Tenerife and the other Canary Islands are about to lose UK free to air TV channels received via satellite during November 2013. The launch of the Astra 2E satellite on 30th September, after a 10 week delay to its launch, means that services currently on the Astra 1N satellite, which will be relocated, will be moved the Astra 2E satellite.

UK TV channels will only be transmitted on a UK spot beam from Astra 2E to improve reception in the UK. The loss of service affects all BBC channels, ITV, Ch4, Ch5 etc. and BBC radio stations operating on the Sky platform. We believe Sky services are unaffected as they are broadcast on the pan European beam.

The BBC has confirmed their services are moving to Astra 2E UK spot beam and will not be transmitting on the pan European beam. This loss of service will also affect the Spanish mainland.

Satellite TV is provided by several satellites a few miles apart in geo stationary orbit that are now coming to the end of their life after over 15 years of service. New satellites are being commissioned to replace this ageing satellite fleet.

Other ways of accessing free to air channels could be via the internet, but some of these services may not work with an IP address that is not from the UK.