Satellite & Internet TV

There are two types of signals sent out in air, one is the premium and the other is the free to air signal. A premium signal is one that needs to be paid for viewing. A satellite television descrambler is used to receive the premium signals; the free to air signals does not require a descrambler.  The exact work of the descrambler is the conversion of the RF (radio frequency) signal that it receives from the space to an audio-video signal. The signal output of the descrambler is fed into the equipment that the person owns, whether it is a television or a personal computer. The signals transmitted are beamed by the satellite located in space to a dish that is installed at a person’s home which is then transferred to the descrambler through cables.

As told before the descrambler is only required by a premium signal. The free to air signal is not a scrambled one and therefore the question of descrambling does not arise. Thus the job of a descrambler is already done and a person can directly view it without the use of any kind of extra device. While a premium signal is a scrambled signal and it becomes necessary to descramble the signal before it can be processed further.

The launch and maintenance of a satellite TV broadcasting system involves a huge cost that has to be recovered along with some percentage of profit for the industry to survive. This they do by showing advertisements in between the prime programs. They take money from the companies and in return advertise their product on a large scale.  Another way of making money is through premium channels, the customers are charged a certain amount of money for watching those channels. The providers make a package of free to air channels along with few premium channels and sell it to the customers.