The Free & Legal To View Online Resource Thread: Where To See Your Favorite Shows

[Bastet]

3 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

All I know is, either every show is dark as hell/basically unseeable

Your TV is probably set on an energy-saving mode, which darkens the screen.  I keep mine on medium for most things, but then have to turn it off or set it to low for scenes that are dark to begin with, or else I can barely tell what I'm watching.

[peachmangosteen]

3 hours ago, Bastet said:

Your TV is probably set on an energy-saving mode, which darkens the screen.  I keep mine on medium for most things, but then have to turn it off or set it to low for scenes that are dark to begin with, or else I can barely tell what I'm watching.

Do you happen to know where that setting would be?

[Stats Queen]

On 11/14/2020 at 7:44 AM, SuprSuprElevated said:

I realize you're talking about streaming, but didn't the FCC or some governmental agency mandate something about the volume changes between commercials and programming (on broadcast/cable television)?  This was years ago, maybe 90's?  If I'm correct, then it didn't stick, because it is still a problem.  Also annoying is the volume disparity between dialog and music/sound effects in a given show.  

Yes there was a law passed I think in the late 1990s. Much like all the laws against spam calls and now texts on phones, it seems to be useless.

[Bastet]

5 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

Do you happen to know where that setting would be?

That varies by TV, but often times the Menu is broken down into Audio and Video; if so, it's probably under Video.  Or if you have a Settings option, check that.  If it's not an energy savings thing, you can use brightness, contrast, etc. to fix the problem.

[ABay]

Dark Matter took its title so seriously I had to set my TV on anime just to see who was talking.

[shapeshifter]

I am planning to move to the Rochester, NY area, and according to TitanTV.com, ABC does not broadcast over the air there. Is that possible?

[isalicat]

Well, I went and signed up for Peacock per the recommendations of people here, and frankly I can't find anything on there I really, really want to watch. None of the TV series were ones I ever enjoyed and the movies remind me of all the movies on Starz - nothing especially compelling (I signed on to Starz for Outlander and cancelled immediately after the season was over). So free is good....but.

[Kromm]

5 hours ago, isalicat said:

Well, I went and signed up for Peacock per the recommendations of people here, and frankly I can't find anything on there I really, really want to watch. None of the TV series were ones I ever enjoyed and the movies remind me of all the movies on Starz - nothing especially compelling (I signed on to Starz for Outlander and cancelled immediately after the season was over). So free is good....but.

In addition to the on demand stuff on the right, make sure you also look at the left side that says "Channels". There's a decent amount of stuff there. It's just served up the same way as Broadcast TV rather than on demand. 

Similarly, Pluto TV does the same thing. 

It won't ever equate to actual paid cable TV, but between the two of them there's a decent amount of stuff. The on demand stuff on Peacock is just gravy on top. 

 

[ABay]

On 11/18/2020 at 5:05 AM, shapeshifter said:

I am planning to move to the Rochester, NY area, and according to TitanTV.com, ABC does not broadcast over the air there. Is that possible?

This lists OTA for Rochester https://nocable.org/availability-report/zip/14604-rochester-ny/

You'll love western New York!

[shapeshifter]

8 minutes ago, ABay said:

This lists OTA for Rochester https://nocable.org/availability-report/zip/14604-rochester-ny/

You'll love western New York!

Thanks @ABay!

[Kromm]

I was a very early adopter of Roku, years ago when it was actually a square little box you attached via a cable.  I also had SAGE TV and several other early attempts at multimedia boxes. 

I never really abandoned the idea, but switched more to streaming from my phone via Chromecast in recent years.  

To a certain extent that creates an interesting extension to this topic--all of the Android and iOS apps that you can simply stream out of.  A whole galaxy of things, from YouTube, to Pluto TV, Crunchyroll, Tubi, Peacock, and hundreds of others.

The convergence here is that with a recent new TV purchase I've (mostly) gotten off my phone, since these all have compatible clients on the TV set itself--an LG TV, so the OS is something called WebOS, which is actually a Linux based system surprisingly similar to many of the Linux based set top boxes I used early on. Laughably enough it's an heir to the same WebOS I used on my Palm devices years ago.  If you have an LG Refrigerator or Washing Machine it probably uses this too.

Samsung apparently is doing much the same thing with Linux backed TV OSes with it's system Tizen, which is actually on like 20% of the TVs sold over the past few years.  

Anyway, since I don't have a Samsung, I can't speak about what apps are rolled out on Tizen, but the catalog for LG's WebOS is surprising in it's size.  Most of the stuff I know directly from Android, but some real weird corners and niches of the streaming universe too.  A lot free, a lot paid.  A lot of overseas content it would be really strange me wanting (do I really need to be able to stream TV from the Phillipines?), but also a ton of weird stuff you stumble into and actually wind up using.  

For example, I'm pretending I'm back in the 1980s right now with Loop.TV (which IS also on Android apparently, I just never heard of it).  It's basically original concept MTV, minus the VJs.  Actual music video channels (a bunch, divided by genres) just in long.... um.... loops.  I think the app works more like Spotify for music videos (where you can actually search stuff) but even just having access to this stuff at all is cool.  Sure you could always search videos individually on YouTube, but that's annoying.  Just having a big rotation of genre-based music videos like the old days is something I didn't think I needed, but I'm using it.

[shapeshifter]

Has anyone had the search function disappear from the YouTube app on their TV today?
(Mine's a Roku TV.)

Edited April 12, 2022 by shapeshifter

[Jaded]

1 minute ago, shapeshifter said:

Has anyone had the search function disappear from YouTube app on their TV today?
(Mine's a Roku TV.)

I've seen people complaining about it online in various places. Apparently YT is having a lot of issues today.

[shapeshifter]

4 hours ago, Jaded said:

I've seen people complaining about it online in various places. Apparently YT is having a lot of issues today.

Whew! Thanks, @Jaded!
I tried googling, earlier, but didn't see anything.
Maybe I'll poke around Reddit for more info.

ETA:

I found a link on Reddit, which in turn linked to the official info link:
https://support.google.com/youtube/thread/159624032

10pm: All better

Edited April 13, 2022 by shapeshifter

[Just Here]

IMDb TV will be rebranded "Amazon Freevee".

According to the quoted press release, the service will be available in Germany later this year and launched in the U.K. last year.

[Zella]

I wonder how many people they paid to come up with that dumb of a name. 😂

[ABay]

@shapeshifter I ended up deleting and then re-adding the app. It's happened before.

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, ABay said:

@shapeshifter I ended up deleting and then re-adding the app. It's happened before.

Yeah, I tried that first, but when it didn't work, I knew it was a bigger deal.
In addition to deleting and re-adding the app, I tried logging out and in too, but apparently that was also one of the problems Google-YouTube was having.

So I kept checking the link (support.google.com/youtube/thread/159624032) and when the status changed to "[FIXED]" the menu with the search feature had returned even without my having to delete and add the app again. 

I'm just glad it's all better now. I was worried it was the TV.

Well, it's as good as that TV gets, LOL:

I've been trying to watch the old Quincy M.E. episodes when I'm between other shows, but most of the Quincy M.E. episodes display really weirdly on YouTube. The picture will zoom in (cutting off the heads of the actors) and then quickly zoom back out. 
It only happens:

1. on the ginormous, now-5-year-old Roku TV I inherited from my son-in-law; there doesn't seem to be any way to adjust the YouTube picture settings specifically -- either in the YouTube app or in the Roku TV's settings.
2. and only in YouTube when watching the Quincy M.E. episodes after the first few of season 1.

My little, 11-year-old LG TV didn't have that problem when I used the Roku stick, but that TV finally really died when I tripped over it in the middle of the night. (I had resurrected it a few times in the last few years.)

I mostly have the Quincy M.E. episodes on when I'm multitasking since those old shows seem to be scripted by writers who wrote for even older radio dramas, so the image is not essential to following the story.
But it always bugs me when I'm not clever enough to find a work-around for a technical or mechanical issue.

Edited April 13, 2022 by shapeshifter

[Just Here]

TelevisaUnivision* recently launched a free Spanish-language streaming service, ViX.  (In the USA, ViX is primarily a rebranding of Univision's "PrendeTV" service, which was launched in 2021.) 

From a February press release:

Quote

TelevisaUnivision Inc., the world’s leading Spanish-language media and content company, today unveiled ViX, the first global large-scale streaming service created specifically for the Spanish-speaking world. ViX will offer more than 50,000 hours of Spanish-language content across genres, including original series and movies, live sports, live news and current Televisa and Univision hits as well as access to an extensive library of top franchise content and formats from Televisa’s vault. The two-tier service will include a free AVOD product, ViX, launching on March 31, with 100 EPG channels and vast-content VOD experience, and an SVOD option, ViX+, with premium content, including “ViX+ Originals” and exclusive soccer, set to launch in the second half of 2022.

According to Screenrant,...

Quote

...the Vix app is available on all major platforms — including iOS, Android, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung Smart TVs, Apple TV, and Android TV. You can also watch from your computer by visiting 'vix.com.'

The service is also available in Mexico and "most of Latin America", per the press release.

*Univision and Televisa completed a merger in January 2022.  From the Variety write-up:

Quote

Televisa and Univision have closed their landmark transaction, a long-awaited merger deal that will now create a Spanish-language media and content powerhouse that will reach 100 million Spanish speakers across the U.S. and Mexico. The new company, named “TelevisaUnivision,” will bring together intellectual property from Televisa’s four broadcast channels, 27 pay-TV channels, Videocine movie studio, Blim TV SVOD platform, and Univision and UniMás’ broadcast networks, nine Spanish-language cable networks, 59 TV stations, 57 radio stations and the PrendeTV AVOD platform.

In short, TelevisaUnivision now owns the largest library of Spanish-language programming in the industry with roughly 300,000 hours of content.

Edited May 4, 2022 by Just Here

[andromeda331]

Cold Case is running late at night on TNT.

[shapeshifter]

I just discovered after over 10 years of using an indoor antenna to supplement any streaming that the antenna is *Not* better on the window after all. Apparently light interferes with the reception. So, yay. I can get COZI and all those other OTA subchannels again.

[tessaray]

1 hour ago, shapeshifter said:

I just discovered after over 10 years of using an indoor antenna to supplement any streaming that the antenna is *Not* better on the window after all. Apparently light interferes with the reception. So, yay. I can get COZI and all those other OTA subchannels again.

I always put most of mine inches from the ceiling. Interestingly I do have one in a window but it's always in the shade. 

[shapeshifter]

8 hours ago, tessaray said:

I always put most of mine inches from the ceiling. Interestingly I do have one in a window but it's always in the shade. 

Thank you, @tessaray! 
Much better!

[shapeshifter]

On 11/6/2022 at 8:01 AM, shapeshifter said:

On 11/6/2022 at 12:47 AM, tessaray said:

I always put most of mine inches from the ceiling. Interestingly I do have one in a window but it's always in the shade. 

Thank you, @tessaray! 
Much better!

And now I can get Barney Miller for the first time in a long time, currently airing on Antenna TV sub-channels——here in Rochester NY at 9-10 ET on 13.2. 
The episodes are on YouTube too, but even poorer resolution.

[EtheltoTillie]

On 11/9/2022 at 1:36 PM, shapeshifter said:

And now I can get Barney Miller for the first time in a long time, currently airing on Antenna TV sub-channels——here in Rochester NY at 9-10 ET on 13.2. 
The episodes are on YouTube too, but even poorer resolution.

I found Becker and Wings too!  I hadn’t looked at this lineup for a while. 

[Anela]

I had started an Australian show on one of those sites that can be dodgy (I use a few adblockers). I started it in November, and realized it was going to be depressing, so I put off watching the rest. I've just found that it's on the Roku channel and site, for free. The show is The Newsreader.

Edited January 23, 2023 by Anela

[Ceindreadh]

On 1/23/2023 at 9:47 PM, Anela said:

I had started an Australian show on one of those sites that can be dodgy (I use a few adblockers). I started it in November, and realized it was going to be depressing, so I put off watching the rest. I've just found that it's on the Roku channel and site, for free. The show is The Newsreader.

Oh that's quite a good show.  Yes, a bit depressing in places, but well worth watching.