Internet TV Sites Review

Much like television overtook radio, newspapers and books as the primary sources for news, entertainment and advertising, the internet is overtaking television in those same media. Internet TV sites allow you to watch your favorite shows, old and new, at your convenience. Watching TV online means that you don't have to be a slave to the network broadcast schedules or set your DVR to record new shows. Many internet TV sites also allow you to find shows from the graveyard of forgotten favorites.

The best internet TV sites allow you to not only watch TV online, but also to search, discover, share and rate shows. They also have the ability to suggest shows you may like based upon what you've already watched. Who knows, your new favorite show may be waiting for you to find it. Internet TV sites are a virtual entertainment matchmaker.

We rated and ranked every internet TV site available on the web today. At the end of our analysis, Hulu, Amazon Instant Video and Netflix claimed the top three spots on our side-by-side comparison chart. We also have informative articles on internet TV sites to help you decide which ones suit your needs best.

Internet TV Sites: What to Look For

When choosing which internet TV site is right for you, the first thing to consider is if the TV shows you watch stream from that service. Each site has the rights to stream different shows. No service has the rights to stream every TV show. That's unfortunate, but that's just how it is.

Many TV networks have sites that exclusively stream their own content. Other sites have negotiated deals with several network and studios to stream shows from multiple sources. Even then, the list of available shows isn't comprehensive.

It all depends on what you want to watch. If you're a retro TV lover, entire series of classic shows are available from services such as Netflix. If you are into the latest episodes of today's hit dramas, sites like Hulu and network-hosted services stream the shows that air on TV today. If you're looking for independent content that doesn't have the backing of major studios, services such as Megavideo and Justin.tv may just be what you're looking for.

We rated and ranked internet TV sites based on the following criteria:

Content
The main deciding factor in choosing internet TV sites is the type of content on the site. If the site doesn't have what you want, you obviously won't spend much time there. Choose a site that has content from multiple networks so that there is a wider variety of content to satisfy your interests.

Ease of Use
It's extremely important that internet TV sites are easy to use. Watching TV shouldn't be difficult, so the design of the site should be simple, with an intuitive player and accurate search system to help you find your favorite shows.

Advertising
If you want free TV, you have to put up with advertisements, even on the internet. However, the ads shouldn't be too frequent, obnoxious or pervasive.

Features
You need more than just a Play button to have an enjoyable experience watching internet TV. Other features such as details, high definition and the ability to save favorites, send videos to friends and participate in a user community make the experience much better.

Help & Support
Using an internet TV service is easy, but in the event that things don't work out, you need several different ways to get help. FAQs and email support are standard, but many sites offer other sources of aid when you have problems.

The best internet TV sites have the right combination of these elements. However, none of them is perfect, so make sure you know what the most important features are to you and choose accordingly. When you do, you'll be ready to watch your favorite shows whenever you want.

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