One day, when I was about 12 years old, I was watching TV with my dad on a lazy Sunday afternoon. The show we were watching ended so we switched to the television guide to see what was on. At one point, we saw a good TV show on one of the channels we didn’t have, and my dad expressed how he wished he had that network. Wanting the ability to watch an ever increasing amount of cartoons, I asked why he didn’t order that channel by bumping up our package to the premium selection.
First, and foremost, Netflix has come to Canada! This is a cause for celebration. Now, the biggest difference between the Canadian and American version is that there is no DVD rental in Canada. In the states you can have DVDs mailed to you, but in Canada we are limited to streaming only. That means that if you have any Netflix enabled device, (computer, iPhone, PS3, Xbox 360, etc.) that you can watch any television show or movie that they have on their service at any time for $9 a month. You are only limited by their selection, there are no limit to how much you watch. Currently, there is not a huge abundance of content on Netflix as the service just started and they have yet to finalize all their content deals. Their selection already includes great TV shows like Madmen, Monk, Heroes, The Guild and Fawlty Towers. Even six months of streaming is the same cost as buying one season of TV on DVD.
Second, if you live somewhat close to a broadcast tower, you can still get free television over the air. In fact, you can get digital television over the air. If you have a newer TV, then you don’t need to worry about getting a digital converter box either, as your TV very well may have an ASTC tuner built into it, allowing you to simply plug in your antenna and have your TV convert the digital over the air signal into free television. Depending on your location, you can even get free HDTV, like CBC-HD. If you want over the air television, did you know that you can even build your own antenna out of little more than a few clothes hangers and a stick of wood? It doesn’t work that great for me because I live in a basement suite, but if you have a direct line of sight towards the broadcast tower, you have a good chance of watching free over the air TV!
It seems to me that between Netflix, over the air television, and more and more television channels putting their content on their websites, there’s never a better time to cut the cable cord. Now, if only we could watch live sports online…
How do you get your free TV or cheap TV?
How to Watch Cheap and Free TV in Canada,Related Posts:
Alan Schram writes about personal finance and his encounters with it in his everyday life. Alan is recently married and is looking to save money on expenses and reduce his debts.
Why pay for cable TV if you have access to the internet?
I haven’t paid a dime on TV in the last 5 years….
How have you been able to do this? Do you gt all Tv channels?
http://www.vubalu.com has all the shows you can imagine legally and for free. Great website i found a couple weeks back. Iève been using it ever since!
Thanks Erin! This site is great! No anoying advertising either!!
Wow. It sounds like Netflix is redefining the marketplace. Where does this leave the CRTC and its regulations of the TV and cable industries?
I use a anonymizer (proxy) to hide my IP address and then I can access Hulu.
http://www.atdhe.net for sports. Saturday night I had 5 NHL games going at once.
I have signed up for Netflix but I am not pleased with the selection.
I like the fact that it works really well but poor selection and no new releases.
Things are slightly different in the UK as they have something here called “Freeview” and it actually is FREE! You would need to pay for a set top box (some TVs have this integrated) for about £20 and then you get all the major networks plus some kids programming without paying a cent! Of course that’s not really 100% accurate as you do have to pay a TV license fee (£30/quarter) so I guess there is still some fee, but considering what I used to pay its really worthwhile. However as one of your other commentators mentioned … there is another option which is obviously online. A great site I use to access programming I cannot otherwise see – or even “catch up” on programming is called Alluc.org … you’ve got access here to a host of TVShows, Movies and Cartoons. If you’ve never seen it – check it out.
Any other option apart from Netflix which people would recommend???
Real estate agents were compelled to offer a la carte services recently by the Competition Bureau so why not cable cos too?
Good point Larry. Normally I’m not a huge fan of interference from the Competition Bureau, CRTC, etc… but sometimes these companies need a little shove in the right direction!
If you want to get DVDs by mail, zip.ca is a great company for doing this. I’ve been using them for over a year.
I love the CBC website. I watch all my Being Erica episodes online and there are so many other shows I love on there as well.
CTV and Discovery Canada also have a very good lineup of shows available online.
I watch Global, Showcase, CityTV and Space online as well as CTV and CBC. I haven’t watch “real TV” in ages.
how do you watch these news channels online?
i have cable internet so i thought one day i would hook up my incoming line to a splitter and one line out to tv and the other to computer and hey presto it worked!!
Good article!
I hope to see other posts as soon as possible…
I completely agree with this article…
I think there are many cable TV providers who offers bundles in which you can have many services in one bill only. Now, it is more cheaper and will lessen your payments. Actually its a great thing to try I have tried it too.
BUNDLES!!! Don’t get me started on these money pits! Sign up for a bundle and save on your Internet…for 6 months, then poof your bundle bill goes from $100 to $175 month!
The article is interesting.
It’s true, its really hard to find a new releases but I guess for the fee its ok.
I would add to this, people who already bought new releases (Movies) they can rent them out for their neighbors for a small amount and get a little back of cash of your investment what do you think?
I can suggest http://www.rentthings.ca
for all Canadians who want to rent out their movies or anything else.
Thanks for reading
Storm is a the best choice if u wanna cut down your cable cost and get all the channels u want. This is new, they also have a Canada-wide digital TV service for only $4.99 a month! Talk about cheap. And theres no actication fee or anything. Its called Storm Digital TV. You can get it anywhere in Canada if you have high speed internet. Its honestly amazing. I’ve been using it for a month now.:) It runs directly inside a web browser, so nothing to download or install I LOVE IT!!!
Storm’s website: storm.ashiqur.com
Half surveyed said they thought the time spent watching TV was the best way to catch up with one another, but over one in 10 admitted it was the only time they were all together in the same room.
Want free? Legal? No Downloading? No Bill and a clean site?
Check out http://www.ketchuptv.org
ALl Canadian and Always adding New Shows and Episodes Daily!
How to Get Thousands of TV Channels on Your PC… And Never Pay Another Monthly Bill Again
In today’s rocky economic climate, most households are cutting back wherever they can. And with cable and satellite television costing anywhere from $65- $150 a month (more if you count premium movie channels) many people are making their television sets the first part of their homes to get the axe. But what if there was a way to enjoy thousands of television channels, including hard to find international shows and sports programming, and never pay another monthly cable bill again?
Welcome to Satellite Direct- the future of television.
With no subscription services or monthly bills, no hardware to install, and 24/7 unlimited access, is it any wonder that Internet Media Magazine hailed Satellite Direct as “unequivocally the best TV to PC software on the net”? Don’t be fooled by other so called “Great Deals” on satellite television service for your PC that give you only limited access to channels, or have dozens of hidden fees that end up costing you more than your current cable service.
For less than the price of one month’s subscription cable or satellite service, you can enjoy a lifetime of television- over 3,500 channels!- from the convenience of your laptop or desktop. And forget the hassles of waiting for installation, or hours on hold with the cable company. Installing Satellite Direct is as easy as 1, 2, 3.
1. Register – Answer a few simple questions, and our easy registration system will process your ONE TIME payment. That’s right, no monthly bills- ever.
2. Download – Follow the easy, on screen instructions to download our software. No hardware to install, no equipment to buy.
3. Watch and Enjoy – Sit back and enjoy thousands of television channels, from soaps and sports to movies and dramas, any time, day or night.
With crystal clear picture and sound quality, exceptional customer service, and a lifetime of television for less than you’d pay for just one month of cable service, Satellite Direct is the best way to get the most for your TV dollar.
To learn more, go to:
http://www.tvchannelsonpc.altervista.org/index.html
Thank you for your interest
Storm is the ultimate internet TV experience. The Standard version of Storm is free to use. Experience the free Storm on your computer by visiting the website http://stormai.com (no download or registration required). To get Storm on your TV you will need full featured internet on your TV. If you need help to set that up, call 18889087621
For anyone living outside of the us check out http://unblock-us.com/1421.html
I have had it for over a year now and it works great. I have access to American Netflix (way better selection than Canadian Netflix), Hulu, all the American broadcaster streaming videos I.e. fox and you can still access Canadian programming (unlike VPN connections). It cost $5 a month but is well worth it for how many sites it opens up. It even lets you access them on other devices (ipad, apple tv, iphone, ps3, wii, xbox ect). They also offer a free 1 week trial without having to provide any credit card information.
I think all the legal online TV in Canada is listed at http://www.webtvguide.ca my kids use it all the time. No signup, fee or installations.
Please BEWARE of this fraud and scammer – Free TV Canada. Avoid at all costs. Read my experience here
http://nothankstofree-tvcanada.blogspot.com/
when was this published?
There are a few web sites catering to Canadians looking for free online TV content: sites that do all of the legwork for you and find links to streams of American and Canadian television shows. I’ll plug our own site: http://watchfreetvcanada.com/ as an example. We (and a few others) make our money from advertisements posted on the site. We don’t care for your personal information or try to install malware on your PC…
vubalu.com is by far the best site I have found for online television. They have lots of American shows viewable in Canada.