Most of the terrestrial television channels such as TV Nacional Canal 2 and RCM Television broadcast in Spanish. If English language programmes are shown they will normally have Spanish subtitles. The US military had their own SCN network when they were controlling the canal zone but this is no longer in existence. However, there are still plenty of English language programmes being broadcast in the country.

Many of the programmes which are being broadcast have a secondary audio programme, so that you can choose whether to watch them in Spanish or English if you have a television set that supports the SAP technology.

The satellite system of DirecTV is available in Panama and it is possible to get a good reception even when the terrestrial networks cannot. DirecTV has channels in several languages, including Spanish, English and French. As with all satellite providers you are able to choose from a wide range of packages so that you ensure that you just get the channels that you want. Other providers include Cable and Wireless and Cable Onda.

In order to arrange connection with a satellite or cable provider you simply call the company. As an expat, particularly if you are new to the country, you will be expected to provide a certain amount of documentation, such as proof of ID, proof of address and you will also need to pay a deposit for the equipment to be installed.

A television license is not required in Panama and UK television sets would not be compatible with the systems in Panama, although some US sets may work. At the moment there are plans to increase the number of programmes broadcast on a digital network although digital television is becoming more popular and many people are upgrading their analogue service to increase the number of channels and programmes that they are able to receive.

Useful Resources

Cable and Wireless Panama
www.cwpanama.com