In part one of this series I talked about taking advantage of free digital tv by using an antenna. In this post I am going to start talking about other ways to get some of your favorite cable programing without the monthly bill.
One way to get more control over what programming you pay for is to use that dvd player sitting under your tv. For the same price (or less) as a month of cable you could buy at least one season of your favorite show. If you are going to be renting a lot of movies/tv shows, Netflix may be a better alternative for renting. For an even cheaper method of dvd acquisition check out your local library. Many have a surprising catalog of new and old movies. Go check it out and see what's available.
If you don't mind watching video on your computer or if you have your computer hooked up to the tv, (I will cover this in a later post) you can find a lot of great programming online. If you have a favorite show that would get cut off when you lose the cable check the network website to see if they have online episodes. All of the major broadcast networks (ABC, NBC, CBS) have almost all of their prime time shows available (usually with fewer commercials, by the way) on their web sites. More and more "cable" channels (Discovery, History, A&E) are starting to put some of their shows online as well. A great place to start is hulu. Hulu is a collaboration between several networks and movie studios to put video online. One of the nice things about having an online video source (even if you could watch your show on tv) is that it can be used like a dvr . You don't have to worry if you have something come up at 8:00 on Thursdays when your favorite show starts because you can watch it online the next day. Check out http://www.findinternettv.com/FullEpisodes.aspx for a pretty comprehensive list of what's available online, legally, for free.
If there is something that you can't find online or if you don't want any commercials, you can also purchase/rent video online to view on your computer. If you use iTunes you can buy & download tv shows and movies. You will be able to watch these on your computer or iPods. Amazon also has a similar service for streaming or downloading video.
Check back later to see how to use these services and your tv together for even more geek-tastic solution.
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