35 Ways To Watch Television for Free Without Cable Or Satellite
At my house, basic digital cable TV cost over $69 per month (plus taxes) and I watch maybe 10 or 15 of the 150+ channels that they provide me, meaning that I pay for many channels that I have no interest in. With the price of just about everything headed skyward, and paychecks plummeting, paid cable and satellite TV is often one of the first things to go from anyone’s budget. There are a lot of people who have taken the big step of getting rid of paid TV in their house and reverting back to antennas or no TV at all. Because I often give thought to ditching my cable, especially when my “deal” with Comcast expires, I was curious just how many ways there are that provide the ability to watch your favorite shows free-of-charge one way or another… and there are there a lot!
While I cannot vouch for the legality or the quality of all of these websites, here are 35 a lot of different ways you can still catch your favorite shows and web videos without paying for cable or satellite TV. And while I haven’t tried each and every one of them out for any extended period of time, the first 5 I list are my favorites, to help guide you to some of the ones that work well. I have either given my own opinion of each one or when possible I have taken a blurb from each site’s “About” page to give you a little more info. And if you have a favorite, or you use a site that isn’t listed here, please be sure to mention it in the comments so everyone can check it out!
Top 5 Favorites …
1. The good old fashioned antenna. Of course, this all depends on what kind of signal you can get inside your house. In my place here in CO, I can use an HDTV antenna and the channels come in beautifully. But I have lived in other houses where I couldn’t even get snow to show up on the TV (New Mexico, I am looking at you). Antennas mounted on roofs tend to be a lot better at pulling in those free signals, but remember that as of 2009 you need a special digital converter box, as the analog signals will no longer be broadcast (in most communities).
2. The network websites. ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, etc. – you name it, they are streaming most of their shows on their sites the day after they air on TV. Sure, there are a few ads, but there are ads on cable, too – at least here you aren’t paying to watch the ads.
3. Hulu – Hulu has become a big dog in the world of internet streaming TV. I know a guy who has a Mac Mini hooked up to a projection TV, and his only source of broadcast TV is through Hulu. It looks beautiful on that 100 inch TV, all free of charge…for now. Hulu does provide a “Plus” account for $10 a month that gives you more shows in HD.
4. JustinTV – Sure, it’s a lot of home web videos, but it’s also a great place to find that elusive game or event that you can’t see at home with an antenna. People film their own TV sets and broadcast it to the site – enabling you to watch too. (Told you I can’t vouch for legalities)
5. Share TV – Kinda like Hulu, but they seem to have more video available. Right now they have 14,469 episodes available across 485 television shows.
The rest…
6. Miro – More of a video platform than a bunch of stations, Miro does have a directory of videos you can watch once you download the video player.
7. Free TV Online – Seemingly combining Hulu, You Tube, Facebook, and any viral video you have ever seen, there is a lot here to comb through.
8. BeelineTV – Through their site, you can watch live TV channels from around the world. Interested in watching a live news feed from Croatia? This would definitely be the site you want to hang out on.
9. BigFileTV – Another site full of tv shows and feeds from around the world.
10. OV Guide – From movies, to TV, to anime, games, adult, documentaries, etc – OV Guide has a LOT of programs to stream to your computer.
11. Choose and Watch – ChooseAndWatch is a multimedia portal where you can watch hundreds of online TV channels and videos.
12. YouTube – I think you know this one already!
13. PCTV – Another web portal with everything under the sun that you either want to watch or watched at some point in the past.
14. TV Web 360 – Channel categories include News, Business, Entertainment, Music, Movies, Sports, Lifestyle, Educational, Shopping, Cartoons, Weather, Government, Religion and General TV. The web site offers over 1000 free Web TV channels.
15. Joost – Ever wanted to see Betty White in Calendar Girl? Want to see a lost episode of Adult Swim? Check out Joost.
16. Daily Motion – Like YouTube…kinda.
17. TV Video – All the favorites on broadcast TV are available here.
18. AOL Video – Self-explanatory, but pretty generic.
19. QuickSilverScreen – A good place to watch movies, concerts, and documentaries online for free.
20. My Easy TV – There are more than 3000 television channels you can watch here… way more than you may ever need.
21. TV Lizer – TV Lizer is based on a portuguese website called TVTUGA, this is its english international version.
22. WWITV – A portal to watch over 2,800 live and on demand online television broadcasts.
23. Channel Chooser – With more than 10 million unique viewers monthly, they must be providing some good stuff.
24. TevoOtv – On this website, you will find movie, news, sports, music channels. They are sorted by their respective country, and are easy to access and view using the top navigation menu.
25. Find Internet TV – Missed the Tour de France? You wouldn’t have if you had known about this site.
26. Streamick – Based in Russia, these guys have thousands and thousands of streaming video channels for you to watch.
27. Crafty TV – Another portal for channels all over the world.
28. Jump TV – A broadcaster of live and on-demand sports video over the Internet.
29. Flick Peek – You can watch movies, tv shows, cartoons and anime free of charge. Oh, and you can also watch trailers for upcoming new releases.
30. Mevio – A social media-type community, providing access to the best in new media in audio, video, podcasts, and music.
31. Your Global TV – Seems a little sketchy, but hey – there is a lot here.
32. wfitv – Free internet TV from all over the world, delivered to your computer.
33. Any TV – Seems to require a download, and isn’t for Mac computers, so I couldn’t test it. Anyone?
34. Spreety – As a television guide for online TV, Spreety provides links to legal entertainment choices, including popular online TV shows, classic TV shows, music videos, news, online sports, and movies online.
35. No Subscription Required – Another “guide” of sorts, there seems to be current in-theatre movies listed here. (Again, the legalities are not my responsibility!)
36. Don’t Watch Me – Anyone ever use this one? Seems simple, but I couldn’t get it to work!
37. TVUNetworks – More live TV from around the world. These kind of sites are cool because if you are from another country, you can still feel right at home while watching your hometown news.
38. Veoh – Seems to be mostly cartoons and short films, but interesting anyway.
39. CastTV – Everything and anything, listed alphabetical for easy access.
40. My Easy TV – Anything you want, anytime you want it. And when I say anything, I mean…anything.
41. FreeTube – Select a genre, and start watching. Easy as pie.
42. SideReel – An entertainment guide and community site for television and film enthusiasts.
43. TV Duck – Like Wikipedia but for TV shows and movies. Links, links, and more links.
44. TV Gorge – Another site that serves as a portal for all things TV. Links leave the site to go to Hulu and Amazon video, for example.
45. TV TubeX – Like the old TV shows? This might be a place for you to hang out more often, M.A.S.H. and I Dream Of Jeanie are on the homepage, if that tells you anything.
46. Clicker – Nothing you can’t find anywhere else, but a nice clean site anyway that leads you to the shows and movies you want to see.
47. Watvon – Thousands of free Internet television channels and web cameras. You can watch online streaming TV from any country around the world. Select any theme: movie channels, news videos, cartoons streams, live webcams and many other broadcasts such as sports channels, music clips and religious transmissions.
48. TV Land – The online portal for the TV channel. Good stuff here, if you like TV Land.
49. Video Surf – According to the site, “Using a unique combination of new computer vision and fast computation methods, VideoSurf has taught computers to “see” inside videos to find content in a fast, efficient, and scalable way. Basing its search on visual identification, rather than text only, VideoSurf’s computer vision video search engine provides more relevant results and a better experience to let users find and discover the videos they really want to watch.” Let’s see about that, shall we?
50. Gig Streams – Sports, sports, sports, and more sports. Need I say more?
So which will it be? This:
Or this?
If you have gotten rid of cable or satellite, where do you watch TV? Do you have any additions for this list to share with other readers (or myself, if we go the no-TV route!)? Let me know in the comments!
Photos by dailyinvention and by sfxeric
You left out hulu.com. They have lots of content including recent tv shows and even some full length movies available. You should check them out.
Although I live in a valley and get terrible reception, an antenna works for most local channels. Otherwise, I rely on Netflix for tv shows and movies, which is plenty to keep me occupied.
After moving into the mountains, we went the no-TV route and love it. Now when we want to watch a certain show we just add a season to our Netflix queue and watch it in a condensed timeframe.
One other option is free-to-air satellite: basically there are tons of unencrypted satellite transmissions that are available with a cheap / used satellite dish and an inexpensive converter box. No monthly fees involved.
I use Hulu.com, surfthechannel.com, and the network websites. I haven’t had a tv since August 2007, but I’m totally fine without it. Can still watch Lost, The Office, Gossip Girl, Pushing Daisies… I’m good to go.
Wow, what an extensive list. We don’t have cable television or actually … any television, but we do have high speed internet. We just don’t have the time to watch TV!
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It seems to me that there are three big nuts to crack before people start dropping their cable TV.
1. People need to be able to watch the shows as they happen. You can’t talk about the latest episode of The Office at the office, if it wasn’t run online while everyone else was.
2. Legality… though you can’t vouch for the legality, for mass adoption you’d want it to be very legal.
3. Sports… Do I get to watch the Red Sox game as it happens? If the game is available, is the picture quality of the Patriots game up there with the high definition? You can’t be dropping frames or watching on a postage stamp.
LM&M- Sometimes its about $$$ only and not so much what people can and cannot watch. My mom’s cable package is $139 and ours is $69 – way above what a lot of people can afford, and if it comes down to food vs. TV, I would pick food as well. However, we are not in that situation, but rather just considering what our options are – We watch only a few shows a week, I cannot catch Sox games unless they are playing the Yankees (espn), and I don’t mind watching a show the next day…I work from home by myself. (thankfully) When they get all the bugs figured out, internet TV is definitely the future though…
You may wanna add Veoh to the list.
That’s a great list there. I definitely need to check those out to see which ones could work for me.
Thanks for the list! I’ve been living without cable for 2.5 years and it’s great! I am surprised so many people continue to pay for cable, especially with prices for everything else going up. I watch a few broadcast shows, and then any shows I miss I can usually find online. I started out using fanpop.com but think I’ll check out a few of the above to compare. As for LM&M’s comments about talking about the shows at work….I think that you (David) work from home. 🙂 I say try the no-cable route for a while. You can always buy a package later…
good for films and has links to many other sites
You might also want to check out your local library and see what their DVD collection has to offer.
http://www.tvunetworks.com is one of the best I’ve found for a collection of live streaming English language stations, including some network and cable stations. You can even find some occasional live sporting events on there. I think it is hosted in China, so I don’t know just how legal the feeds may be.
A tremendous amount of TV content is available via Netflix. Their online viewer is fantastic. Any of their plans gives you the unlimited online viewing feature
Wow! I had no idea that there were so many options for watching TV. We did away with cable both to save money and to stop wasting valuable chunks of our life watching crappy shows on the tube. While I’m sure that these are great options, why not use the time to enjoy the great outdoors instead?
You forgot freetube.110mb.com
http://www.dontwatchme.com has streaming tv links (simpsons, futurama, southpark) as well as daily tv torrents from the major TV sites. All this in one place.
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You only need one site:
http://www.seecy.com/
The Biggest Collection of Working Video Links on The Web: 412 and counting
My problem is that I can only access dialup service where I live. Therefore it takes forever to watch just one half hour show. They are working on wireless but not there yet. So I guess it’s no TV for me for a while yet.
my site offers the latest and best free movie sites
enjoy the show all for free
http://www.nosubscriptionrequired.net/
wow, really cool and pretty good. I will have a try. Good way to watch tv without cable. really perfect.
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[…] big step of getting rid of paid TV in their house and reverting back to antennas or no TV at all. [35 Ways To Watch Television Without Cable Or Satellite] Tags: cable, hacks, TVPosted in Cool, TV, Tips and Tricks, Useful […]
Spreety’s Preferred Internet TV Guide lists the 100 major networks online, and a selection of high quality live news and sports feeds. It’s free, and the family room PC article under the Membership section give tips on how to fully replace Cable TV. http://www.spreety.com/
a good addition would be http://www.telesurtv.net.
of course, this would be for the other half of the world, the spanish speaking one. actually its also in portuguese.
but i must say. they transmit 24/7. non stop. and its free.
otherwise you can get specific shows on demand. like the latest news, or sports, etc.
the offer an audio only stream, as well as two video streams of different qualities qualities.
you watch through their player, or in your browser, or you could just cut and paste the address into vlc. which i find works the best.(vlc is by far the best media player out there. its open source and cross platform. (www.videolan.org)
I also like to check out TV shows on DVD from the library (and blockbuster online)
Wow, that’s quite a list. I must say, lately I’ve been using Hulu (The Office, Daily Show, SNL, House) and Netflix WatchNow on my laptop… That being said, I still consider basic cable worth it, especially when combined with a TiVo service.
[…] http://www.mytwodollars.com/2008/06/23/35-ways-to-watch-television-without-paying-for-cable-or-satel… […]
Or go to Iwatchseries and request your Tv show or series,
[…] My Two Dollars explains Thirty-five ways to watch television without cable or satellite. […]
Here’s a list that’s updated monthly with the top 25 websites to watch free movies and tv shows online;
http://blog.buttermouth.com/2007/06/top-25-places-to-watch-free-movies-and.html
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Hi,
Thanks for mentioning Fancast. We think our offerings are second to none, and in addition to Fox and NBC shows like Family Guy or The Office, we ALSO have great Viacom hits like The Colbert Report, The Daily Show and South Park – as well as an extensive collection of classics. Your readers might be interested to see the full list of our TV library, all of them free, and full-length of course. It’s at http://www.fancast.com/full_episodes
Cheers,
Jim (for fancast)
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In my case having cable TV is the bargain over high speed internet. I called and asked for what they call “limited service” cable — it gives me the major networks, with QVC, FAM, all the spanish channels and two public broadcasting stations thrown in, for $17.00 a month. The high speed internet was costing me $52 a month, so I reluctantly let it go. Watching TV online is no bargain at all for me.
A little known fact is that if you pay for cable TV it’s a minor issue to just split the line and you typically get channels 2-99.
Correction to the above. If you pay for cable INTERNET, you can split the line and get free cable TV.
Elizabeth – but then what do you do about internet?
Zooph – Interesting! I don’t have cable anymore, but does anyone else know if this works? Has anyone tried it? Anyone willing to?
Remember, the cable TV is cheaper than internet for me. I’m more willing to pay $17 a month for cable TV, but not $52 for the internet. There are certain places like Panera Restaurants and public libraries that have free wifi. Places I steer clear of are Borders, Barnes and Noble and Starbucks because they have an agreement with T-Mobile and charge for access.
David ~ I’ve been doing this for years with numerous cable companys and have never had an issue. Even the cheapest Rat Shack or Wally World splitters work just fine but I usually recommend at least 90dB so that channels 2-4 (the approximate frequencies modems usually want) aren’t all fuzzy.
Forgot to mention: How about you add Veoh to your list? I have a pretty impressive (IMHO) Red Green collection uploaded. http://www.veoh.com/channels/RedGreen
Added, thanks!
One of my favorites was http://freetube.110mb.com which streams lots of televisoin channels and some really indie content which was why I use it. The biggest boon in not having cable or satellite is so you can at least get big stuff and small indie stuff on the same site. Should add FreeTube and Hulu.com too.
[…] 35 Ways to Watch Television Without Cable or Satellite: Here you’ll learn about the many ways to find TV without paying for cable. […]
yea I like freetube as well.
[…] boy are there a lot! While I cannot vouch for the legality or the quality of all of these websites, here are 35 different ways you can still catch your favorite shows and web videos without paying for cable or satellite […]
Unfortunately, AnyTV and Joost do not support Linux. There is another service called Zattoo that does but it is not available in the US at present (July 2008).
this is good site for free full length movies online
I’ve been using http://watchtvforfreeonline.com/ to watch tv for free online. Seems obvious huh? : )
Anyways this site has no pop up ads and has every TV show I watch including rare ones like Friends and Scrubs. But also as every Family Guy, Lost, Heroes, and like a thousand other shows. Its really pretty amazing that all of this is free online and so easy to access. I guess it’s not on this list because it is a newer site. But I’m pretty impressed so far.
-Alexander
For watching free online music tv channels go here http://liveonlinetvradio.com/online-music-tv-channels/
This is a very helpful post! We live in a rural area with only one cable provider at the moment. Needless to say prices are high and I am looking for a way out from under that cable bill.
Hulu is by far my favorite – their commercials are short and their content has significantly improved over the last six months or so. Everything that’s on the other network’s websites (ABC, NBC, etc) is already on Hulu 90% of the time which makes it more of a one stop shop.
Go ahead and nix the cable – It’s far too expensive and there are so many other great options out there now.
[…] 35 Ways To Watch Television Without Cable Or Satellite. […]
Depending on where you live, you cannot get a signal through the antenna … they are switching to digital only.
You forgot good ol stealing! I pay 25 a month for high speed cable internet.
Before the coax cable reaches my modem I installed a cable splitter from walmart that costs about 3 dollars. One side goes to the modem while the other goes to your tv. Viola! instant free basic cable +. 75 channels for absolutley free. Enjoy
I believe it was mentioned (by me) about a dozen posts up.
Still a good “trick”.
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this post shows the best video website. i prefer veoh more often cause i dont have any buffering problem on it.
Thanks for the compilation, very util 🙂
Regards from Pgrowlandia.
watch free online movies and more
http://www.zicok.com
Another addition should be http://www.FirstOnMars.com. This site launched very recently & has 600 tv shows available to view for free.
[…] 35 Ways To Watch TV Without Cable Or Satellite: My Two Dollars […]
I too am getting fed up with cable–it is way too expensive unless you happen to get into a promotional package deal, but it always expires and then you have to downgrade or renegotiate a new package. Satellite isn’t any better.
Watching TV over the Internet is fine if I miss an episode of a favorite show, but I will not watch everything on my computer because I like to kick back in bed to watch TV at night.
Renting from Netflix or Blockbuster or borrowing DVDs from the library is good. Especially the library option because I can get a whole season at a time of a TV show from the library and keep it a week.
I happen to have a TiVo and I can rent videos from Amazon Unbox, Disney and other places if I want to. It is similar to PPV if you have cable. I also can watch YouTube and other free Internet videos on the TiVo.
The biggest thing for me is being able to watch HD stuff since I just got a 53″ LCD TV. Almost anything else looks like crap except for DVDs that I play on my upconverting DVD player.
I would like to try the antennae option, but in my area, I believe there are only about 5 channels we can get that way. It may still be worth a try.
I too am fed up with the high cost of cable. It ticks me off that we pay so much and only watch a very small number of channels. To get the ones we want, we have to take a big package. Few channels are commercial-free. I don’t like paying a lot of money for cable and then also have to suffer through a ton of commercials. Even though I record most everything, you still get those popup ads and banners and TV logos. I hate those. Watching DVDs is what I do most.
Having the TV on fewer hours a day is very liberating. I also like to read a good book, or listen to my iPod while I work.
I am a very dissatisfied cable customer. Satellite isn’t going to be much better. I checked into it. For me, the best options are watching DVDs and switching to the antennae from cable.
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>>>> Zooph | Jul 8, 2008 | Reply
Correction to the above. If you pay for cable INTERNET, you can split the line and get free cable TV.
>>>>
i’ve been doing this for years as well but today i saw my cable company truck parked up my street and the technician climbed up the post to do some work, and after that my cable channels are gone. what exactly have they done and is there any solution around this?
No, and hopefully they caught on to what you were doing and shut it off. That’s theft, and it’s partially the reason everyone else’s bill is so high.
How the hell is that theft? That would be like saying you’re stealing a CD from your neighbor because they’re playing it too loud.
They’re the ones who piped it into your house.
Anyway, they likely installed a filter. Don’t mess with it. Now THAT is illegal.
You’re right – not paying for something you are supposed to isn’t stealing. Gee, what ever was I thinking.
Uh, he was paying for that wire to be run into his house. How is it his fault if that wire also included TV signals? Easy answer, it isn’t. Go troll somewhere else.
Go troll somewhere else? It’s my website.
I didn’t notice you complaining last year when I first made the comment…
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ustream.tv is getting much better.
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[…] are a ton of other free video sites out there, this list only lists some of the ones I found to be the best. Have some free online […]
[…] 35 Ways To Watch Television Without Cable Or Satellite My Two Posted by root 9 days ago (http://www.mytwodollars.com) At my house basic digital cable tv cost over 69 per month plus taxes and we watch maybe i didn 39 t notice you complaining last year when i first made the comment all rights reserved powered by wordpress wordpress themes Discuss | Bury | News | 35 Ways To Watch Television Without Cable Or Satellite My Two […]
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[…] are by far the costliest aspect of most cable/sat packages), most of what’s on cable/sat is readily and economically available via broadcast TV, on DVD, or online. What’s more, I actually like to watch HD on my HDTV. All […]
Sidereel.com and Alluc.org are also great ones you haven’t listed here.
Here’s another good site to watch live tv online for free
http://www.epctv.com/
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Yes, you are stealing, Just like the electricy and water pipes connect to your house doesnot mean it is free. You guys talk about the the ghetto people are always stealing, but I bet if you go to the good area you will found a lot of people who do not pay for the extra activities. and yes you are a crook.
Goverment & TV stations told us to just get convertor boxes and we would continue to get free antenna TV. I have 4 convertor boxes 1 tv with a new on roof antennae. A second with side roof antenna. and 2 with indoor rabbit ears. CHANNEL 10 ONE OF MY MOST WATCHED CHANNELS FROM ALBANY IS NOT COMING IN AT ALL. CH 6 FRom ALBANY CAN COME IN ON ALL 4 TV’S. 4 CHANNELS FROM ALBANY ARE VIEWABLE WITH THE NEW ROOF ANTENNA BUT NOT ON INDOOR SETUPS. ARE THERE ANY INDOOR ANTENNAS WITH INCREASED RECEPTION
POWER THAT CAN BE PURCHASED?
I’m still in the dinasaur age with my cheap dial-up. It takes all afternoon to load a short youtube video. (please don’t laugh at me, I’m an old dinasaur lady too!)
I can upgrade to high speed with att for a little more a month, but they reccommend the super fast, super expensive plan to download movies and such.
How fast do I need to go to be able to watch online tv shows? (I’m not looking to download movies from netflix or anything like that). The blogs always talk about saving money on cable and stuff, but never seem to talk about saving on internet. A little guidance would be appreciated.
1.5 Mbit should be fine but I’d personally go for 3 Mbit if it’s only a few bucks more.
Thank you Zooph. I greatly appreciate your advice.
[…] (like Youtube). Others I've never heard of. Here's a site that gives 35 options to pay-for TV: 35 Ways To Watch Television Without Cable Or Satellite. | My Two Dollars Some of those sites offer free TV after a one-time sign-up fee. It kind of smells like a scam. […]
tvgorge.com… another site.
EXCELLENT POST!!! I love this because I LOVE ABC’s LOST!!!! I have watched all 6 seasons through their website, and am now completely caught up!
(What’s going to happen to the Island!! AHH!!!)
pls known can i watch etv for fee… i need the code to watch etv
I sometimes wonder myself if the cable subscription that I am paying for is actually worth it considering the times that I am actually able to watch TV shows at home.
All you need to access internet tv from outside USA is a high-speed VPN service (Proxys don’t work!). I moved abroad from the USA still have complete access to all US TV via the Internet.
Here is a site that has list of all US & UK streaming TV sites: http://www.vpntelevision.com
Hope this helps,
Uncle Abe
I live in China where almost EVERYTHING is banned. No Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, nothing. The state’s clear aim is to deprive people of information of any sort. I couldn’t even access the websites suggested above. Ridiculous.
If you have Comcast cable internet, get a cable splitter and watch local HD channels for free and surf the internet at the same time 🙂
@Mike Jones/ April 25, 2010 at 12:06 am:
WHY would you want to live in China. Any place that restricts human beings as much as that country deserves to be banned, themselves. That is precisely what people over here are doing… “made in China”? Then it stays on the shelf at the store. 300 million US consumers WILL pummel that whacked out communist nation’s economy.
I want to get rid of cable, but I love sports. I can watch all the A-team re-runs I want online, but you can’t watch baseball or college football. Until that day I will be a sucker to the man.
Satellite TV users will definitely grow in the following years and also satellite internet users.`”`
Would it not be cool for everyone to call or go into cable location and CANCEL their services?! What would happen & how long would it take for Charter & Comcast to do something? Boycott these companies until we can pick what we want on our services.
aside from emule and torrent, where do you usually download free online movies ?”‘-
online movies are cool but i wish the quality were better.`”‘
hey guys! where do you get more free online movies?*`;
i always watch online movies from Vimeo or Youtube, it is low resolution but most of the time sufficient.*’~
I told my two young teens that if we did not pay for cable this year, they would each get new laptops with the money we would be saving…AND….we would have something of value to show for our dollar!!!
You’re going to be in for an interesting year, August…
If cable and satellite companies don’t come up with some new packages i.e. ala cart so we can choose only the channels we want, more and more people are going to switch to watching tv online.
i love to watch online movies even if the quality is not superb compared to dvds-*”
This is great to know because I no longer have cable tv!
i have a satellite TV and cable TV at home, both of them are good:~.
i always watch internet video on youtube and metacafe,`-
there are lots of video websites these days on the internet and i always visit them ..~
Another good one is letmewatchthis dot com. Its great for me because I am traveling outside the country and things like Hulu or NBC don’t work outside the states…
Wow- thank you all. We currenlty do not have cable at home – only bcoz I cannot afford it. We have internet service- CLEAR internet- adn I pay $30.41 a month and its a consistent flat rate- includes taxes and all and I love it. So- because my internet is not through a cable company- are yall sayn that i cannot strean shows from HULU.COM and NETFLIX to my tv to watch shows and movies etc? And if I actually can- may you so kindly tell me how I can do that please?
Great list! I use some of those to watch my favorite shows online these days. letmewatchthis dot com is another great one you should add to your list.
I just dumped my cable tv service three days ago after they suddenly raised my monthly bill $25 to $194 per month for tv, internet, and phone. By dropping the tv and inquiring about a discount on my internet, my bill will be around $81 per month for 10Mps internet and VOIP phone. I am considering dropping my landline and using my tracfone cell phone only, which would shave off another $35 per month.
Someone mentioned using a splitter with the high speed internet service to get free cable tv. That can’t work. I already had such a splitter (and still do) when I had cable tv, and the cable line went into a cable box. I had to return the box when I cancelled service. Our cable company is switching everyone including the basic cable tv customers to digital which means that everyone must have a cable box in order to get cable tv.
Hey, My friend told me about this site this year and I watched all of my Saints games on it LIVE! Helped alot since I live in Southern Maryland. You can acually watch live sports like hockey, nfl, college and all kinds of others. This site also shows some of the more popular shows reruns. Great site. DROP CABLE!!
Sorry. The site didn’t show up. atdhe.net
Someone told me to get some kind of “box” from the local tv station so that I could pick up local chanels and not have to have cable…what kind of box is it?
I tried to get access to gigstream.com to watch free live football but the site wants me to sign up as a member and pay before I can watch. I am not able to download what I need to watch this “free site”. I appears they are lieing on their site.
This web page is usually a walk-through like the info you wanted about it and didn’t know who ought to. Glimpse here, and you’ll definitely discover it.
Currently have Uverse which is great but uber epensive. Dropping it end of Feb when move into new home, Already ordered and received two Roku units; will subscribe to Netflix and HuluPlus at $7.99/month each. Putting antenna in attic for local OTA, which is free, of course. 6.0 mgbs ATT dsl $25/month, but that’s not just for TV. Phone,Internet and TV for about $66+tax/month. Currently pay $176/month. Saves me more than $1200/year and still provides almost all the programming I actually use. Ditch’em.
I’ve been trying to get tv service without cable or internet. I live in a concrete/metal type of building and am surrounded by others that are the same. We’re not allowed to use roof or window antennaes. Any ideas of how I can get channels
how do you watch sports events like the superbowl online?
I’m going to have to share this list with my friend Kevin who absolutely refused to pay for cable.
Great, but what is the best?
Thank you so much!! Just bought a tv after 3 years of not having one and don’t want to pay for cable. Cheers!
For sports…ESPN3
I have been using “No subscription required” for three months. It’s amazing to watch brand new movies for nothing. On the down side of it, I have lost Microsoft xp in the process. I use Linux on the other side so, I have been doing all my email and all with Linux. I don’t know whether “No subscription required” is safe or not. I am about to take my computer in for repair obviously and, I was told it might be because of this site. That would be a shame. Most of the movies are first run. But most of all, they are for free! I guess something has to give afterall.
In response to Rob’s comment about the No Subscription Required site being safe or not ? I have been a fan of this site for the last five years without any problems caused to my pc, i have been careful to view links that are free steaming and not the download links, that can cause entering of viruses and spyware, this is maybe what happened to you. Only today have i seen the latest listing from No Subscription Required.net of Vwho.net that gives you all the possible links to all the latest media, my thanks to the site for giving us such a great service.
Thanks for the great list. Hooking up a Mac mini to a TV to watch Hula is a great idea!
I prefer to pay the cable. I can’t stand watching television shows (and they aren’t even same day shows) on the internet.
Hate paying my comcast bill. I need to update my tv so I can use the internet to get some shows… the problem is I’m big into sports its hard to watch sports shows like ESPN without cable
If you like Crickett, Soccer, UFC, TNA, WWE, or MMA, try this site. The videos are split into 10 or 15 min segments.
Does this work for both comcast and adelphie?
un ff belieable i just hit escape by accident and erased all i had wrote.”’anyway again,,,, im just coming back to yur sight after a week ,i kept the link in my email so i could come back and read the whole thing and wow this is great just what i needed when i needed it,”’i just dropped my cable tv bill but im still not saving to much ,only 20 bucks since im upgrading to the next highest comcast internet speed of 20mbps per sec called blast,,”if yur a new customer ,,,,online theres a 49.99 special for the same thing for a year ,,i tried to get in on it but ,of course its ONLY FOR BRAND NEW CUSTOMERS”””NO FAIR”””>and all the dsl companys out there want a one year contract ,,NO FFF WAY<<"the best stand alone internet 20mbps per sec speed ive seen is from RCN}' they offer the same thing for 49.99 monthly no contract,, higher speed means better video and audio quality streeming and faster movie download times ,i just bought two tvos off of criags list boston for 20 bucks i hope one of them works and i could use it with my computer,''geat listings i never knew there were so many free tv and movie sources ,looking forward to trying them out,,, now all i need is a 32 inch lcd hdtv flat sreen monitor and remote for the computer and hello tv paradise''''
I been looking into this more and more. My cable bill is crazy. there is not much on anyway. been looking at Hulu. Just want to get a TV that I can use as a monitor
I just wanted to say that this is an awesome site with very valuable information. I dumped our cable three months ago and faced almost getting thrown out of the house (not really) because my family was so attached to cable. Our finances were on the decline and we needed to save and cut back so I investigated the possibility of getting rid of cable, and I’m so glad we did. There are sooooo many different ligit sites to use to watch television shows, movies, documentaries, almost anything you like without paying a dime. The only problem I’m facing is providing enough sports for my husband who is a huge sports fan. He is currently watching ESPN 3 but that’s a little limiting from what he says. The crazy thing is that he’s dealing with it because he knows how much money we’re saving each month. Our cable bill was $174.00 a month, can you believe we were foolish enough to pay that much and had paid it for over 5 years. I’m ashamed to do the math to see how much money we threw away. Could have paid for a couple of family vacations.
So it you’re skeptical or contemplating making a change, go for it, there really isn’t much to get used to except for the extra money in your budget. Remember once you save it, don’t be silly and find another way to throw it away!
BTW, anyone have more information about where to watch sports other than ESPN 3?
Lightseeker
Also forgot to mention that there is a great box out called Roku that allows you to stream in HD, and offers other stuff that is exactly like cable but theres only a one time cost of $59.99/free shipping and absolutely no monthly fees. All the movies and shows you want, you might want to check out all the features at roku.com or go to Netflix.com and check out their “watch television instantly” section. You can get more information about it there. Another great little investment to save on cable fees and you can use it on any television even the old analog television! Check it out!
I was very disappointed when the NBC-based channel US Sports went to cable on January 1st. I used to enjoy the gymnastics and skating there. Now, in an Olympic year, they decided to move from the free NBC channel 5.3 to a paid cable channel. It’s like those certain sports events are only available on paid cable, or video reruns on USsports.com. It’s really lousy in an Olympic year!
I just want to specify-the NBC-based sports channel I was referring to that was on the free channel 5.3 was Universal Sports. They are still listed as 5.3, but it costs money from Comcast now.
I have access to wireless Internet in my home. Is there a way to watch free television through wireless?
What if you don’t even have internet? What then? I’m on a very tight budget and bored out of my mind!
Wow great resource! I think this is one of the most definitive lists of places to watch TV for free. Must have taken you a long time to put together. I love freebies
Great information about the sites. However, how to do go about it? My tvs don’t have internet connections & browsers. Do you have to purchase a computer/special box for each TV? Suggestions? Will Wi-Fi be sufficient or do you need a cable running to each device?
@Ruby If you’re not willing to watch the stuff on your computer, depending on your TV and computer, there might be outputs and inputs you can use. For example, I have one laptop hooked up to an HDTV via HDMI and another hooked up via S-Video.
I am wanting to get Netflix, and Hulu, but my son says that our internet isn’t fast enough. He likes to play online game with others and I want to watch TV, movies, etc. I live just outside the city(not even a mile) and I can’t get DSL from anyone! The only internet we can get is through Bluegrass cellular (a cell phone company)and it is $65.00 a month and me and my son can’t even do what we each want at the same time! I’m very angry.
crackle is good didnt see it on the list
Mary go to Walmart and purchase an Virgin Mobile Intenet device or T mobile unlimited month for 50.00, will save you $15
im looking for free cable now without anntena today
Channel separation on over the air channels is accomplished by skipping at least one channel between two analog stations’ frequency allocations. Thanks.
so many comments that I do not know if they mentioned these, first up netflix available on internet streamers or your pc, second vudu, a lot of new movies they are available as soon as they hit the dvd, and third amazon prime, they let you watch a lot of old movies and shows for free and they have pretty good options for new movies too, also they are cheaper and you can buy a complete show by season with all the episodes, try doing that with cable,satellite or dvds. my two dollars.
This is an awesome list! Thanks for sharing this out! I am currently trying Hulu and Netflix. But was looking for a few new links. Love keeping the money the $155 a month in my pocket!
I bought The Roku streaming player and a wireless router and have been using it for Netflix. Now I am cutting off my expensive cable and going with an antenna. Will be learning a step at a time. Wish me luck!
Roku is a great option these days. I bought one and hooked it up to the TV in my bedroom and it works fantastic. You need internet to run it, but atleast it cuts the cable bill out of the picture, and regardless, nowadays internet is practically a necessity. Theres different Roku “channels”. i mostly use netflix and hulu, but cracke for example is 1005 free with no account needed.
[…] but the concept might be worth investigation TV Without Cable: How to Cut the Cord – CBS News 35 Ways To Watch Television for Free Without Cable Or Satellite How We Watch TV Without Cable Service Guide How to Watch TV without Cable | Missing Remote If u […]
Big Star TV is another one, I don’t know if any one has mentioned, It’s also an app from the apple app store. I believe the app is free. It has a Huge library of hard to find movies, a lot are horrer films, but drama, SiFi, and thrillers as well. I have enjoyed it. I also just single out the individual channels that I like to watch and just drag their Icon onto my desk top, like CW, TNT, AMC, ABC, ABC Family. I’m constantly looking for more, so thank you, this has been a great help.
Who knows, I may even be able to illiminate Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon Prime. As well as Dish. As far as I’m concerned, If it streams through my Internet, I Own it. Until otherwise informed.
livetvcafe.net is a good site for live cable channels.
This is a great list. This is the way that TV is going to go, just like IHEARTRADIO. They should learn from them.
like it!!!!
I got rid of my cable tv, and bought two Roku 3 streaming players and cut a 100.00 a month off my cable/internet bill. I love Netflix, and Amazon.com for movies. I can get up to several hundred channels of free Roku programing. I also hook up my laptop to tv for live sporting events.
Simple.tv is a website that allows you to record shows from your antenna onto your hard drive. It’s about $150 for the device and about $150 for lifetime service.
#15 is out…. The website says…
*We are re-evaluating the Joost.com purpose and services.
*For the near-term we have decided to suspend the site to allow for a full re-evaluation
You forgot to mention Filmon.com
Great article, I dropped directv and got me a Robu3,signed up for Netflix and HuluPlus,I have comcast wireless internet and pay $5.00 for their espn package to watch their sports. Has anyone checked out firstrowsports.uk and is it a safe webb site.
Thanks
Jerry
I used.first row all.last.year for Seahawks games worked fairly well just a couple things that annoy you like adds that freeze it up that you have to close to continue watching but it was totally worth it
I have been using “No subscription required” for three months. It’s amazing to watch brand new movies for nothing. On the down side of it, I have lost Microsoft xp in the process. I use Linux on the other side so, I have been doing all my email and all with Linux. I don’t know whether “No subscription required” is safe or not. I am about to take my computer in for repair obviously and, I was told it might be because of this site. That would be a shame. Most of the movies are first run. But most of all, they are for free! I guess something has to give afterall.
you have to pay to watch tv on the ABC website and most of the others.
The good old fashioned antenna Rocks!
JustinTV are famous here!
Very helpful money-saving tips. Television is one aspect of your life that you can control or manage to give way to bigger savings or better alternatives. If you do have internet now, you can definitely say goodbye to cable or satellite.
Take a look at freebee-TV.com with 600 channels, including over 25 UK channels and 45,000 videos on demand. You Can simply stream this to a big screen TV. You can also record your favourite shows and watch in HD. ALL FREE!
You did not mention FTA(Free to Air) dvb recievers.
There is a lot of free channels on satellite.
A ku band FTA reciever and dish will cost you about $200.
what is the deal with RABBIT? anyone tried this?only 25bucks 1000 channels.id like to hear comments before I purchase