CanalDigitaal

CanalDigitaal is a provider of digital television via satellite for the Dutch market, using the Astra satellites at 19.2° east and the Astra 3B satellite at 23.5° east .

Initially customers were mainly Dutch citizens who did not have cable access. But in the meantime the company also managed to expand into the cities. This is sometimes complicated in the Netherlands due to local building codes restricting the placement of satellite dishes.

CanalDigitaal is owned by the Luxembourgian M7 Group S.A., also owner of the Belgian TV Vlaanderen Digitaal and TéléSAT Numérique, the Austrian Austriasat, the Czechian/Slovakian Skylink and CS Link.

Smartcard

Unlike many German and British broadcasters, the Dutch public and commercial broadcasts are not freely available via satellite. To receive the Dutch broadcasts a smartcard is required to decrypt the Mediaguard signal. CanalDigitaal has recently switched from Mediaguard 2 to Mediaguard 3.

A standard DVB-S or DVB-S2 receiver is used, which can also receive other free-to-air broadcasts.