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Best Free Online TV Viewer
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In a Hurry?
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Introduction
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This area is still quite new. But in the last year it has exploded with content and applications. There are still very few standards, so you will end up having several viewer programs if you want to access a wide variety of shows. What I was looking for was a replacement for cable TV. Once I started finding TVoIP programming I discovered that this just isn't cable TV like I was used to. For one, my favorite cable channels are nearly impossible to find. A&E, Showtime, PBS Kids, Spike TV, CBS, FOX, Comedy Central, C-Span, HSN, The Sci-fi channel, Nick, Movie channel can be found on one service or another. CBS, Fox and CW have made reruns of their past shows available. Not so much ABC or NBC. I also found many independent and international networks that just aren't carried by the cable companies. When you find shows on the Internet, they will be in one of three forms:
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Discussion
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A quick search will turn up many free internet TV viewers but most are cut down versions of a paid software. There are a few that are not. Some of my favorites (in order) are:
JLC's Internet TV Viewer is a simple, but effective streams viewer that doesn't have much overhead. The channel guide is maintained by the users and is very complete. But I was able to find two local streams that weren't listed (they are now). Users can submit, rate and update the channels. A favorites catagory helps you corral the streams you like. Web cams, porn and spam entries are not allowed in the guide. JLC is not responsible for the quality of the streams, and some are quite poor, or can stop working without warning. The user ratings can help you choose a good stream.
| JLC's Internet TV Viewer | ||
| Condition | Yes/No | Comment |
| Requires downloader | yes | somehow suspicious |
| Bundle | no | good |
| Installation process | easy | good |
| Configuration | easy to medium | Users can submit, rate and update the channels |
| Stability | regular | sometimes it crashes for no reason |
| Extra software | no | good |
| Overall | the best option | too many unsuported stream feeds |
TVU networks, a combination of live streams and video on demand, has not as many channals as the others, but you will find Nickelodian here as well as a lot of content from China.
| TVU networks | ||
| Condition | Yes/No | Comment |
| Requires downloader | no | good |
| Bundle | no | good |
| Installation process | easy | good |
| Configuration | medium | too many chinese like channels |
| Stability | regular | sometimes channel changing crashes it |
| Extra software | no | good |
| Overall | by far second | it laks of channel options |
Miro will do live streams like JLC, but also does RSS. It makes heavy use of your hard drive and internet bandwidth because it wants to download everything to your hard drive, TIVO style. The program guide is proloaded, but there is very little network content. If you know where to get your video, you may like Miro. Advisory: Miro is bundled with OpenCandy. More information here.
| Miro | ||
| Condition | Yes/No | Comment |
| Requires downloader | no | good |
| Bundle | nitro PDF | hum, not such a good idea to me |
| Installation process | aeasy and advanced | very good |
| Configuration | medium to advanced | good |
| Stability | good | did not crash |
| Extra software | bonjour is requiered | hum, not such a good idea to me |
| Overall | some tv streams | multimedia player combined with web browsing. Tested the ubuntu version too. |
VeohTV, a video on demand viewer, re-streams video from the Hulu website and CBS content (allowable) and others. Veoh will tap into the available amateur video on the internet. Think of it as aggregating YouTube and all it's bretheren. --yet to be test driven --
| VeohTV | ||
| Condition | Yes/No | Comment |
| Requires downloader | no | good |
| Bundle | nitro PDF | hum, not such a good idea to me |
| Installation process | easy | good |
| Configuration | medium | not all feeds worked for me |
| Stability | regular | did not crash |
| Extra software | no | good |
| Overall | some tv streams | multimedia player combined with web browsing |
Vuze, a video on demand viewer, doesn’t offer anything that you can’t get elseware. You have to buy the premium content. ---yet to be test driven ---
| Vuze | ||
| Condition | Yes/No | Comment |
| Requires downloader | no | good |
| Bundle | no | good |
| Installation process | easy to medium | good |
| Configuration | regular | not all feed worked for me |
| Stability | regular | did not crash |
| Extra software | java tm requiered | good |
| Overall | some tv streams | torrent downloader with web browsing |
All tested on an AMD phenom II X4 N950, 4 GB Ram, windows 7 Home basic Acer laptop. With kubuntu 10.04 dual boot.
Additional software required: Media Player 9+, IE 6+
Miro is Bundled with OpenCandy. More information here
FKA Azureus
Additional software required: IE or Firefox
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Editor
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| This software category is maintained by volunteer editor ceaualbi. Registered members can contact the editor with any comments or questions they might have by clicking here. |
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Tags
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stream video free, stream tv video, best free stream video, top free stream video, free online tv, best free online tv viewer, free internet tv viewer, top free online tv viewer, free internet video. |
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Comments
Sorry guys, could You try to observe the line on the post? I mean free software.
Of course lots of us tend to watch live streams using any of the finest web browsers that let us do this. But keep in mind that we are checking for free software only!
Many thanks for respecting that line, any comments not letting us follow this line, please go to proper software category. Because, otherwise we are mixing concepts.
Many thanks for understanding the concept.
really nice article and after all this article is helpful also.
Everything is very open and very clear explanation of issues. It contains truly information. Your website is very useful. Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to more!
Free Software for live TV:
http://www.rcpsoft.net/tvnations.html
Free Online TV website:
http://tvnations.com
I will test that, really soon. After all I search over the internet and I look for tv streams of my favorite channels.
Confused as the link below says
"Best Free Online TV Viewer
TOMA - Internet TV, a browser-based version of JLC's internet TV viewer, lets you watch TV programs from a large database of over 3,000 TV channels maintained and updated by the community every day in the world. (Review)
http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/best-free-online-applications-and-services.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+gizmosbest+%28Gizmo%27s+Best-ever+Freeware%29
I dont see it on this list also the link http://online-media-archive.net/tv/browse.php
is Not Found =
The requested URL /tv/browse.php was not found on this server.
==========================================================
My vote for the best functioning player/recorder
Readon TV Movie Radio Player!
http://www.readontech.com/aboutinternettv.html
Readon TV Movie Radio Player is a revolutionary new software that allows you to watch Live Satellite TV and radio broadcasts directly on your computer. This new technology, called TV/music over IP, requires no additional equipment and gives you access to a brand new world of digital entertainment.
Bear in mind, that this is not a full scale tv stream test of all available software.
Thanks for the info Musicabaja. The link has been updated.
I downloaded jlc internet tv and it put a trojan on my computer, and that was just downloading before the install. punters beware
Test our link, it works fine.
This type of information is of little use without knowing where the file was downloaded from, details of the supposed "trojan" content, which security software was responsible for detecting it, how the detection was made (signature, behavioral/heuristic) and what the results were of a file upload to Virus Total.
Quite often these things are "false positives" but the only way to know for sure is to have the full details to check out.
See this note about JLC's TV from the Softpedia website where the file is certified as being clean:
"Some antivirus and antispyware programs flag JLC's Internet TV as being infected/malware, although the application is perfectly safe and does not pose a threat to your system. This is called a 'false positive'. The term false positive is used when antivirus software wrongly classifies an innocuous ( inoffensive ) file as a virus. The incorrect detection may be due to heuristics or to an incorrect virus signature in a database. [Similar problems can occur with antitrojan or antispyware software.]"
First rule above all: security. Windows has a lot of leaks. I'll remind You, we all must have a firewall, antivirus, antispyware, etc.
Sorry to intervene, but what Softpedia is saying is no guaranty of a software being free of nasties. A lot of people got infected downloading various software from Softpedia. My advise, avoid even accessing www.softpedia.com.
One can only assume there must be a hidden agenda at play here but I'll ask for your evidence anyway, just to be polite.
This is the Softpedia statement regarding downloads (example):
"This product was last tested in the Softpedia Labs on 22nd of March 2010 by Radu Bogdan
Softpedia guarantees that Avira AntiVir Personal - Free Antivirus 10.0.0.609 is 100% Clean, which means it does not contain any form of malware, including but not limited to: spyware, viruses, trojans and backdoors.
This software product was tested thoroughly and was found absolutely clean; therefore, it can be installed with no concern by any computer user. However, it should be noted that this product will be retested periodically and the award may be withdrawn, so you should check back occasionally and pay attention to the date of testing shown above"
Of course it is possible for a file to be tampered with in between test dates but this is not restricted to Softpedia and all right thinking folks should check every download from whatever source before they execute it on their computer. There are several tools to assist with this process including the Dr Web Antivirus Link Checker extension. Additionally most realtime and passive antimalware programs offer a right-click "scan with" option including Malwarebytes and HitmanPro which are two of the most effective.
It is true that downloads remain one of the biggest sources of malware infection, but they are also just about the easiest to avoid.
Anyway, remember at any time have all possible defense active.
Information
Location / England
Advertisment / 30 Secounds before watching your chosen channel
Channels / (Most channels you would find on freesat from England)
BBC ONE
+ 1
BBC TWO
BBC THREE
BBC FOUR
BBC NEWS
BBC PARLIMENT
CBBC
CBEEBIES
CITV
ITV 1
ITV 2
ITV2 +1
ITV 3
ITV3 +1
ITV 4
ITV 4 +1
CHANNEL4
FILM 4
FILM 4 +1
FIVE
FIVER
DAVE
FIVE USA
MORE 4
MORE 4 +1
MUSIC 4
E4
E4+1
DEJAVU
YESTERDAY
QVC
SKY NEWS
SKY SPORTS NEWS
SKY 3
VIVA
VIRGIN 1
MOVIES FOUR MEN
MY OPINION
Yes there are adverts but you are only presented with one before per channel of choice, and for 30 secounds, it's a very small thing, for the great service this site provides.
Anyone intrested try it, and tell what you think in here for others.
Excuse me, about what software are You talking?
Thanks for coming back and posting this which now gives anyone who might be interested more information without having to register. Does anyone know if this can be accessed from outside the UK.
I'm living in Latin America, and the answer is nope.
Try this and free deffo worth a mention
http://www.tvcatchup.com/
U.K. only.
Full of our U.S. drama rot as well!
Use this site all the time and have no issues. "Low Bandwidth" versions of channels work less well than the "Normal Bandwidth" versions though! LOL. Guess my ISP doesn't support them properly.
You can block the adverts in IE by simply putting a few sites into the Restricted Sites zone; and I'm sure a no-add add-on for Firefox would do the same. ;)
Just be prepared for this:
"Before tuning into each TV channel, advertisement may be visible on members' screen for a certain period of time. TVCatchup may also use other means of advertisement such as banners, links, interactive and virtual advertisement, split screens etc. Members agree to being exposed to advertisements in general and targeted advertisements in particular."
MC, another thing is the site is available for UK only. Should the link be allowed?
I think this is OK. I'm not sure about the regional availability and not prepared to register from here to find out. Maybe the OP or others who are running this can tell us what they can receive and at which location (just country please - don't publish your town or address! :D)
The ads are something folks just need to be aware of. Most will probably be more than happy with these so long as the service works.
Another great site is www.notyourtv.com
Try Boxee ,sign in required,stream TV ,Movies and video on all platforms,very nice.
http://www.boxee.tv/
Are there any common canadian tv stations i can find to see online?
Only available in Europe, but very good;
http://zattoo.com/en/about-zattoo/what-is-zattoo
another excellent site that i recommend is www.dwi-tv.com
they have thousands of videos to pick from
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