Following those BBC / Sky wranglings earlier this year, all of the BBC's 8 channels and 11 radio stations will be broadcast 'in the clear' on digital satellite from next Thursday. That means their signals will be unencrypted so anyone with a satellite dish and decoder will be able to pick them up without a 'card' from BskyB – though those with Sky subscriptions will still be able to access them via the Sky electronic programme guide.
At the time of the BBC / Sky row some media insiders reckoned the Beeb were trying to create a satellite version of their Freeview platform. The terrestrial digital platform is limited in terms of how much of the country it reaches. If all the terrestrial channels made their satellite broadcasts unencrypted then anyone with a dish and decoder could access all the free channels without the help of Sky. If satellite dishes come down in price (currently they are very subsidised by Sky) a one-off-payment satellite TV network would be born.
While that may still be a long term plan ironically the Beeb's move has had the opposite affect in the short term. ITV, ITV2, Channel 4 and Channel Five were all accessed by the BBC funded encryption card for satellite users without a proper Sky subscription. Those broadcasters have said they can not afford to fund the card now the Beeb has pulled out, meaning satellite TV owners will have to buy a proper Sky subscription to access those channels. Freeview channels are not free at all!