Receiving S4C and Radio Cymru outside Wales in the UK

Welsh
#1

Shwmae pawb!

I’m sure most people here who are living in the UK outside Wales are aware of how to receive these services already, but after recently making use of my otherwise redundant satellite dish to receive the available free channels on satellite, I thought I would post a handy guide on how to receive Welsh TV and Radio outside Wales. (Anyone outside the UK who are receiving Welsh broadcasts, whether live or recorded, please feel free to share here!)

Digital Service Customers (Sky, Virgin)
S4C is available on Sky channel 134 and Virgin channel 166.
BBC Radio Cymru is available on Sky channel 0154, Virgin channel 935 and YouView channel 720.
Unfortunately, S4C isn’t available on YouView outside Wales (unless someone can confirm that is is!)

Freeview Services, apps and online
Satellite
If you have Freesat, S4C is available on channel 120 and Radio Cymru is available on channel 715.
If you have a redundant dish and can lay your hands on a spare Sky receiver, you can still watch S4C and listen to Radio Cymru without a subscription to Sky, or even without a viewing card! Take advantage!!!
If you’re using other satellite equipment, I’m not sure how they will work, but the frequencies you need to receive these channels are:
S4C
Satellite: Eutelsat 28A
Frequency: 11.344GHz
Polarisation: V
Symbol Rate: 27.500Mbaud
FEC: 2/3

BBC Radio Cymru
Satellite: Astra 2E
Frequency: 10.788GHz
Polarisation: V
Symbol Rate: 22.000Mbaud
FEC: 5/6

As the above channels are NOT ENCRYPTED, there’s no reason why these cannot be received across Europe either (anyone in mainland Europe who is willing to give this a try, feel free to post your results here!

Apps
If you have a smartphone or tablet, you can watch S4C using TVCatchup or TVPlayer apps. They’re available from the App Store or Google Play. You won’t get catch-up on them, but you’ll get live TV! Also on the S4C Clic app you’ll get live TV (minus the adverts, where you’ll just get a “We’ll be back…” message in between the live broadcasts. You will get “catch-up” on S4C Clic for some shows for up to 35 days.
You can also get the BBC iPlayer Radio app from your app store to receive Radio Cymru live shows, as well as catch up on previous shows for up to 7 days.

Online
Last but not least, you can also watch S4C online at http://www.s4c.co.uk/clic/ , and listen to BBC Radio Cymru online at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/player/bbc_radio_cymru .

NB: Most of the information here I have extracted from the internet and where possible, have tested to ensure it is current and correct. Should anyone find any errors, or find any local variations, please let us know here. Diolch yn fawr!

4 Likes
Introducing myself - Aran
#2

Interestingly, I haven’t had any adverts when watching S4C via Clic recently (I almost always watch programmes after the event, not live though). There always used to be one before the programme, although not in the programme-break, if any). I’m not 100% sure, but it may have changed when they revamped Clic a few months ago.

1 Like
#3

Using the S4C Clic app on mobile devices, you won’t get adverts at all. That said, I haven’t seen any online when I checked either…

#4

Strange, isn’t it? You would think that the advertisers would be very keen for the adverts to be embedded in Clic broadcasts. I am returning to my Welsh studies, after a long gap, and that means I’m starting to watch Pobol y Cwm again.

#5

I’ve been a long time Clic watcher, not having an actual TV set, and I’ve noticed that the adverts come and go. There will be a number of weeks where you get blasted by the same really annoying advert at the beginning of whatever you want to watch (cue the mute button), then as if by magic there will be a period with no advert at all. But there only ever seems to be one and only at the beginning - nothing at all in the middle or at the end, so I can live with that.

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#6

Just how many adverts are there in Cymraeg these days? I can only think of that stuff they add to cattle feed and the garden centre at Cross Hands. At least we are spared that woman who screams at men in a changing room and eats chocolate all the time.

#7

There was one a while back that seemed to be a public information film - I guessed it was for some agency or organisation which protected women against abuse by men - a good cause I’m sure, but it seemed so depressing, I muted it straight away (but felt guilty for doing so).

#8

Has anyone in England managed to get Radio Cymru in the car?

#9

Yes, I can, and I live near Redditch. Reception is variable, but usually quite reasonable. particularly good in Tesco’s car park for some reason!

96.80 MHz

Hwyl,

Stu

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#10

I live in Cheshire and I have crystal clear reception from Chester to Manchester and most places in between. I listen to Radio Cymru every morning on my way to work from Northwich to Jodrell Bank. The only reason I lose coverage is if I switch it off because Dylan is talking about football (again!) :slight_smile:

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#11

I listen online whilst I’m doing the washing-up every day :slight_smile: I’ve never yet been able to pick it up on FM during my visits to Cardiff, but that might just be dodgy reception from hotels.

#12

The Wikipedia page for Radio Cymru, while somewhat out of date, does have a list of the frequencies for several locations. There is a broad frequency range for Radio Cymru of 92 -105 FM. Cardiff is roughly 96.8FM, whereas the North Wales coast tends to be 104.3FM (ish). If you’re living outside of Wales, try the frequency listed for the nearest place to you - you never know you might be able to pick up the signal :slight_smile:

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#13

I find that I can pick up Radio Cymru very well in Shrewsbury (which hasn’t been in Wales for over a thousand years) but only get static where Radio Cymru should be in Knighton (which has always been in Wales).

#14

I used to be able to pick it up all over Manchester, south Lancashire, and along the M62 right up until the “summit” (after which it disappeared very abruptly of course).

#15

Well, I live in Patagonia and the only way to access S4C and BBC in Welsh is to use a proxy server. I use hidemyass.com and it works fine anywhere in the world. You can set it up to make your computer or tablet appear to the internet as if it is any country in the world.

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#16

Helen Maltby posted:
Has anyone in England managed to get Radio Cymru in the car?

When I came home from Wales back in July, I was listening to Radio Cymru driving along the M4 into England and retained a clear signal all the way up to Swindon. I started losing the signal about 2 miles from Swindon Services, so that’s as far as it covers from the South-east of Wales into England!

#17

I can receive Radio Cymru clearly in Liverpool. I can also receive it in Newton le Willows half way to Manchester.

#18

Apart from what Gavin so helpfully listed above, there is also CymruFM - right now I am listening to Meinir Gwilym via TuneIn here in Sydney, with perfect reception via the internet
http://cymru.fm/

If you want to listen to Radio Cymru in your car, you can stream it from your smart phone to your car radio, but you’ll need one of those little fm transmitter adapters, that will work anywhere where you have mobile data reception

#19

This is brilliant Louis!
CymruFM added me on Twitter a few months back, but there wasn’t anything in the way of actual broadcasts at the time. Now there is also an app for your smartphone too (Apple and Andriod). Just downloaded it now and listening to the delightful Georgia Ruth!
Also, if your car has a USB or Bluetooth connection, you should be able to stream this to your car without any added equipment - virtually every car I’ve hired so far has had at least 1 or both these options available. Modern technology eh??
Diolch Louis!
:smile:

#20

Drat! I need to upgrade my car to a Bluetooth model :slight_smile:
Oh, and with some of Ashley’s celloedd tanwydd hydrogen, of course