Post by stavros on Jan 1, 2011 19:35:45 GMT 1
It's amazing the number of ex-pats who have never watched French TV! I even know one couple a short walk from here, in France for about ten years, who said "We don't watch French television, it's a load of rubbish"!! But they've never even tried!!! They've got a Sky box, a dish set up for Sky with a quad head, and TV sets with Sky boxes in lounge, kitchen & bedroom - no other antennae at all!
Needless to say, they need help regularly with EDF, Telecom, notaire, etc... because they've never learned much more than how to buy a baguette in French.
If you inherited a French terrestrial aerial with your house, and it's still wired in, then a modern flat-screen TV that picks up digital channels should be able to handle French TV, particularly in Brittany where analogue transmission ended last summer, and it's all TNT now.
If you've got an older set, or a CRT set, you can pick up a TNT tuner as cheap as chips, they're often on offer in 'Brico' shops.
'TNT' stands for 'television terrestre numérique', which is a digital signal sent from masts dotted about Brittany. With splendid French contradiction, they also offer 'TNT Satellite', that's the same 18 or 19 free-to-air channels, plus more besides (although some are pay channels). To receive TNT Satellite you will need a dish locked in on Astra 19.2° East, and a digi-box. One good reason for setting up for French TV via satellite is that you can often get a film with both French dubbed sound, and 'V.O.' sound - version originale, very often of course it's in English.
You can have hours of fun setting this up, falling off of ladders, fighting to drill stonework for bolts, trying to get the dish set just right...
Or you could wait 'til Bart gets back from his Christmas fun & frolics, and get the whole job sorted properly.
(see also my post 'French TV' on the 'Learn French' board)
Needless to say, they need help regularly with EDF, Telecom, notaire, etc... because they've never learned much more than how to buy a baguette in French.
If you inherited a French terrestrial aerial with your house, and it's still wired in, then a modern flat-screen TV that picks up digital channels should be able to handle French TV, particularly in Brittany where analogue transmission ended last summer, and it's all TNT now.
If you've got an older set, or a CRT set, you can pick up a TNT tuner as cheap as chips, they're often on offer in 'Brico' shops.
'TNT' stands for 'television terrestre numérique', which is a digital signal sent from masts dotted about Brittany. With splendid French contradiction, they also offer 'TNT Satellite', that's the same 18 or 19 free-to-air channels, plus more besides (although some are pay channels). To receive TNT Satellite you will need a dish locked in on Astra 19.2° East, and a digi-box. One good reason for setting up for French TV via satellite is that you can often get a film with both French dubbed sound, and 'V.O.' sound - version originale, very often of course it's in English.
You can have hours of fun setting this up, falling off of ladders, fighting to drill stonework for bolts, trying to get the dish set just right...
Or you could wait 'til Bart gets back from his Christmas fun & frolics, and get the whole job sorted properly.
(see also my post 'French TV' on the 'Learn French' board)