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How to get British and American TV in Barcelona, Spain

In Barcelona, Spain you’ve sunshine, good food, cheap beer and the envy of your friends back home. However, when it comes to watching sitcoms and TV programmes, they’re definitely one up. Spanish radio and TV are great ways to practice the language, but for entertainment most of us tend to look elsewhere. What follows are the ins and outs of tuning in, turning on and veging out to your fave TV and radio shows.

Wondering why you’ve trouble accessing Radio 1, KissFM or Channel 4 online? Recent changes in UK broadcasting laws mean that any international requests for internet radio and TV from abroad are no longer cost effective. Changes in media royalty and copyright laws have increased broadcasters’ fees to artists and the media giants behind them. Non-US residents, for example, are now blocked from accessing Pandora.com. However, some grey area online jukeboxes like www.radioblogclub.com still survive. For UK listeners, one of the best indie music stations, www.xfm.co.uk is still operating legally internationally.

Other options include online podcasts. Most online radio stations are using podcasting, which gets around the sticky and confusing aspects of artist royalties. The key difference is that it isn’t live. Yahoo’s new PC and Mac compatible widgets.yahoo.com is legal to use and at present allows streaming of UK and American radio shows. Internet radio can be enjoyed with Acoustic Energy’s Wi-Fi Radio. It’s not cheap at £129.99, but for 5,000 stations radio fans may consider it worth the price!

Most TV’s have a dual language option, which allows you to watch programs that’ve been dubbed from the original language, at the flick of a remote switch. It’s mainly the Catalan channels that give this option.  However, for the most-part, your favourite TV programs are dubbed and subtitles aren’t available on most  stations.

Although the technology exists to provide Internet-based access to UK programs, it isn’t yet a valid alternative. Using Sky for international TV and radio’s the popular choice of ex-pats and bar owners and a grey area practice that has long been taken advantage of.  There are many companies around Barcelona that offer a set-up and purchase of various skyboxes and cards, and you can opt for free-view or per channel/package viewing.  For more info, check out www.britsatlive.com.  Various websites also give detailed instructions for DIY satellite installations. Good sites offering comprehensive advice, and background info include www.uksatellitehelp.co.uk and www.astrosat.co.uk. You’ll need patience and technical know-how to set it up yourself, and the general consensus is that it’s best left to the experts!

If you’re dying to watch a movie or TV program before it’s released on TV in Europe and if you own an Xbox or PS2 – consider getting hold of a modchip. They allow game consoles to play DVD movies from other countries. There’re lots of Chinese companies offering original movies for sale. Movies from Asia or the US are available sooner than in Europe. A loophole in the Spanish intellectual property law makes the modchips legal, but it’s worth keeping an eye out for changes in this law. They’re well advertised in independent electronic stores throughout Spain.

It’s illegal to share copyrighted content via peer-to-peer (p2p) applications like BitTorrent and Emule. MMS.se reported that 2 in 5 Swedes between the ages of 16-30 illegally download TV shows. Another website reports that 41% of Spaniards download movies. The ramifications of p2pfile sharing and downloading or sharing copyrighted films aren’t to be taken lightly. Recent stories suggest the police and associated authorities have recently been cracking down on criminal gangs selling the ‘top manta’ taken from p2p sources. Spanish ISPs might soon crack down and block all p2p traffic to stop it at source.

Large corporations have reason to be concerned by advances in technology, and UK and American copyright owners are increasingly clamping down heavily on licensing and copyright laws.  As such, the choices faced by an ex-pat that wants to watch up-to-the-minute TV shows tend to be limited. However, the most recent show Lost, is going out worldwide [at least in Spain] 1 week after the States. This is very promising!

Another grey-area legal issue is online video sharing. Back in England, it’s an offence to provide a resource with links without actually hosting the content on your PC. If you do not share links or copyrighted content you’re safe, for now. Two main sites that provide this service arewww.youtube.com and www.video.google.com. Other TV sites include www.veoh.com, www.videolemon.com and www.craftytv.com.  However, many of these types of sites have broken links, redirect to pages with streams of pop-ups, or have lengthy pauses as the pages refresh.  Even when you do find that episode of House you wanted, chances are that either the quality’s bad, or that only a short clip is available. For paid-for subscriptions and presently legal options, try www.liveuktv.com for $45/month.

Other than getting Sky, Id recommend checking out your nearest large DVD rental shop for the main international TV series.  If you sign up to your local library you’ll be able to rent DVDs, usually for as little as €1.  Although the free options are initially attractive, they rarely live up to expectations.