Many of us find ourselves in a situation where we’re no longer able or even willing to pay for cable. Traditional cable packages are expensive and stuffed with annoying advertisements. If you only really watch a few shows every week, you may find the costs to be too much. The good news is that there are many choices today to stream television from the Internet, whether it be sports, special events, movies, or television shows. If you’re thinking about going cable-free or even just reducing your current service to a more basic subscription, try streaming television from the web. Below are some ideas to get you started. These options are in no way a complete replacement for a standard cable package, but by combining the sources, you may be able to get everything you want.
Online subscription services
Check out services like Hulu Plus, Amazon Prime, and Netflix. They charge on either a monthly or annual basis and have a large selection of movies to choose from. New episodes of current shows are updated regularly, and you can purchase individual episodes or an entire season at once. If you don’t want to pay for a monthly subscription, check to see if the network of your favorite show has a website. Most of the major networks offer partial or full episodes of their shows online for free. Hulu also offers a free service, though you may not find the most recent stuff there. Note that the ability to stream from major networks and some sites will depend on what region you’re watching from.
P2P television streaming
Sites like SopCast and Veetle are websites which broadcast user stations from all over the world. You’ll need to do a little digging around, but you’ll be able to find a lot of sports and major network television shows this way. Some require the user to download software while others do not. Many of them are free.
Use a streaming box
Don’t want to watch TV and movies while hunched over your laptop monitor? Consider buying a streaming box. Streaming boxes are devices that you connect to your modem and then to your television set. You choose which Internet channels (or subscription services such as HuluPlus, Netflix, etc.) you’d like to watch, and voila! Your shows and movies are displayed in crystal clear quality on your high-definition television screen. No cable subscription is required, but as in the first option, some channels may require a monthly fee. However, there is a lot of free content available depending on your region. The box itself is inexpensive. They range in price from about $70 to $150. Some good ones to check out are Apple’s iTV and Roku. If you’re thinking about cutting cords and going cable free, consider the above options. You may not be able to cut out the cable altogether, but you may find that you’re able to, at least, reduce your current TV bill. If you only have a few shows that you watch or you especially love watching movies, you may never need to subscribe to a traditional cable package again.