Free TV on the Internet

Oops, didn't realize it was so long since I last posted here. Since I last wrote a blog post I moved house and learned DIY - well I bought myself a cheap drill and phone my ex whenever I need curtain poles or shelves installed; I haven't actually used the drill myself, why should I when someone is willing to do the work for free?

Anyway, enough talk of how to abuse your ex, let's talk about free TV: when I went to see my sister last summer she gave me her Dexter boxset and converted me: so after watching Dexter series 1, I was craving for more, especially since I had read that the series 4 was going to be aired on TV soon. I rented the Dexter series 2 in my local Xtravision but the shop assistant told me that the series 3 had not been released yet (at least not in the region 2, which my DVD player and I live in), so I decided to look around on the World Wide Web and found several websites where I could watch TV for free.

Here's what I found so far: depending on where you live, you can watch shows that have been broadcast on your local TV stations; these are the safest to view, in case you're worried about nasty viruses or the law: in Ireland for example, you can catch up on your favourite soaps and shows on the RTE player or the TV3 catch up website. A useful website for the Irish language lovers (or simply students who have no choice but to learn Irish) is the TG4 website, where most programmes are in Gaeilge. If you live in the UK you should definitely hook up with the 4oD website (from Channel 4): they have a much more exciting selection of series but are unfortunately not accessible from Ireland.

There are a lot of Free TV websites but I must say that I find most have crappy content and I would stay away from others that require you to install a toolbar or download software. For Free Internet TV that won't install spyware or adware on your computer, I recommend the following:
- http://www.freeetv.com;
- http://www.tvchannelsfree.com;
- http://www.worldtvpc.com/;

My personal favourite, despite the fact that there are pop up ads that may discourage you from viewing anything on offer, is Project Free TV: it has everything under the sun from Little House on the Prairie to Weeds and, yes, this is where I have been catching up with my favourite anti-hero Dexter. I am not sure of the legality of the website so I wouldn't advise anyone to download any episodes (it says you can download full HD episodes with Vuze) but I am pretty content with my now bloodshot eyes (some of the episodes are a bit out of sync, funny to hear Rita talk with Dexter's voice and vice-versa sometimes and the episodes are watchable but still not the best if you're a bit fussy about the video quality).

If you don't know what I've been talking about, don't worry: it took me a while to differentiate between Internet TV, catch up TV, streaming, downloading, etc... Here's an interesting article for all Internet TV newbies: read The Definitive Guide to watching Internet TV on PC.

PS 1: Disclaimer: I am not responsible for any crap that might get on your computer if you ever decide to download anything through any of the above links; I am also not responsible for any trouble you may incur with the law. If you're unsure whether any website you visit is legal and don't want to run any risks, just don't go there!

PS 2: To the idiot who put a CPA ad which require visitors to complete a survey in order to access the site (which I haven't listed here by the way): I got the hell out of your site and am not coming back; this kind of thing annoys the crap out me and I guess I'm not the only one who won't be staying on your website (really, how stupid can a webmaster get?).

Update: Project Free TV has unfortunately just disappeared but I have just found the next best thing with Free Online Episodes; not so many oldies there like She-ra, Inspector Gadget or Mac Gyver (sigh!) but still lots of excellent shows (Dexter of course, Damages, Nurse Jackie...) so I think I'll hurry and catch with what I've been missing before this one disappears as well.