PS Just a quick explanation of satellite TV in the UK...
There are basically just two services - Sky, which is Pay TV, and Freesat which is FTA.
However, some channels on Sky are FTA (in particular, all the main PSBs) and you don't actually need a Sky subscription and card to view them if you have a Sky receiver. Note that broadcasters have to pay Sky for an entry onto their EPG and for encryption, although Sky operate a system whereby there are incentives to go encrypted, i.e. to stop channels going FTA and to make them a Sky exclusive.
Many, but not all, FTA broadcasters also pay for entry onto Freesat's EPG.
So in that sense, Sky and Freesat are not actually channel providers but EPG providers. There is only one version of each channel that is broadcast, it's just that the FTA channels are available on both EPGs.
The FTA channels that have not paid for entry onto Freesat's EPG are tuneable on a Freesat receiver by going into "non-Freesat" mode, so that it behaves like any other FTA receiver.
You could therefore get a Freesat EPG by simply using an EPG intended for Sky, and filtering out the channels that are not FTA.
It goes without saying that if a channel doesn't pay for entry into an EPG, it is basically invisible unless you know how to tune in it manually. It is a big advantage of Sky and Freesat receivers that they automatically maintain channel lists and tune them in, by tuning to the "home" transponder and reading the channel list from there. IF the Freesat EPG could be read then I guess you could also get MC to tune in and maintain the channels automatically.
