Free Internet TV - How to Watch TV for Free (with Sports!)

This post will cover how to watch TV for free over the internet, including your favorite sports!

More and more people are watching multimedia content online.  It's only natural that content traditionally found on "TV" finds its way to the internet.

However, for the most part, the television industry is fighting this expansion.  Large cable providers do not want to lose subscribers to the internet.  Studios and content owners don't want their shows and material available free via 3rd party.  Advertisers are concerned that they aren't getting enough exposure due to these losses.  What's all this add up to?  It's really not that easy to find TV for free on the internet.

I'll try to fix that for you now.  

First off, some basic software you should be aware of:

Hulu - This is probably the best known and most popular way of getting TV over the web.  Hulu recently added a paid subscription tier to it's service.  This highlights my above comments, studios want money for their shows being played online.  Hulu had to institute a paid service tier in order to continue operating, and to be able to continue serving "premium" content (i.e. new shows).  Some people may or may not know that Hulu Desktop software exists and works quite well.  Try it!  You can even use your TV remote control.  (I'll cover that setup in another post later on)

Hulu Desktop Software

XBMC - This software has been around since the first XBOX.  This is a great way to organize and play all of your existing TV content on your TV.  Simply hookup your TV to your computer, install XBMC, and it will auto-create a library of movies and TV that you have on your computer.   This software really shines for anyone who already has an existing library of movies, tv, pictures, and/or music.  Myself, I have over 4TB of content that XBMC serves up nicely on my plasma tv.  You can't go wrong with XBMC.

XBMC TV Library Screenshot

Boxee - This software is an offshoot of XBMC, but it has a more "friendly" feel.  Boxee also contains what I like to call a "TV Scraper".  It has a library of all the available TV online.  You can watch TV from Hulu, Comedy Central, USA, etc.  If it's available from the provider online, it gets scraped up and added to Boxee's library.  So instead of just being able to watch what Hulu has available, you can also watch, say Comedy Central, via one easy to use interface.  Boxee, much like XBMC will also organize and play any existing content you already have saved as well.  Boxee also recently released a set-top box.

Boxee TV Library Screenshot

Now for some free websites that show TV online, including sports!

MyPremiumTV - This website has limited channels and plays a lot of overseas/international.  However, you can almost always find big sporting events in the US on one of the channels.  This could include NFL, MLB, NBA, etc.  For example, most Sundays, some NFL games will be shown.  The website is very friendly and does not do a lot of crazy pop-up advertisements.  You can also go full screen, and the quality of the video is pretty good.

HackedCableTV - This website is somewhat more difficult to navigate, but it has a lot of channels.  It also plays sports as well, in addition to movies, and regular channels such as TNT, TBS, Syfy, etc.  There is international programming available too.  This site tends to take a "scraper" approach, which means if there is more than one source for a particular feed/channel, it will list them (source #1, source #2, etc.). 

FromSport  - This website focuses exclusively on sports.  It covers all kinds of sports as well, not just north american.  In addition to american football and baseball, you can also find cricket, rugby, and other sports available to watch.  Many times HackedCableTV will actually be linking to FromSport.  Overall quality and speed is very good, however you may find that some sources are better than others. 

That's it for now!  Do you have any other free TV sources online that you would like to share?  Post 'em in the comments and I'll add them to this post!  Also, what are your thoughts on bogarting TV via online sources?  Piracy?  Doing what has to be done?  Saving $100's every month on the cable bill?  Trying to teach the industry that most of us don't want to pay for channels we don't need?  Making the set-top box obsolete?
 
reader submitted:
Justin.TV - This is a good site, and good suggestion!  Other users, around the world, host TV stations for anyone to watch.  The TV stations can be regular "TV", or even a webcam show.  You can find all kinds of good content on here, on a pretty regular basis.  Quality tends to vary, as each user controls what they host.  I have used this a little bit myself, but I often find good sports games (like NFL) get turned off fairly quickly. (thanks to Planet Ben and MarcABlax for this submission!)

Filmon - Another great reader submission!  This is a site I hadn't tried before, but I was immediately impressed with the ease of use and quality of the channels.  You can find major networks like KTLA (that's local Los Angeles), NBC HD, CBS, Bloomberg, and even a few international channels.  All told there are about 30 channels or so (including 2 XXX channels!), which is pretty good for a single site.  I would definitely recommend taking a look at this site for it's quality, ease of use, and fast load times.  It looks like it used to be a pay service, but once they were sued in US court they decided to go all FREE! Their bread and butter seems to be the re-broadcast of free HD-OTA (over-the-air) channels, hence KTLA, KCAL, KTTV, etc.  (thanks to Telia Tuli for this submission! note: he mentions the pending court case)

HackedCableTV - Alright, we got the site owner reading and commenting! Very glad to see that.  Thank you for your support!  He mentions an important note that should be passed along:  a lot of these sites, like Hulu, Filmon, etc will tailor their offering to the country you live in.  For example, without a US ip address, Hulu is a no-go.  Filmon has both UK and US feeds, and tailors them based on ip.  So try changing your ip address!  Also, definitely head over to HackedCableTV.com, it's a great site, and it does a damn fine job of putting together all the tv available on the web.  A great one-stop-shop for internet tv.  

Fancast - This is an offering from Comcast that was launched earlier in 2008.  This was submitted to me by a friend who, like me, does not have regular CableTV.  You do not have to be a Comcast customer to watch TV and movies offered by Fancast, however some of the content is locked and available only for current Comcast customers.  For example, HBO content is offered, but only for customers with HBO subscription.  Also, mainstream shows are offered like Lopez Tonight, but only for comcast customers with existing cable subscriptions.  So, it just depends on whether the free tv is enough for you.  Quality is as good as Hulu, and the programming is as you would expect (new shows like Burn Notice, Bones, etc.).  

ATDHE.net - Another reader submission! Woohoo!  This is also a new one for me, and appears to be primarily sports, which is pretty cool.  I see sports listed from all over the world, including the major North American sports like NBA, Hockey, etc.  They also have the NFL Network! Big plus there.  In addition to the sports channels they have about 12-15 "regular" channels.  These include show driven channels, like The Simpsons, South Park, and Frasier.  This site also has what looks to be some PPV action, with UFC and WWE channels.  All in all, a pretty good site.  Quality of the channels varies, but overall it is pretty good.  Load times are quick, and pop-ups/advertisements are limited.  (thanks to DDX for this submission!)

MyP2P.eu - And the reader submissions just keep on coming!  MyP2P advertises on the banner for MyPremium, and this is one I have tried before.  However, I am not a "huge" fan due to the software requirements needed to watch some of the programming.  Without getting too much into detail, this site is really not bad, and plays both Live TV as well as Live Sports from around the globe.  You can search by country, or by sport.  There are music, entertainment, and kids channels as well.  Overall, MyP2P has one of the largest channel listings of all the internet TV sites.  It is fairly easy to navigate as well.  Just be careful of the software like sopcast, etc etc that may be needed.  You may also end up with problems steaming to Win Media Player too...Personally, I think it's easiest when they just use Flash, but YMMV.  Still, this is a good site, with tons of good content - both TV and sports.  Definitely check it out and decide for yourself.  (thanks to DDX for this great submission as well!)



note:  I am not necessarily endorsing stealing TV via online sources.  I am not a lawyer.  Some of these sources may be more legitamate than others.  As for me, I don't have cable TV and catch all my NFL (as well as the recent MLB World Series) via these sources. YMMV. 

hint:  try these websites out on your PHONE!  3G is typically decent enough, though obviously wifi or 4G is better.  also, make sure your phone supports Flash (sorry walled gardeners...) you can even go fullscreen on the phone!

hint:  for those of you outside the US, you will need to change/disguise your IP address in order to access site likes Hulu.  yes, this even includes the canadians.  here is an excellent list of proxies by country, enjoy!

How to Upgrade Sickbeard - New Sickbeard Ver 461

SickBeard is rocking out with new releases these days.  Very cool.

If you don't know, SickBeard is an awesome utility to automatically search for, download, and organize TV.  For anybody with a HTPC, or a box streaming video to the TV (that will play file extensions other than some Mac bullsh1t), this utility can be your PVR.  For free.  Do you know Ron Popeil, Ronco?  "Set it and forget it, b1tch."

The latest build is #461, put out a day or so ago.  I've been running this for awhile now, and am upgrading from build #455 (have also done other upgrades in the past).

I figure some people might like a quick how-to on upgrades for SickBeard, since the Wiki is a little thin on the subject.  I could edit/create the page on Wiki, but, meh.

So here's the deal:

• Download the new build zip
• Unzip the files to your installation location (note: i normally don't just unzip them into the prior build...i wouldn't recommend that either...unzip to a new location)
• In your previous sickbeard installation folder, look for the following two files:  config.ini and sickbeard.db
• That is your configuration settings file, and the sickbeard database, respectively
• Copy these files to the new installation directly (where you unzipped the new build)
• Put them in the same directory as sickbeard.exe
• Make sure you have shutdown your old sickbeard if it's running (note: this is prob a good step 1, lol)
• Run Sickbeard.exe

That's it, you're done.  You should be now running the new build, and you are likely looking at a new firefox tab of the SickBeard home screen.

Example of SickBeard home screen - displays TV shows being tracked

To sum up, upgrading is easy.  Download the new build.  Install.  Copy your old Config.ini and Sickbeard.db files to the new install.  Run.

XBMC Android App Review

Screenshots of free Android App "XBMC Remote Control"

So XBMC has released an "official" app for Android.  Pretty bad ass, really.

This is a really easy app to set up, and of course it's free.  I've used it on both a Nexus One and HTC EVO, both running v2.2 of Android (Froyo).

First thing first, you need XBMC running on your computer for this remote (duh).  From there, in the XBMC settings, you can enable HTTP remote control.  Specify a port (default is 8080), provide a user, and password.  That's it.

Open up the app on your phone and you can add your XBMC as a host.  The app on the phone will ask for the IP address of the XBMC machine (likely 192.168.X.X), the port, user, and password.  From there, you can head back out to the home screen in the app and it will automatically attempt to connect.  If it doesn't connect go ahead and exit XBMC on the machine and restart it.  I found that solved the first connection problem very easily.

Once you're connected to the XBMC host from the phone, the remote app will give you a home screen.  In the above pic the home screen for the app is the 3rd pic from the left.  TV, Movies, Music, Pictures, Remote Control, etc.  Clicking any of these will begin population of your media content.  This is actually pretty cool because the remote control app gives a great thumbnail and library UI.  Have a gander at this example of TV:

Example of App displaying your XBMC TV Library

Pretty freaking cool huh?  Same thing with movies.  This is a top down list, so you just continue to scroll through the list to find what you want.  Very slick.  Very responsive too, very little lag over even a bad wifi connection (low signal).

The remote control portion of the app is a little rudimentary, but it does give you all the basics.  Think pause, play, exit, menu, back, vol up/down, etc.  Control is intuitive and again responsiveness is awesome.  Press a button, your XBMC machine will begin playing, or whatever.  I found very very little lag.

This is definitely a must-have app for any XBMC user that has Android phone.

Head on over to XBMC org and check it out!  Download is free from the Android Marketplace.

Steve Jobs and his crappy Apple TV v2 can go suck it.  Nobody wants that POS box in their house.  Get yourself a PC for the same cost (it'll be way more powerful, more versatile, but likely in a larger box - who cares).  Install XBMC.  Get remote control and enjoy yourself.

I give the Android App for XBMC Remote Control a 4 out of 5 possible stars.  Only reason it gets 4 and not 5 is that the remote control portion itself is, like I said, a little rudimentary.  It doesn't have "all the buttons", which of course, we geeks *need*  (lol)

I should also mention that this app will *not* stream content from the XBMC to your phone.  You can't access your library and play movies on the phone.  That's not what it's designed for, it's designed to your phone into a fully functional remote for XBMC, and allow you to browse the library, etc.  Which it does flawlessly.

Leave a comment if you're already using this app or have a hint/tip/trick to contribute!

Boxee Releases New Version! Free Movies!

So Boxee has put out a new beta version.

Boxee.tv

The major update is the inclusion of a Movie Library, FREE.  Much like the existing TV Library, this scrapes together free movie content from all over the web.

(For those of you that don't know, Boxee has a free TV library that brings together TV content from Hulu, Comedy Central, Fox, and others in one user interface.  Great for your PC/Mac/HTPC.)

The libraries (TV, and now Movies) are definitely one of the best features of Boxee.  It's awesome to see them expand the concept from TV to Movies now.  Who needs Netflix?  Well, not quite...you're mostly looking at older content on Boxee - you won't get the latest blockbusters for free ya know.

Head on over to Boxee and download it!  You won't be disappointed. 

note:  don't forget, both Boxee and XBMC work great with your remote control!

Sick Beard is Sick!!

Review of Sick Beard program for Win/Mac and anything that can run Python.

Sick Beard is by far one of the coolest PVR applications out there.  If you aren't familiar with PVR applications like this one, also see:  Episode Butler

I'm not going to get into a pissing contest over which application is better, suffice to say I use Sick Beard.  Sick Beard is sick.  Need I say more?

PVR applications like Sick Beard serve some really awesome purposes:

1. They catalog any and all existing TV content you may already have saved
2. It organizes (moves/renames/etc) your TV content for you
3. Adds NFO, picture, and other data files to TV content for your favorite media library
4. Shows you any missing episodes, special features, or extras you may be missing 
5. Shows you when the next/upcoming episodes are for your TV shows (day/time/etc)

But the best part of Sick Beard is the automation.  Sick Beard provides integration with NZB search/index and usenet downloaders (SabNZB, Newsbin, etc).  This is where the "PVR" comes in - kinda like TiVO - you tell Sick Beard what to look out for, and it takes care of the rest.

SickBeard allows you to manage TV Show downloads

You can go from TV Show name or Episode to...Fetched NZB file from search provider to...
Usenet reader download to...
File renamed, moved, and added to media library

Example of SickBeard file/folder structure after processing

Without interruption.

Three cheers for Sick Beard!!

note:  check out my other post on integrating SickBeard with Newsbin for more screenshots!

Top Free HTPC Applications

I dropped CableTV quite awhile ago, but honestly, with a HTPC (Home Theatre PC) I don't miss a thing.

Now that all the major content providers are pushing their TV on the web its much easier for folks to walk away from the CableTV bill, and still get "TV".  Nevermind HD OTA (High Definition Over-the-Air) antennas...I'm talking just web here.  There's a truckload of content out there right now.  Free.

If you have an HTPC, and/or have dropped cable and own a computer with an internet connection (preferably high speed), you should be familiar with some basic apps:

1. XBMC
2. Boxee
3. Eventghost
4. ImgBurn / DVD Decrypter

XBMC is probably one of the oldest and well known apps for HTPC it would be ashame if this were the first time you were hearing of it.  Free, open source, and it'll play just about anything.  Great UI for use with a TV, including old TV's, or new TV's.  Playing HD, SD and just about everything.  File formats galore.

Boxee is newer, but is actually based largely on XBMC (check the credits).  The key difference, I think, between Boxee and XBMC lies in the additional Boxee Apps and "social networking aspect".  Boxee is an excellent app to use for free TV.  Boxee can scrape together all the free content out there (Hulu, CBS, Fox, Comedy Central, etc) and display in one easy UI.  Very user friendly.  Very easy.  Try it.

Eventghost is small app that makes it easy to drop the keyboard and stick with a typical "TV remote".  Especially if you own a learning remote, programmable remote, or Logitech-Harmony-style remote.  With Eventghost you can basically push a button on your remote, have Eventghost "ghost" that input and perform any number of different actions on the PC.  Translated:  Hit button on remote, turn on XBMC.  Hit button on remote, turn PC on/off, etc.

ImgBurn and DVD Decrypter are probably some of the easiest and most reliable ways to rip any existing content owned on disc to the hard drive.  Add this to your library, and suddently a gigantic DVD/HDDVD/BluRay shelf full of discs becomes one neat little library of 1's and 0's on your HTPC hard drive.  Imagine your entire movie library at your fingers...






So that's it, basic 4 apps for HTPC.  And you drop CableTV.  Do it!