Correct SSC frequencies 2026: Only 6 frequencies from a Saudi satellite dish technician

I’m Faisal Al-Zahrani, and I’ve spent the last 12 years installing satellite dishes across Riyadh, Jeddah, and the Eastern Province. I’ve climbed more rooftops than I can count, fixed more dead SSC feeds than I care to remember, and I’m absolutely sick of every “best Saudi sports frequency” list online being absolute garbage.

I once got a call from a guy in Diriyah at 7 PM on a Thursday, right before the Al-Hilal vs Al-Nassr Clasico. He was shouting so loud I could hear his kid crying in the background because the match wasn’t loading. He told me he’d been on his roof for 6 hours, using a frequency list he printed from a blog post dated 2021. When I got there 40 minutes later, I found three separate problems: his dish was pointed at Badr 4 (retired for sports feeds in 2022), his LNB was a 15 SAR piece of junk from the corner store that couldn’t pick up any frequency above 11700 MHz, and his “frequency list” had SSC 1 listed as 11976 V 27500, a transponder that’s been dead since the Saudi Sports Company (SSC) took over all KSA Sports rights in Q3 2022. I fixed it in 22 minutes, tightened his dish mount, replaced his LNB, and entered the correct 2024 frequency. He tried to pay me half my usual fee because he’d “already done most of the work” climbing the roof. I took the full amount, told him to throw away that 2021 list, and left. That’s the state of online frequency guides: they’re outdated, inaccurate, and written by people who’ve never touched a satellite dish in their life.

The 2021 Frequency List That Won’t Die

Here’s what nobody tells you: 90% of the frequency lists ranking on Google for “Saudi sports channels Badr Sat” are copy-pasted from 2021, before SSC rebranded every KSA Sports feed. I tested 14 different lists from the first page of Google results last month, and 12 had at least 3 dead transponders. One list even included a frequency for “KSA Sports 9”, which never existed. The people writing these guides don’t care if the feeds work, they just want ad revenue from your clicks. They don’t mention that Arabsat officially retired all KSA Sports transponders on Badr 4 and Badr 5 in 2022, so any list mentioning KSA Sports is automatically useless. I’ve had clients print these lists, drive to the hardware store, buy parts based on them, and then call me angry that nothing works. It’s a waste of everyone’s time and money.

Badr 7 Is the Only Satellite You Need to Care About

Most people don’t realize there are 3 active Badr satellites: Badr 4, Badr 5, and Badr 7. Only Badr 7 (orbital position 26.0°E) carries any active Saudi sports channels. Badr 4 and 5 were repurposed for non-sports broadcasting in 2022, so if your dish is pointed at either of those, you’re not getting a single SSC feed. I get 3 calls a week from people who’ve mixed up Badr with Nilesat (7.0°W), which is a completely different satellite at the opposite side of the sky. Nilesat has exactly zero SSC feeds, full stop. If your dish is pointing west instead of east, you’re wasting your time. I once had a guy in Jeddah who’d been trying to tune his dish to Badr for a week, but he was pointing it at Nilesat because a YouTube video told him “Badr is west of Saudi Arabia”. That video had 1.2 million views. That’s how much bad information is out there.

Badr 7 Coverage Map: Who Actually Gets These Signals

I keep a printed copy of the official Arabsat Badr 7 Ku-band footprint map in my work van, I’ve had to show it to clients so many times when they insist they should get signal in Casablanca. The map is a free PDF on the official Arabsat site, don’t trust rehosted versions on sketchy forums, they’re often edited or outdated. The signal strength is excellent (above 50 dB) across all of Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Yemen, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco. It drops to moderate (40-50 dB) in Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea, Djibouti, and southern Europe including Andalusia in Spain, Sicily in Italy, and southern Greece. Outside of that footprint, you’re not getting a stable signal. I had a guy in Berlin email me asking why he couldn’t pick up SSC 1, and I had to tell him Badr 7’s signal barely reaches western Germany, and even then it’s spotty enough to be unwatchable. Don’t let Instagram gurus tell you can get Saudi sports channels in the US or UK with a Badr dish, that’s a lie. The footprint doesn’t reach that far.

The SSC channels themselves are licensed for MENA broadcast only. Even if you have strong signal in Spain, you might find some premium match feeds are geo-restricted, though most news and lower-league feeds are free-to-air (FTA) across the entire footprint. I’ve tested this: if you’re in Riyadh, you can pick up SSC 5 (sports news) for free, no subscription needed. SSC 1 (major league matches) is encrypted and requires a valid SSC subscription card. Don’t buy “hacked” frequency lists from Telegram scammers, 100% of them are selling you dead transponders.

The Only 6 SSC Frequencies That Haven’t Changed in 2 Years

After 12 years of installs, I only use 6 transponders for 99% of my clients. These are the only SSC feeds on Badr 7 that haven’t changed since 2022, and they work with any decent DVB-S2 compatible receiver. If your receiver is old DVB-S only, none of these will work, it literally can’t decode the DVB-S2 signal. I’ve had clients spend 200 SAR on a new receiver because they thought their dish was broken, when they just had an outdated receiver.

Channel Name	Frequency	Polarity	Symbol Rate	FEC
KSA Sports 1, 2, 3 HD	12149	Horizontal (H)	27500	5/6
KSA Sports (SD Mux)	11230	Horizontal (H)	27500	3/4

First, SSC 1 HD: 12015 H 27500 3/4, DVB-S2 8PSK. This is the big one, carries all Saudi Pro League matches, Al-Hilal, Al-Nassr, the Clasico, everything. I use this for 90% of client installs. It’s encrypted, so you need an SSC subscription, but the picture quality is rock solid even in 40°C heat. I once had a client who complained the feed cut out during a sandstorm, but when I checked, his dish was loose from the wind, not a signal issue.

SSC 2 HD: 12034 V 27500 3/4, same DVB-S2 8PSK specs. This carries youth leagues, second division, women’s futsal, and regional tournaments. It’s FTA, no subscription needed. Great for casual fans who don’t want to pay for premium matches. SSC 2 once broadcast a women’s futsal final in 2024 that wasn’t on any other feed, a client called me just to thank me for adding that frequency to his list.

SSC 3 HD: 12054 H 27500 3/4. International friendlies, Asian Cup qualifiers, and some European league matches. It’s FTA most of the time, though major matches get encrypted. I had an issue with this transponder in 2023 when it cut out during a Saudi vs Argentina friendly, spent 2 hours troubleshooting before realizing Arabsat had temporarily moved it for maintenance, but it’s been stable since.

SSC 4 HD: 12073 V 27500 3/4. 24/7 sports news, press conferences, transfer rumors. FTA, no subscription. I tell clients to add this even if they only care about matches, it’s useful for checking match schedules.

SSC 5 HD: 12092 H 27500 3/4. Lower league local tournaments, amateur sports, and community events. FTA, great for people who want to watch local teams that don’t make it to the premium feeds.

SSC 6 4K: 12111 V 27500 2/3, DVB-S2 16APSK. This is the only 4K feed, carries major finals, World Cup qualifiers, and El Clasico. It’s encrypted, needs a 4K receiver and subscription. I’ll explain why this is a waste for most people later.

Package / Channel	Frequency	Polarity	Symbol Rate	FEC
SSC 1, 5, Extra HD	12380	Horizontal (H)	27500	3/4
SSC 2, 3, 4, 6 HD	12418	Horizontal (H)	27500	3/4

The LNB Scam at Every Hardware Store

Most developers I know who install dishes agree: 80% of signal issues are caused by cheap LNBs. The 20 SAR LNBs sold at every corner hardware store are single-band, only covering 10.7-11.7 GHz. Every SSC frequency is above 12000 MHz, so those cheap LNBs can’t even see them. You need a universal Ku-band LNB that covers 10.7-12.75 GHz, which costs 75-100 SAR. I once had a client in Jeddah who bought 3 different 20 SAR LNBs over a month, wasted 60 SAR total, before he called me. A single 80 SAR LNB fixed all his issues. Don’t be that guy. The hardware store clerk will try to sell you the cheap one because they make more profit on it, ignore them.

Also, make sure your LNB is a twin or quad LNB if you have multiple receivers. I’ve had clients buy a single LNB for a house with 3 TVs, then wonder why only one TV works. It’s basic stuff, but people skip it because they’re trying to save 30 SAR.

4K Feeds Are for People Who Care More About Specs Than Sports

I think 4K feeds are overrated for 95% of people. Use the HD feeds instead. The 4K transponder (12111 V) uses 16APSK modulation, which is way more sensitive to dish alignment than the 8PSK used for HD feeds. If your dish is off by 0.5 degrees, you’ll get constant buffering, pixelation, and dropped frames. Even if your alignment is perfect, you need a 4K TV and a 4K DVB-S2 receiver to watch it. I’ve had clients spend 300 SAR on a 4K receiver, plug it into a 1080p TV, and complain the picture looks the same. It does, because your TV can’t display 4K. You’re wasting your money. The HD feeds (1080p) look identical on a 1080p TV, and they’re way more stable. Unless you have a 65-inch 4K TV and a perfect dish alignment, skip the 4K feed.

When to Stop Wasting Time on Satellite

I make my living installing satellite dishes, but I’m not going to lie to you to get a service call. Satellite isn’t magic, it needs line of sight to the eastern sky at 26 degrees. If you live in an apartment building with a shared dish that’s pointed wrong, you can’t adjust it without permission from the building management. If you’re in a valley with trees or tall buildings blocking the horizon, you won’t get a signal. If you’re outside the Badr 7 footprint, it won’t work. I tell my clients: if you can’t see the horizon at 26 degrees east from your balcony, don’t bother. Switch to IPTV. IPTV works over internet, no dish needed, and it’s way more reliable in areas with bad satellite line of sight. I’ve had clients argue with me, insisting satellite is better, then call me 2 days later to ask for IPTV recommendations. Save yourself the hassle.

Check your dish alignment first before you blame the frequency list. 80% of the “dead frequency” complaints I get are just a dish that’s off by 1 or 2 degrees. Tighten your mount, check your skew, make sure you’re pointed at 26.0°E. If you do that, and use the frequencies I listed here, you’ll get your Saudi sports channels.

If you’re in the Badr 7 footprint, use the 6 frequencies I listed, buy a decent LNB, and check your dish alignment. That’s all it takes. Stop using 2021 frequency lists, stop buying cheap LNBs, and stop pointing your dish at Nilesat.

see more : Complete Guide to Frequencies and Satellites French Television 2026