Watching TV Online

Throughout the year 2008, online entertainment has been gaining ground in regards to availability and quality. While a year ago there was very little quality online content available, these days you can find pretty much anything you'd like online. In fact, I predict that 2009 will be the year when online entertainment really takes off.

Let me share a few observations with you. At the time of writing, all the major networks, such as ABC, Fox, NBC and CBS offer their shows online for you to watch, without charge. I can watch them all online. Here's an example of the shows that are available:

• 30 Rock (HD)
• Battlestar Galactica
• Chuck (HD)
• Heroes (HD)
• Knight Rider (HD)
• My Own Worst Enemy (HD)
• The Office (HD)
• Fringe
• House
• Cops
• Prison Break
• The Simpsons
• Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
• Desperate Housewives
• Grey's Anatomy
• Dirty Sexy Money
• Lost
• Private Practice
• Pushing Daisies
• The Unit
• CSI
• Numb3rs

And so on. Not to mention that there are many other websites such as Joost and Netflix that provide commerical free streaming of full length shows and movies.

So, is there a need for a TV anymore? I'm starting to doubt it. A quick search online reveals that the following channels offer full length shows online with limited advertising:

• Fox
• ABC
• NBC
• CBS
• History Channel
• Discovery Channel (includes TLC & Animal Planet)
• Sci-Fi Channel
• TNT

Not to mention hulu.com, which carries a ton of shows as well from several of the above channels. So really, unless you need a lot of the other special channels such as Fox news, CNN, ESPN and such, gosh, you might as well ditch you TV. NBC even shows Sunday Night Football online now (with the exception of the Super Bowl and some other high profile games).

Now, if you have a TV that you can hook your computer up to, even better. Then you can just sit in your living room as normal and watch everything the way you normally do.

How can you beat that?

Now, since I've been transitioning to Linux, my next project will be to find all the stuff that I can watch exclusively on Ubuntu without using the dreaded Vista.