UK TV IN FRANCE

There are three main ways to watch UK television in France. Freesat uses a satellite dish pointed at the Astra 28.2°E satellite and gives you 170+ channels with no monthly subscription — you only pay for the receiver and dish installation. A broadband HD receiver (our dish-free solution) connects to your internet and streams 70+ UK channels for a small monthly fee of €16, with no dish required. Sky Stream is Sky's premium streaming platform delivering 140+ channels including Sky Atlantic, Sky Sports and Netflix, also via broadband with the help of our dedicated UK router. Request our documentation for a full comparison with prices.

The best solution depends on where you live in France. In northern France — Paris, Normandy, Brittany, the Loire Valley — Freesat works well with a relatively modest 80 cm dish. Further south, in cities like Nice, Marseille, Montpellier or Toulouse, the satellite signal is weaker and you may need a large 150 cm dish. If a big dish is impractical — due to building rules, a rental property, or aesthetics — our dish-free broadband receiver or Sky Stream package are excellent alternatives that work anywhere in France with a good internet connection. Contact us and we will advise you personally.

A minimum of 10 Mbps download speed is required for stable, fluid HD viewing. Most standard French broadband connections (ADSL or fibre) easily exceed this. We recommend running our speed test tool (available on the Broadband TV page) before ordering to verify your connection. If your speed is between 5 and 10 Mbps, standard definition viewing is usually possible, but HD quality may occasionally be affected.

No. The broadband HD receiver subscription is month-to-month with no long-term commitment. You can cancel, pause or restart at any time. This makes it particularly well suited to holiday homes — you simply pause your subscription when you are not in France and reactivate it when you return. The monthly fee is €16 per month.

Not at all. The receiver arrives fully pre-configured and ready to watch. You simply connect it to your television via the supplied HDMI cable and connect it to your Wi-Fi network — the same way you would connect a smartphone or tablet. Most customers are up and running within five to ten minutes, with no technical knowledge required and no engineer visit needed.

No — Freesat is entirely free of monthly charges. You pay once for the receiver and once for the dish installation. After that, the 170+ channels are yours with no ongoing fees whatsoever. An internet connection (minimum 10 Mbps) is recommended to unlock Catch Up and On Demand services such as BBC iPlayer, ITVX and My5, but even without internet you receive all live channels over the satellite signal. We stock Freesat receivers in Paris and offer fast delivery across France. View our Freesat receivers.

Yes, if you choose the Freesat HD Recorder, which includes a built-in hard drive. We offer two storage versions: 500 GB (approximately 300 hours of HD content) and 1 TB (approximately 600 hours). The recorder features twin satellite tuners, allowing you to watch one channel while recording another — or record two programmes simultaneously. Series recording links all episodes of a series automatically. The standard non-recording Freesat receiver is also available if you only need live TV. Compare both models.

Sky Stream is officially designed for use within the United Kingdom and checks for a UK internet address before granting access. In France, without any modification, it will not work. However, we supply a dedicated UK router that sits between your French internet box and the Sky Stream Puck, providing it with a permanent UK network address. The result is that Sky Stream works perfectly in France — all 140+ channels, 4K HDR, Dolby Atmos, Netflix included — exactly as it would in the UK. The router arrives fully pre-configured: you simply plug it in. Learn more about our Sky Stream package.

Absolutely. If you already hold an active Sky subscription and own a Sky Stream Puck, we can supply our dedicated UK router alone. You keep your existing subscription, your channels, your Sky Q recordings and your Sky ID — we simply add the router to make everything function correctly in France. This is an excellent option for customers who are relocating from the UK to France and wish to bring their Sky setup with them. Contact us to discuss your existing subscription.

Yes. We work with a carefully selected network of trusted satellite installation partners across France — from Paris and the Île-de-France to Provence, the Dordogne, Brittany, the Côte d'Azur and beyond. Our partners are experienced in aligning dishes to the Astra 28.2°E satellite for UK Freesat reception, including large-diameter dishes required in the south of France. We coordinate the installation on your behalf and ensure your Freesat receiver is fully configured and working before the engineer leaves. Request a installation quote.

Yes, and there are several ways to achieve this depending on the system you choose. With the Freesat HD Recorder, twin tuners allow two different channels to be viewed or recorded simultaneously on separate televisions. With the broadband HD receiver, a second receiver on the same subscription can be added for a modest additional fee. With Sky Stream, multiple Puck devices can be linked to a single Sky subscription. Tell us your setup and we will recommend the best approach for your home.

The UK television licence (TV Licence) is a requirement for residents of the United Kingdom. If you are living permanently in France, you are not required to hold a UK TV licence to watch live UK channels via satellite or broadband in France. However, BBC iPlayer requires you to declare that you hold a valid TV licence when creating an account — whether this applies to viewers outside the UK is a matter for the BBC's own terms of service. We recommend checking the current BBC guidelines directly if this is a concern. All other UK channels — ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, Sky News and more — are freely accessible from France without restriction.