FTA vs Encrypted Satellite Channels: Everything You Need to Know

What is a Free-to-Air (FTA) Channel?

A free-to-air satellite channel is one that is transmitted without any encryption — anyone with a satellite dish pointed at the correct satellite and a standard receiver can watch it, completely free of charge. There is no subscription, no card, no account required.

FTA channels include a huge range of content globally: public broadcasters, news channels, religious broadcasters, regional channels, and many international networks that fund themselves through advertising rather than subscriptions.

Globally, there are tens of thousands of FTA channels across hundreds of satellites. DishTuner's database tracks over 11,000 channels, with a significant proportion being free-to-air.

What is an Encrypted Channel?

Encrypted channels scramble their signal using a Conditional Access System (CAS). To watch them, you need a subscription and either:

• A smart card inserted into your receiver's card slot, or
• A CAM (Conditional Access Module) containing the card, inserted into the receiver's CI slot, or
• A receiver with the CAS built in (OEM integration)

Common Conditional Access Systems

There are numerous proprietary CAS systems in use worldwide:

• Viaccess — used by Canal+ and many French operators
• Conax — widespread in Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, Middle East
• Irdeto — used by many African and Asian pay TV operators
• Nagravision — Sky, Canal+ and others; very widely used
• VideoGuard — BSkyB's proprietary system
• PowerVu — Scientific Atlanta system used for contribution feeds and professional links
• BISS / BISS-E — Basic Interoperable Scrambling System, used for sports feeds and professional distribution

How to Legally Watch Pay TV on Satellite

If you want to watch encrypted channels, the only legitimate route is a valid subscription from the broadcaster:

1. Subscribe to the package you want (e.g., a specific satellite pay TV provider)
2. Receive your smart card or CAM from the provider
3. Insert the card or CAM into your compatible receiver
4. The receiver communicates with the card to decrypt the channels you're subscribed to

Some operators allow you to use your own receiver with their card — others require a proprietary set-top box provided by the operator themselves.

Identifying FTA vs Encrypted in DishTuner

In DishTuner's channel browser, each channel displays its encryption status. Channels marked FTA, Clear, or with no encryption label are free-to-air. Channels showing a CAS name (Viaccess, Irdeto, Conax, etc.) are encrypted and require a valid subscription to view.

The statistics endpoint also provides a global breakdown of FTA vs encrypted channels across the entire database — useful for understanding the distribution across regions and satellites.

Occasionally Encrypted Channels

Some channels broadcast in clear (FTA) at certain times and encrypt at others — for example, a broadcaster might show a live sporting event encrypted while their regular schedule is FTA. Keep this in mind when channel lists change unexpectedly.