Top 12 sources online for free movies and television

A few months ago I decide to get rid of my cable tv. It’s been a financial savings and has helped me be more focused and productive. But, sometimes it’s nice to sit back and watch a movie or favorite tv show. So far, thanks to the internet, I haven’t been missing anything except live sports. Everything else is readily available online and in most cases is perfectly legal. Below is a list of my top 12 sources for watching tv and movies, either online or downloaded straight to my computer. I’m sure most you’ve heard of these but chances are, some of you haven’t. Let me know if you have favorites as well.

  Out of all the online offerings from the major networks, ABC is probably the most advanced. The picture is super clear and is, well, “streaming HD”. Actually it’s not quite HD quality but it’s good enough for your laptop. ABC offers pretty much all of their prime time shows online, free for your viewing pleasures. I’m a big fan of Lost and as much as I shouldn’t admit it, I like Ugly Betty also. I’m usually not around to watch the shows as they air, so I almost always watch them online at ABC. It’s a brilliant strategy for the bigs to move their shows online after they air, and they usually do it within a few hours. The online shows are very sparse with advertising and you always know when the ads are coming. I’m a big fan.

check my earlier posts on ABC, here and here.

If you’re a fan of Heroes, The Office or My Name is Earl, then NBC.com is a must. Just like with ABC.com, they show their programs just after there original airing and the advertising is clearly marked. The quality of their player is great and almost never fails. In additions to the regular shows, they usually have extra content as well. You don’t need regular tv when you have “on demand” tv. It works with your schedule, an not the networks. NBC.com is great.

This is definitely my favorite source for originally created content. Vbs.tv is an extension of Vice magazine and they act as a hub for fringe content. One of my favorite shows is called Epicly Later’d which is a show hosted by skateboard journalist Patrick O’Dell. Most of his shows are a kind of “day in the life” of pro skaters and skateboard personalities. Another show I like is called “Balls Deep” which is a guy who’s dropped into some weird spots and does interviews with people like a Gay Leather Daddy or a “sewer rat” in Bogotá Colombia. There is lots of other great content to been seen on VBS.tv and look to them to be a very popular content destination in the near future. The only downside to VBS is that in there full screen mode doesn’t look that great. Either way, the best produced content online.

I know this online channel want be as high up on most peoples list as it is on mine. But, it’s here for only one reason: Rob and Big. I love that show and without MTV.com I’d never get to see it. Thank ya MTV. Actually, the quality of their streams are not very good and is usually pretty jumpy but they have a nice selection of content that includes some extras like behind the scenes and bio’s etc. I guess some folks could be into the other shows on MTV, so if you are, then check out MTV.com. Oh, and if you haven’t seen Rob and Big, you should check that out as well. Rob Dyrdek is a bit nuts and also a very smart guy. He’s a pro skateboarder, company owner, investor and tv reality star. I’ll do a post on him at a later time.

Is the newish p2p on demand tv from the guys behind skype and Kaza. Joost is a downloadable app that lets you watch licensed content from networks like Comedy Central, Warner Brothers Records, Adult Swim and many smaller providers. One of the features of Joost that’ll be a big hit if joost takes off, is the community features. They offer chat, program ratings and instant messaging which can be cool if your friends are on joost. So far the quality and content selection is not good enough for me to use joost on a daily basis. However, I do open joost up a couple of times a week to just to check for new content. Joost is on my list because it has potential for the future. By the way, joost is currently in invite only Beta. But if you need an invite email me with your name and email address and I can send you an invite.

Check my earlier post on joost, here and here.

Is another p2p on demand tv that’s a lot like Joost but with more limited content. I like babelgum’s UI better than joost but that’s about it. I think they’re going to have a more difficult time of getting traction unless the can get some sort of angle with their content. Joost has been making the big deals for content and babelgum hasn’t made any big deals yet. Maybe they can brand themselves as the goto spot for independent content. Either way, babblegum is on my list because I think they might have something up their sleeve. I usually check out babelgum 1-2 times a month just to see if there’s anything new.

This is one of my favorite channels to browse around when I’m dreaming of travels to some tropical destinations. Lonely Planet content comes from Lonely Planet TV and independent travelers. It’s a lot fun to watch some of the shows from the amateurs as they cover some of the really cool locations. If you’re planning a trip or just day dreaming, Lonelyplanet.tv is a great place to research or just be entertained.

This one is a relatively new addition to my regular play list. On Networks is a production company that produces original shows, just for the web. Most of their shows are lifestyle oriented, like Cocktails on the Fly, Diner with the Band or Budget Health Nut. All of their content is well produced and if you’re into this kind of stuff then it’s definitely worth checking out.

This is another one of those online channels that satisfies my gay gene. For some reason, cooking shows are fun to watch. I guess it’s because I like to cook and I like variety in the foods I eat. So I’m always looking for recipes that look interesting. Tastetv has great quality content that’s produced very well. They have shows that are based on recipes from different areas of the world like Latin, Asian, French and Italian. They also do shows that review restaurants in major areas around the world. Tastetv is a great on demand channel for getting all of your information about food. I usually watch it a couple of times a week.

This one is new for me but is starting to become part of my daily play. Rooftopcomedy.com is a comedy video site. It’s not like youtube where anyone can submit there own video or something that was found on the web. Actually, rooftopcomedy has relationships with comedy clubs all over America, where the set-up cameras and record the shows. Then, rooftopcomedy’s producers go through all of the recorded content and make clips of the best stuff and then make it available online. They currently have comedy clips from over 1,200 comedians. I had no idea that their were 1,200 comedians. Check these guys out, as they have some funny stuff.

I’m sure most of you have heard of Veoh, which is similar to youtube but allows you to upload longer format content and download any of their content. One of the cool things about veoh is that they have a really nice downloadable player that also manages your content and downloads. Like I said before, veoh lets you upload long format content, as a result, you can find some pretty good stuff. A lot of the content on Veoh is not exactly legal, so if you’re looking for something specific, veoh would be a good start. The only downside to veoh that I can see is that the quality of the downloads are pretty shabby, at least in full screen.

- I’m sure most of you have heard of this one because of all the press they’ve received over the years. Piratebay is a bittorrent depository tracker. This is where you can find just about any movie or tv show that you could be looking for. Keep in mind that downloading copyrighted material is illegal in most countries. Now that the disclaimer is out of the way. I have “friends” that use thepiratebay on a regular basis to download shows like the Sopranos and recently released movies. From what I’ve been told, the quality of these movies are pretty darn good and if you have something like LinkTheatre, you’ll be able to stream your newly downloaded movie straight to your tv and it’ll be just like watching a DVD. That’s second hand information, so you’ll have to see for yourself. Anyway, I guess the only real downsides to thepiratebay and bittorrent files are that it’s illegal and it takes lots of time to download files (so I hear).

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