How To Get Sky Tv In The Usa

[Jane]

We are relocating to the US this summer. Short of asking David Beckham (who I have heard has it) how do we go about receiving Sky in the US? Both my husband and I cannot live without English football, cricket, rugby, etc. I have heard Satanta is a possibility. Hope someone has the answer - thanks in advance.

[Bevdeforges]

Don't know how Beckham is doing it, but my understanding has always been that you simply can't connect with the proper satellite from the US - thanks to the curvature of the earth. (Same goes for Americans hoping to get Direct TV in Europe...)

However I do believe that some of the cable and satellite systems in the US have a full array of sports channels, including those that carry European football and even cricket matches. Google DirectTV and see what they offer for "foreign sports" - you may be pleasantly surprised.

[Jane]

Thanks so much for the info and for such a quick reply! I'll certainly check out the site you mention.

[simoneves]

Dear Jane,

If you really want "real" Sky, and you have somewhere in the UK to locate the equipment and register the bills with, you could always have a Sky receiver (Sky+ would be even better, to avoid time difference problems), a Slingbox (Google it), and a broadband Internet connection at both ends, and then you can literally watch and control the Sky box over the Internet from your PC in the USA (or indeed anywhere you are in the world, that has broadband).

The picture quality won't be great, since the signal has to be compressed for transmission, but pretty much depends on the upload bandwidth at the UK end. Not sure how well it would handle fast-moving imagery like sports, but it's worth investigating if you have the wherewithal to set it up (and someone left at this end to maintain it). My friend who lives in California has such a system set up in the other direction (controlling a Comcast cable box and TiVo) which he uses to keep up with US TV when travelling, and it's perfectly watchable.

That said, there is plenty of UK and European sports available on US cable and satellite if you look for it (and are prepared to pay for it). I watched the Six Nations Rugby Final in October at a friend's house in California as a Pay Per View on Comcast, and it was a direct feed from ITV. I think the satellite systems (most notably DirecTV) have more emphasis on sports. You should check out their channel line-ups on their websites.

Good luck. I'm not so big of a sports fan, but I'll be in the same boat as of next month...

Simon (Brit moving to California)