Many people misunderstand FTA. Most people who have "free to air" are actually stealing signals and either pretend they think it is legal or are ignorant to the fact it is. This also involves a lot of reprogramming as satellite TV providers scramble their signals to keep people from stealing from them. I know people who have lost their TV for months due to this.
There is legal free to air channels but the selection isn't exactly spectacular
http://www.ftalist.com/master.php