Britjo67

This is probably going to sound really stupid, but I want to know what I need to buy to be able to get French tv. We've just bought a second home, and the previous British owners left a tv. Brilliant, we thought, that saves us a job. However, it was a British tv, and having bought an internal aerial, I discovered that it doesn't work. I didn't really think it through. I knew digital radios didn't work in France because it's a different system, I should really have known the tv would be the same

Anyway, on the basis that the current tv will be ceremoniously dumped on our next trip over, and on the basis that we have a French internal/indoor aerial, do I just buy a tv? I don't want to spend a huge amount because it's just a weekend retreat for us, and I don't want British tv because I can't see the point of only partial immersion in all things French, but I just want something I can watch the French version of The Voice on at the weekends.

loy loy

Whether the TV is English or French shouldn't matter. We have both. You just have to set it up properly. Either digitally via a satellite dish, or analogue using a normal aerial.

I'm no expert, but I don't think TV nationality is a problem.

Britjo67

It was a particularly old tv, which might or might not be the issue. When I tried tuning it without the aerial there was nothing. There were very slight changes in the snow on the screen when I tried with the aerial, but nowhere near enough to see or hear anything.

I really don't want the hassle of getting a satellite. We haven't bought the house to spend our time watching tv.

loy loy

was the aerial pointing in the right direction? If it's an old TV it will be analogue so using an old fashioned aerial should be ok.

Like I said, I'm not sure, so hopefully someone should be along to help. But I don't think the TV you have is the problem.

EuroTrash

Do analogue TVs still work in France? I don't have a TV so am not an expert, but I believe our area switched over to digital a couple of years back and I thought analogue TVs no longer work. I know there was a crisis next door because the son of my elderly neighbour hadn't managed to get it sorted before the switchover and she was without TV for a day - it was all the son's fault apparently, the poor boy was in the doghouse over it for months, in fact I don't think he'll ever be completely forgiven.

Britjo67

Oh that poor boy!

loy loy

We had an "expert" over to hook us with French TV via a dish.

He said we didn't need a dish and we could do French TV through a normal aerial.

But he didn't want the job because he would have to go onto the roof :-/

This is all I am basing my knowledge on.

mikelincs

If it's an old TV tgen it's probably analogue, and won't work no matter what ariel you use, unless you connect it to a digibox of some sort, however I would suspect that the TV is probably too old and you would be better buying a cheap new one. Buy it in France or the UK, will make no difference. You arte unlikely to get UK programmes without a dish, and even with a dish there are many areas that can't receive them due to the satellite changes.

loy loy

The op doesn't want English TV. You don't need a box to get French TV. Our French neighbours all use aerials and not dishes.

EuroTrash

Yes but does it not have to be a digital TV to start with? Otherwise do you not need a box to do the digi stuff? Or what was my neighbour's problem if an analogue TV with an aerial will still do the job?

dmu

We bought a new TV not long ago - it already incorporates the "digibox" thingy and our old aerial, which has never been taken down, picks up TNT (digital TV) if and when our satellite dish doesn't work properly due to strong winds/storms, etc...
P.S. In case anyone is wondering, "digital" isn't "digital" in French, but "numérique".

Chatter Static

If you get a Samsung smart TV in either country it's region can be changed to either France or UK with a few simple key presses.

Our Samsung TV also has a built in digital tuner and satellite decoder making in an all in one solution for French/English TV and we have all the UK Catch up services working within the Samsung Apps and Netflix.

loy loy

Asking the wrong man.

I guess we need to know if the TV is analogue really.

But I don't think you need a dish to watch French TV. I thought you could use a normal aerial.

As I keep saying I have no idea about these things. Just relaying what an "expert" had told me. Although I'm not sure how much of an expert you are when you don't like going on roofs.

It sounded to me the like op had plugged an aerial into a TV and was going to throw it away because it didn't work. I really just wanted to say it may be the aerial wasn't pointing in the right direction. So don't go throwing money away until you've tried that. And that it had nothing to do with where the TV was bought.

Britjo67

The aerial I bought was one of those sleek box things that plug in indoors, so I don't think direction matters. Mind you I'm not really that technically minded, so maybe it does.


And the tv is a huge boxy thing, so I'm pretty safe in saying it's not digital

cyrian

As in the UK, all new tv sets come with a "Freeview" box or TNT as it is called in France.
You can buy a TNT box for €30 - €50 and plug it into the old tv.
There are 2 different boxes - one for satellite and one for aerial.
There are several HD channels on mainline French tv
You get the normal channels plus about 30 "Freeview" through your aerial.
If you decide to buy a new tv then they all have the box included.
If you can then it is best to look for a "promotion" in one of the supermarkets when they are much cheaper.
Good luck