so much funding...

(NTL also is pretty cr*p, my internet connection is NTL as well....which is also cr*p :) )

-Nic

[cofferscuffs]

ok, 80% who have digi sat, digi cable or cable dont watch it... :p

[twistee]

I think we have a tv tax in australia. its like 5 cents per person...not really noticeable...anyway i dont think i pay tax yet so i dont have to worry :)

[tenebrenz]

The Beeb are quite a mysterious company actually....But im not allowed to say why..... Thats is why they need so much funding...
Hmm, that one makes me wonder. I hardly watch BBC nowadays.

@ Mikele

If you think TV tax is strange, about 15 - 20 years ago the British government used to require everyone that owned a dog to have a license, just think where that could go. Goldfish tax anyone?

[theReal]

What do you mean by TV tax? You have to pay a special tax to own a TV?Well, for the TV tax in Germany (it's not called "tax", but it's something like it) you get quite some channels with almost no commercial breaks. After 8 p.m. they're not allowed to send any commercials anymore, so it's almost like pay-tv.

Although I don't like all programs on the state-financed tv stations, I find it quite ok sometimes to be able to watch an hour-long philosophical discussion without commercial breaks.
I don't really like the yadda-yadda presented by always smiling plastic-blondes on most of the private stations (with almost no informational content most of the time).

[wmansir]

First let me say this is a very interesting thread. I had no idea that a TV tax existed.

Does the tax apply to per person in a house with a TV, or per TV set or does just the owner of the TV set pay? I wonder what the situation is for public exibition of a TV set, such as a sports bar.

I also wonder how such a tax is regulated, especially for broadcast only signals.

I'm sure some people try to cheat. Do they have secret TV rooms (a la Anne Frank, except for the hiding jews part, unless maybe you were watching seinfeld.)? Are TV tuner cards big on the black market? I picture a secret TV tax police. They target people who claim not to have a TV and attempt to bust them by casually asking "Hey, did you catch that episode of Friends last night? Man, that Racheal is hot."

Re: the German TV tax
Since a station can't run commercials after 8pm, wouldn't that be an incentive to put the worst programing in those spots. I mean, why broadcast a high quality production duing those hours, when you could put in some cheap filler, and run the good show at a time when it can include commercials and bring in some revenue? just a thought.

[cofferscuffs]

Originally posted by wmansir
Re: the German TV tax
Since a station can't run commercials after 8pm, wouldn't that be an incentive to put the worst programing in those spots. I mean, why broadcast a high quality production duing those hours, when you could put in some cheap filler, and run the good show at a time when it can include commercials and bring in some revenue? just a thought.

nope... most people work during the day, the average family are together between 6-10pm so thats where they place the best programs...

[The Link]

In Germany there´s an organization called GEZ (Gebühreneinzugszentrale :p ): You have to tell them the exact amount of TVs and radios you possess and according to that amount you have to pay them money. This money is needed to run all the public broadcast stations (TV: 2 main-channels and for every german "Bundesland" (state) a regional third channel; radio: for every "Bundesland" ca. 3 channels). These public channels have the duty given by the gouvernment to inform about political and cultural topics at a special percentage of their program. (humm...long sentence..you understand?) But as a student I don´t have to pay that fees if I get BAföG...but thats another complicated topic.

hmm...is there anybody who´s really interested in this??? :D

[ivan_alias]

I like the BBC, don't mind paying the license fee at all. If you want to see some really poo TV look at all the drivel on Sattelite and cable in the UK. Out of about.. what 500 channels? Most are utter rubbish. I mean, come on UK living? Whats that about? !?


The fee also pays for radio, the new Digital channels and goes to some films and other stuff. I agree its a funny setup these days, but it is nice not having commercials and BBC dramas are still some of the best in the world.

[BonzE]

Many people in germany are cheating and don't pay anything. It is really easy , unless you are really really dumb ;)

You just have to say, that you don't own a working TV, people from the GEZ are not allowed to come in your house and search for a tv, so if you keep them outside and lie at them they cant do anything. ... but they will try to a lot of times :)

[globus]

Israel:

Air:
3 State owned channels
1 private channels

Cable:
80+ channels

Satelite:
120+ channels

We have a TV tax on one channel for almost 30 years now.
I have satelite and i'm paying 45$ for month.:angry:

[markrb]

@tenebrenz everyone in the US is required to get a dog license for each dog you own. Not everyone does it, but it is a fine if you are caught.
It's actually a very useful thing and not very expensive. Each town or city has their own costs and they run it themselves. It helps to make sure most dogs have their rabies shots since you can't get a license without it. If you are bit by a dog and animal control catches it they can quickly look up if the dog has had it's shot and who owns it. Loose, lost and wandering dogs are a real problem and this way the town knows who owns it.
No other animals are required to be license. When is the last time you heard of a goldfish with rabies?


As for TV if you have cable here there is a small TAX, but it's not for the TV it's for the regulation of the cable industry.

@globus $45 per month is not that bad. I have digital cable with 2 boxes and a cable modem and I pay $105 per month. The price would drop about $30 without the cable modem.

Mark

[buba king]

Here in Norway, on air i get 3(some get 4) channels. 1 state owned you pay a "tax" (they call it a license) on a pr. house basis. i think its about 150$ per year..... (no commercial breaks etc. but only old people watch it :P) the other 2 are standard private ones..

On my digital sat i get about 25 good channels.. the rest is crap... but i dont watch to much tv anymore.. the pc is takeing over!

[aleksander]

Originally posted by Nic
"(most ppl dont as it is 80% crap now)" - Not quite true....
BBC1 is still the most watched channel in the UK, & will be for a while yet (why millions of drones watch Eastenders is beyond me, but they do :) )

One thing to add - I've been on a business trip in Poole, Dorchester (that is in the UK) few weeks ago and I must say that the TV channels I had in my hotel room were the most crappy I have ever seen! Seriously!
BBC1, something with 4 (I guess TV4) and two or three others...I just couldn't watch them! And I've seen those Eastenders - another crappy soap-opera.....Uhhhhhh... On another channel there was a TV quiz where couples had to answer some questions. Two couples and you had to wait (mostly they were counting to 10) for the highest prize to get.... Kinda fun though but still very crappy...
Just my opinion of English TV....

take care

[Nic]

I never said it was good....I just said lots of folk watched it :)

-Nic

[aleksander]

Yes, I agree - that's what you have said...:)
But I cannot understand why so many people watch such a crappy show (in my personal opinion)

take care

[theReal]

@Bonze, I don't own a tv, do you? :D ;)

[BonzE]

@theReal if you are from the GEZ:
no i don't own a tv, no tv-card in my pc and not even a radio in my car

the funniest thing about the german GEZ (the people who assure that you pay your "tv-tax") is there advertisment. their spots are extremely stupid in my oppinion *g*

[FAMOUS]

@BonzE,
i dont think the spots are stupid, i think they are very unrealistic, but also very funny, especially the spot about the b-boys and the stolen radio :)

[BipolarChucker]

Originally posted by wmansir
First let me say this is a very interesting thread. I had no idea that a TV tax existed.

Does the tax apply to per person in a house with a TV, or per TV set or does just the owner of the TV set pay? I wonder what the situation is for public exibition of a TV set, such as a sports bar.

I also wonder how such a tax is regulated, especially for broadcast only signals.

I'm sure some people try to cheat. Do they have secret TV rooms (a la Anne Frank, except for the hiding jews part, unless maybe you were watching seinfeld.)? Are TV tuner cards big on the black market? I picture a secret TV tax police. They target people who claim not to have a TV and attempt to bust them by casually asking "Hey, did you catch that episode of Friends last night? Man, that Racheal is hot."

Re: the German TV tax
Since a station can't run commercials after 8pm, wouldn't that be an incentive to put the worst programing in those spots. I mean, why broadcast a high quality production duing those hours, when you could put in some cheap filler, and run the good show at a time when it can include commercials and bring in some revenue? just a thought.

To clarify a few things for those not in the UK. We have 5 free to air channels. BBC1, BBC2, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5. The ones' we pay for are BBC1 and 2, but the TV License fee goes towards the numerous BBC radio stations and also to local BBC sub offices where regions are given their own local news after national news.

The TV license fee must be paid IF you own a TV or other decoding device such as a video (VHS) recorder. If it's not paid you can be arrested or fined by the government. We also have a number of "free" DVB channels now but for this you obviously need a DVB TV. Receiving these channels is again free but don't forget we have to pay the TV License Fee for this privilege. Enforcement of the License fee is "apparently" done by...wait for it...Detector Vans! This is a load of crap. Basically the government expects every household in the UK to have at least one TV/Decoding device so if they don't have your cheque they pay you a visit to check up on your lack of TV.

Obviously we have Sky (Satellite)/Cable etc and there's two different versions of each although the old analogue Sky and Cable are now being replaced quite rapidly by digital systems. Sky is by far the biggest of the satellite operators with ITV digital (recently went into administration/bust) as their direct competitors.

Cable is controlled by NTL (also in deep financial trouble) and there are adverts on EVERY channel of Sky and Cable systems. Fee's for these systems are approx £40-£60 pm dependant on the package you get. NTL even now hijack advertising slots on their analogue and digital systems to advertise their own broadband and television products. I get the feeling this is highly illegal and is in breach of contract with the channel operators. I might just slip them a mail about it because I hate NTL with a passion.

As far as TV Tuner cards (I assume you mean PC) are concerned they're not "big" on the black market (infact there is no black market for them) but if you buy one legally you are reminded about the need for a TV license.

To the person who said that BBC1 and 2 are crap - I couldn't agree more! Eastenders is the most depressingly boring, make you want to slit your wrists poo you could ever force somebody to sit through. Once in a blue moon you may get something worth watching. I hope this addresses all questions ;)

[ChristianHJW]

DVB-S card here ( Germany ) :D !!

With my 90 cm sat dish plus universal LNB, targeting Astra digital satellites ( D - F ) i get 120 free-TV and about 400 radio channels from the whole of Europe, plus some 50 or so scrambled pay-TV channels.

DVB-S digital TV is MPEG2 , 720 * 576 pixel, 2 - 4 Mbit/s, sound is MPEG1 layer 2, on some channels language is selectable.

[whome]

Norway here....

I know this is said...but we pay TV tax for 2 goverment owned channels...both are pretty nice if you like sports...not much else.

Along with the 2 'gov' channels, I get one more channel in AIR...

On digital Sat I get over a 1000 channels...which I pay to get at least 70 of them...

...and at work we have cable...and there is....15 channels there I think.....not that I watch them much....;)

[mihaicapota]

I have cable. I pay about $5/month. I get 33 channels, but there are many cable providers so the number varies.
In Romania you have to pay a TV tax of about $1/month/household.

[ulfschack]

Sweden

2 federal channels. In southern sweden we get the two danish channels too.

I think a lot of people that are "over the top" of that age-poll we had running are good examples of people that actually enjoy these broadcasts. Good documentarys, no commercial and very few soaps.

WE HAVE TO PAY TAX NO MATTER WHAT!!

If you happen to own a tuner-capable device in your houshold (tv-card for the pc, VCR, yes ... even a TV) you're breaking the law by not paying > $200 (don't remember exactly) per year. I'm not happy about this kind of democracy ... very socialistic and very non-liberal.

I have of course never paid a dime.

[KoVaR]

POLAND
cable
10 US/month
below 100 (no sure)

cheers :)

[theReal]

I think a lot of people that are "over the top" of that age-poll we had running are good examples of people that actually enjoy these broadcasts. Good documentarys, no commercial and very few soaps.I'm only 25 and I mostly watch either political/scientific/philosophical documentaries, debates and such stuff, most of which is of course not on private channels. It's just like the literary critic Marcel Reich-Ranicki said: TV only makes dumb people dumber, but it is a source of information for everyone who choses well what they are watching.

OK, I admit that sometimes I'm watching rather stupid stuff as well... ;)

[ulfschack]

... albeit some mature quicker :)

[downloaders]

Very interesting things here... :D


BonzE: I don´t think it is that easy Many people in germany are cheating and don't pay anything. It is really easy , unless you are really really dumb as you say...

I heard that they can 'catch' you watching, with some hi-tech equipment or 'I dnt know what' they can detect the signal of you watching TV... My father told me this about some years ago, when I lived in Germany, I don't know exactly how it works, but I could ask...

I´m in Portugal right now.
Over the normal antenna we have 4 channels (2 state - 2 private) And we pay a small tax every month for the 2 state channels, this tax is included in the electricity invoice (both are from the state, and you only can get electricity from the state) Almost nobody knows that they pay that tax (you know, this very small letters at the bottom of an invoice?) But we all pay it...
Then you have cable: about 60 channels, 5 or 6 portuguese, some brasilian, some german (DSF and RTL), CNN, MTV, MCM, VH1, Discovery, And some codified: porn, sports, movies, and we also have a codified channel that shows 24/7 a tv-show like 'big-brother' (They are really crazy here)
For the cable you pay like 20 Euros per month.
Or you can get satelite, we get the same as the people in the rest of Europe (ASTRA)

Thats all from here... (State tv sucks here)

[DeXT]

Spain here... we have 5 channels (2 state, 2 private, 1 pay-per-view) plus several regional channels (2 here plus some crappy local ones). Then there are 3 digital plattforms (2 DVB-S, 1 DVB-T (terrestrial)) plus a new DVB-T free channel which started short time ago. Each DVB-S plattform gives about 60 channels plus lots of international ones, mostly ASTRA stuff. DVB-T plattform is 14 channels only, but high quality, and comes with internet access (w/nice wireless keyboard). Then we have several Cable companies, each one in a single territory, with about 50 channels each.

[duartix]

corrections
@downloaders:And we pay a small tax every month for the 2 state channels, this tax is included in the electricity invoice This information is not correct. The TV tax has been extint in Portugal for more than 10 years at least. What you are paying is the radiodifusion tax which is that very small payment used for financing the state sponsored Radio Stations. (State tv sucks here) Couldn't agree less with you here. We have 2 state TV channels:
RTP1, a generalistic channel and RTP2, a cultural directioned channel without commercials, just institutional publicity (like artistical or cultural events, civil initiatives, AIDS preventing, etc).
RTP2 is the only channel in Portugal with reasonable quality, all the private are just pure garbage invaded by reality shows.
But the government in its expense reduction cruzade is probably going to sell one of the two in the next few months. Let's wait and see which...

[nokku]

Finland

(cable/antenna,nation wide)
YLE1: State-owned channel - culture,education,documents etc.
YLE2: Ditto, with a little bit entertainment too.
MTV3: First commercial channel, got it's own channel in the beginning of the 90's. As commercial as a tv channel can get
but quality is ok.
Nelonen ("four"): The newest national commercial channel, started
a couple of years ok. Tries to be more sophisticated and trendy than MTV3, which is more for the general public.

MTV3 and Nelonen must by an annual fee (several millions €) to YLE, since YLE owns most of the network infrastructure. Or something like that.

(cable)
MoonTV: low-budget station that can only seen in the biggest 'cities'. Targeted for the young (12-30) audience. Probably the most funniest station. Hilarious rock festival reports.
ATV: Helsinki's (capitol) own little very-low-budget station. Very likely the most no-rules! -station in the world. Shows hc-porn every night.
Several cities have their own little information channels. See your local council meetings on towns, yeehaw :)

Naturally satellite brings it all (over 100+?)
A couple of payable channels too.

DigiTV is here, but only with few extra channels. Needs a 'digibox' (300+€), owned currently by under 5% of the population. Not a very bright future for it here, i think.

Annual TV-license fee around 150€, goes to YLE, must be payed if you own a tv-receiver. Well,eh,actually,if you _say_ you have a tv-receiver.

-n

[theReal]

Needs a 'digibox' (300+€), owned currently by under 5% of the population. Not a very bright future for it here, i think.Same in Germany... the company who marketed the first (and only) German digital pay-tv just went broke...

[ChristianHJW]

well, 'company' is probably not the right word to describe Kirch Media, 'Holding' would be much better ... we have about 4000 people unemployed in Munich now :( ... and it was definitely the small ( and unsuccessful ) pay-TV bussiness that finally was breaking Kirch's neck, in adddition to his excessive rights purchasing ....

BTW, here in Shanghai in the hotel i can watch HBO ( www.hboasia.com ), CINEMAX ( www.cinemxasia.com ), Star Movies ( no link on the program can you believe ? ) and PHOENIX movie channels ( www.phoenixtv.com ) for FREE !! All of them have real nice program IMHO, HBO being the best ( Charlie's Angels yesterday, etc. ). I wonder how much these channels do cost for a normal citizen if he wants to register ? How are they distributed ( satellite, cable, both ) ?

In fact i am quite happy about having them because i brought 6 movies with me and now the crappy Hotel TV doesnt have a Line-In to hook up my laptop :( .... but as compensation they do have a 100 mbit/s Internet line on every room :D ( www.inter-touch.com ) !!!

[theReal]

.... but as compensation they do have a 100 mbit/s Internet line on every room

I'd feel just like at home :D

We should have added this question to the poll: What is your internet connection and how much do you pay for it?
The Swedes would most probably lead this poll (at least in Direct Connect I'm always amongst 95% Swedes on the high-bandwidth hubs)

[twistee]

In Australia internet connection sucks. When I am at home (in Sydney) I am on 'telstra' cable, im used to be capped to 60k, but now it can go pretty high sometimes (maybe 300k on good web sites). But for the exchange for speed they have capped me to 3 gigs per month. They have also raised the price. There is 'optus' cable which is better...but my dad works for telstra so we use that :(

At college we have probably about the same connection as the telstra one...but slower. It also costs HEAPS more, for 250 megs you have to pay $33 (australian), you also get about 100 megs free from the Uni, but you only get that once per year, and once you use that you cant get any of it back. I am at Wollongong University.

Most people are on dial-up, but slowly more people are getting cable.

[theReal]

I'm really glad with my 100mbit Lan connect from the Uni - it's free and with no limit (OK, one limit: you have to log in to the firewall every 6 hours, but it won't break running downloads after 6 hours, so that's ok).

The Uni complains sometimes that people shouldn't use their bandwidth so excessively (about every other of my neighbors is on DC constantly...), but they haven't set any limitations yet...