This is going to make me sound weird. I don't have cable. My beautiful 32" LCD TV doesn't even get local channels as there is no reception at my home. I use it for my Wii and playing DVDs; that's it. However, I still watch all of my favorite shows. The catch is, I watch them on my computer.

What are the benefits of watching tv on my laptop?

• It's on demand. I watch when I want to. There is no taping or tivoing. No fast forwarding.
  
• Limited commercials. An average of only15 seconds of commercials for every 10 minutes of the show/movie. Broadcast stations have an average of 18 minutes per hour of television. My busy schedule doesn't allow that!
• Discover new shows. Classics are constantly being added to these free websites.
• Versatility. I love watching TV while waiting for my flights at the airport. As long as you have wireless, you're good to go!
• It's totally free to watch television online now. Don't be fooled by all those "pay to watch" satellite tv websites. They are scams and will give you links to foreign broadcast stations which have low-quality and foreign based channels that you will have no interest in.
  

So now that you know the benefits of watching TV online, where do you go to watch it?

Well, there are several places. First off, all the major networks offer programming online. NBC, CBS, FOX, ABC. You can go to their respective websites to view their shows. For better collections of programs, I use both of the following sites:

Hulu

Hulu is my favorite. They have NBC shows as well as many cable network offerings. Lots of home makeover shows and classic television. They also have many free movies to watch. The navigation is fantastic, commercials are limited and the user community makes viewing the shows interactive in the sense that you can participate in forums and make comments on the plots, etc. They are starting to implement a new advertising feature for some of their shows where you can chose to either view a one minute commercial and surpass all ads throughout the tv show or movie, or view a 15 second commercial every 10 minutes or so. If you have a slow connection, simply watch the one minute advertisement before the show starts to speed things up!

Crackle

Crackle is a newer site and has releases by Sony. It also has most of the content that Hulu has, although you can find some unique programming. If you can't find it on Hulu, try here.

YouTube

YouTube, which is undoubtedly the most popular video sharing network, has recently begun distributing free, full length tv shows and movies. Most of this content is on Hulu, but again, if you can't find what you're looking for...go here! They have just begun offering this service, so there are bound to be kinks that need to be fixed...keep checking back as YouTube most definitely has the resources to become the best free television and movie site out there!

In closing, those are the three websites that I use to watch free television shows and movies online. There are some illegal ones out there, but I advise you to stay away - they innundate you with advertisements and have been known to install malicious programs onto your computer (they have to make money, somehow!) Stick with the legal sites above and you will not be dissapointed. They have wonderful speeds to deliver content and the commercials are very limited. Again, Hulu is my favorite choice, but keep watching what the development team at YouTube is doing...I expect great things from their team, as well.

Enjoy!

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