*This post has become a page which you can find in the sidebar to the right.
*This post is continually being updated as new information comes in. Keep the suggestions coming folks!
As I wrote in “Living Without Cable” I gave up my cable television on November 14th, 2011. There were several reasons for my doing this. The first reason was that I am not happy with Comcast, (A List Of The Companies Pushing For Censorship Of The Internet), and the actions they are pursuing in an attempt to censor the Internet. “Time to Occupy the Internet Before It’s Too Late”
The second reason was cost. Because of the channels I wanted to watch, (Science Channel, National Geographic, etc.), I had to get the “premier package” which amounted to $188 per month for my cable and Internet access.
The third reason is decades worth of lousy service from our illegally monopolistic cable companies.
So, I dumped Comcast and went with a local wireless company for my Internet access. I am now paying $50 for Internet and $0 for cable – a savings of $138 per month or $1656.00 per year.
For the last six weeks I have been researching online television watching. What I have found is that most of the shows you can see with cable, you can also see online. Many times, the online shows don’t have commercials either.
If you want to know if the shows you love are online, all you need to do is Google the name of the show with “full episodes” next to it. Such as: The Big Bang Theory full episodes. You will be taken to the CBS website where the last few episodes of The Big Bang Theory are there for your watching. Or, if you want the actual URL, it is this: http://www.cbs.com/shows/big_bang_theory/
The news shows are also online. The local news here streams the news online live. The ABC affiliate shows the station logo while those watching on TV are watching commercials. The NBC affiliate live stream goes black when those in TV land are watching the commercials and the CBS affiliate shows the same commercials the TV watchers are seeing.
Here are a few of the links where you can find TV shows and movies online for free. (Also, if you really, really want to see a show, you can buy the series and have it downloaded to your computer. I did that with the show “The Walking Dead”. It cost me $35 for the season, I downloaded it to my hard drive and so I can watch it anytime I like now. Also if you know other people who like to watch the same show, you could all pool your resources and watch the shows together. So, in 6 weeks I have spent that $35 for TV, and nothing else.) I could buy a series every month and still save over $100 per month.
Anyway, here are those links with a little explanation about some of them:
Movie25 This site has movies, new releases and some older ones.
TubePlus This site has movies and TV series, even premium channel series.
NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams
Rent-A-Drone Here is a site that live streams HLN, Al Jazeera, MSNBC, CNBC US Europe & Asia live, CNN live stream USA, CNN international, BBC World News, and a few more.
The TV Guide Channel This site has an eclectic mix of different shows from different networks.
The Colbert Report With the Colbert Report and The Daily Show, when you watch online you are seeing it in standard definition. If you want high definition, it will cost you $2.99 per episode, which is downloaded to your hard drive.
Xfinity TV That’s right, you can STILL watch shows and movies from Comcast, only now you don’t have to pay them for it.
ABC network shows On this site, you can come back to a paused show whenever you want to. You can pause one show and then watch other shows on the site, or even leave the site and when you come back to that particular show, it is in the same place it was when you left.
PBS shows; all commercial-free
National Geographic Channel Some full episodes
Justin TV You can watch shows here, and you can also broadcast your own live shows if you want. (I haven’t checked that part out yet so I don’t know how it works exactly).
Online Video Guide Some TV shows and movies
Crackle Sony shows and movies: This site has 287 movies and over 100 TV shows. This site has, by far, the best quality picture. However, you do have to watch commercials even during the movies.
Movie Web This site requires that you join. However they do have old episodes of shows like Bonanza. I believe this site originates out of Australia because of some of the shows that are on it appear to be Australian in origin.
And as a special request, I looked up HGTV and found that all of their episodes are online, and free.
I have found some stations that claim to have live streaming broadcasts, however I have not been able to find the live stream video feed. the newest example of this is Northwest Cable News, (NWCN) out of the Pacific Northwest area. I am going to list those stations here and if anyone comes up with a way to find these live streams,, either write it in the comments or send an email to [email protected]
NWCN – Claims to have a live stream, however I have been unable to locate it.
I am going to continue researching even farther into this and I will update this page as more information comes into me. If you have a link you think should be included here, post it in the comments and I will add it.
Thanks, and happy viewing!
After being without cable now for two months, I have learned a lot. There are many sites out there where you can get your T.V. online for free: Some legal, some not. (You can tell which ones are legal and which ones aren’t by how much BS you have to go through to get to the program. The more BS, the more likely it is the site you are looking for is an illegal one).
I have also learned that if you are not addicted to T.V. and can live without it; this is the way to go. Obviously, watching online is not as convenient as sitting on the couch, picking up the remote and channel surfing until you find a program that you want to watch. Watching online takes a little research, the quality of the connection isn’t always the best, and sometimes the website server is too slow for the traffic and a live stream might hang up once in awhile: However it is free and also makes you realize how much you really like the show you are looking for.
I watch a lot of shows here: http://www.justin.tv
Thanks