Watch Tv Online

Connecting your television to the Internet makes it possible for you to access (through the TV set) content that would otherwise have been out of reach to you. Definitely, the moment you connect your TV to the Internet, you find that you are able to access a greater variety of content. And you may find that some of the content you have a chance to access, once you connect your TV to the Internet, is of a higher quality than what would otherwise have been available to you. And some premium content that you would have had to pay for (if you wanted to access it in the traditional way) would be available to you for free, once you connect your TV to the Internet.

You have to realize that we are living in an age where some content creators have ditched the traditional model of TV broadcast. They have instead chosen to focus all their efforts on online platforms. So their content can only be accessed online, and this means that if your TV set is not connected to the Internet, such content would be out of reach for you. Connecting your TV to the Internet also enhances its capabilities. So you find that, having connected the TV to the Internet, you can now watch (through it) online podcasts, slideshow presentations, and many other things. These are things you would otherwise only have been able to watch on computing devices – such as laptops, smart-phones, desktop computers… and so on. But you are now able to access them through your TV (that is, via the TV’s bigger and better screen). You are then able to enjoy such content better, on a bigger screen, than would have been possible if you were watching (or, as it were, squinting at) them on a minuscule phone screen.

Therefore, connecting your TV to the Internet can be beneficial at so many levels.

The specific type of TV that can be connected to the Internet

In most cases, it is only ‘smart’ TVs that can be connected to the Internet. Therefore, before thinking of connecting your TV set to the Internet, you have to be sure that it is a smart TV. But then again, there are said to be ways in which ordinary TVs can be converted into smart TVs. In theory, any TV that has a HDMI port at the back (or on the side) can be turned into a smart TV, with some little effort and investment.

One really just needs to buy a smart-media player, like the Amazon Fire stick or the Apple TV stick – and then connect it to the TV via  the TV’s HDMI port. This would then effectively turn the old TV into a smart TV, capable of connecting to the Internet (albeit indirectly).

Even if your TV is of the era when they didn’t come with HDMI ports, there is a device you can purchase, known as HDMI to RCA adapter, after which you would still be in a position to turn the device into a smart TV… So when you come to think of it, almost any TV set can be converted into a smart TV, after which it would be capable of being connected to the Internet.

Considerations you need to make, before connecting your TV to the Internet

One of the considerations you need to make is on the type of content you will be seeking to access, on your TV, via the Internet. This will inform you what the best way to connect the TV to the Internet is. In this regard, for instance, the needs of an individual who will be seeking to just access and view Slideshare presentations (and a few music videos here and there) would probably be different from those of an individual who would be seeking to watch full-length movies.

Another consideration you need to make is on the nature of Internet access that is available. In this regard, you could be in a place where there is Wi-Fi or in a place where you have to rely on cable/wired Ethernet connection.

There is also a cost consideration to be made. If you are in a place where Internet connectivity is expensive, then this would be an important consideration.

Further, there are security considerations: like if what you have access to is Wi-Fi.

What you need to have, to connect your TV to the Internet

As noted above, the television set itself needs to be a ‘smart TV’. It may be one that was designed, right from the outset, to be a smart TV. Or it may be one that has been turned into a smart TV by attaching it to, say, an Amazon Fire stick or Apple TV stick (through the HDMI port).

You, of course, also need to have the Internet connection, and it has to be high speed: given the nature of content, which is most multimedia.

If you will be using a wired connection (as opposed to wireless) you will need to have the cables with which to connect your TV to the Internet, as well as a router. The cables may be, for instance, of the Ethernet variety.

Steps you will need to follow, to connect your TV to the Internet

If you are using a wire-based connection (as opposed to wireless) you would need to locate the Ethernet port on your TV (typically at the back). Then you would need to connect the cable, from your Internet router to the said Ethernet port. Having made the physical connection, you would get your TV’s remote, go to ‘menu’, then select ‘network settings’ and enable the wired connection. The TV would then have been connected to the Internet, enhancing its capabilities a great deal. If what you have is a traditional TV, which was not initially designed to be smart (but which was turned smart by connecting it to a device like Amazon Fire or Apple TV), things would be slightly different. In this case, you would have to connect the Ethernet cable from the router to the Amazon fire (or Apple TV stick or whatever other device). Content would then be moving from the device (Amazon Fire stick, Apple TV and so on) to the TV via the HDMI connection. But once the connection is made, from the Amazon Fire or Apple TV or whatever other device to the router, the rest of the procedure is the same. That is where you would use the remote to go to ‘menu’, then ‘network settings’ and then you select ‘wired connection’ – and enable it.

If you are using a wireless connection (like Wi-Fi), there would, of course, be no physical cable connection to be made between the TV and a router. So it would be just a question of  being sure that the wireless Internet is available. Then once you are sure that, for instance, there is Wi-Fi connectivity, you’d need to pick up the TV’s remote, go to ‘menu’, then navigate to ‘network settings’. Then you’d need to select the wi-fi network you wish to connect to by name and key in the wi-fi password. The TV would then have been connected to the Internet, after which you can be in a position to access all manner of web-based content.

Nowadays, it is possible to access TV content on your mobile phone. It is therefore no longer necessary for you to rush home whenever your favorite TV program is about to air, (so as to be behind your TV set when it airs). You should be able to view that favorite program wherever you are, using your mobile phone. This would be by way of streaming it ‘live’, in real time (as it is being aired), from the relevant TV channel’s website. And if that option of streaming it in real time is not available, it should be possible for you to view the episode you missed later (as a ‘past episode’), through your mobile phone. In this article, we will be trying to get deeper insights on how exactly you can go about accessing TV content on your mobile phone.

Streaming the content from the broadcaster’s website

Nowadays, many broadcasters have systems on their websites through which interested viewers can stream content ‘live’. Thus, as long as you have a mobile phone that has a browser and a reasonably speedy Internet connection, it should be possible for you to access the TV content by way of streaming. The most important thing here is to ensure that your Internet connection is fast enough to facilitate streaming. So what you need is broadband Internet (which is, in any case, what is available almost everywhere nowadays).

If the what you are seeking to stream is free content, chances are that it will start streaming the moment the TV channel’s streaming webpage loads fully. But if it is ‘premium’ (in the sense that it has to be paid for), then you may have to go through an authentication process, before being allowed to stream it. In this case, the authentication process is likely to be just a matter of logging in, by entering your (subscriber’s) username and password: after which you can start streaming the content.

Accessing the TV content through the broadcaster’s mobile app

A good number of broadcasters nowadays have mobile apps through which viewers can access content. Many content providers realize that it is not always very efficient to stream content through the browsers, hence the launch of the mobile apps. So they create apps, and then upload them to the app-stores from where their viewers can download them. You may be able to access TV content on your mobile through such apps.

Of course, there are individuals who opt to continue accessing TV content (on their mobiles) through browsers, in spite of the availability of the apps. Their reasoning is that they would end up with too many apps on their mobile phones, if they were to download and install the app for each TV channel. The best compromise here can be for you to download and install the mobile apps for the TV channels you watch frequently. Then you’d only be needing to launch the apps, and watch the channels through the apps – rather than going to the broadcasters’ websites and trying to stream the TV content from there whenever you want to enjoy it.

Accessing (previous) TV episodes on the broadcaster’s website

Many of the broadcasters have systems where, besides streaming the content that is being aired ‘live’ at the moment, you can also access and stream previous episodes on their websites. So this is yet another option that may be available to you: where you find that you don’t have to bite your nails off in frustration whenever you miss your favorite programs’ episodes. You just go to the broadcaster’s website, search for the program you want, then narrow down to the specific previous episode you wish to view – after which you’d get to stream it.

Accessing previous TV episodes on third-party websites

This is like where you may find past episodes of the popular TV programs being available on websites such as YouTube, from where you can get a chance to stream them. In some cases, those episodes are uploaded on platforms such as YouTube by the broadcasters themselves. Many broadcasters nowadays see the need to have a presence on platforms such as YouTube. So they establish YouTube ‘channels’, through which viewers can watch past episodes (including ‘yesterdays’ episodes) of their most popular shows.

Steps you need to follow while seeking to access TV content on your mobile phone

The first step here is to get a suitable mobile phone. Theoretically, you can access TV content on any mobile phone that is capable of accessing the Internet and has a browser installed. But some mobile phones are better suited for this type of work than others. Like if you have a mobile phone that has a reasonably big screen, it will be better than one with a very small screen. You also need a mobile phone with decent memory (RAM), and a good screen resolution, if you are to enjoy watching TV content through it.

The second step is to get a good high-speed Internet connection. So this has to be wireless Internet (for mobile phones). If you try to access TV content on a slow connection, you will keep on being frustrated as it ‘buffers’, and it may be very hard for you to enjoy the content.

The third step is to make a decision on the type of TV content you will be seeking to access through your mobile phone.

The fourth step would be for you to make a decision on how exactly you would be using the mobile phone to access the TV content. Is it by streaming it from the TV broadcasters’ websites? Or is it through apps? Will you be seeking to stream the TV content ‘live’ (as it airs) or will you be seeking to access past episodes? Those are the important considerations.

The fifth step is to access the actual content. If, for instance, you opted to stream it ‘live’, you can go to the broadcaster’s website, specifically to the streaming page, and start streaming the TV content from there. If you opted to go for past episodes of your favorite TV shows, you will need to go to the broadcasters’ websites (or to third party websites such as YouTube), search for the episodes and proceed to stream them from there.

Nowadays, it is possible to watch past episodes of TV shows online. Therefore, missing your favorite TV show (when it is being aired ‘live’) shouldn’t be cause for too much worry – as you may have the option of watching it later, online. On the other hand, if you watched a particular episode of a TV show, and got deeply fascinated by it, you have the option of ‘re-watching’ it later on as many times as you want.

Sometimes, one reflects on the pre-Internet era, and shudders at the thought of how folks managed to survive. In that era, if you missed your favorite TV show as it was being aired ‘live’, there would be no other way to watch it. That is unless the broadcaster running the show opted to run a ‘repeat’ of it. Sometimes you’d be forced to talk with other enthusiasts of the same show, to understand the episode you missed went…

Unbelievable as it may sound, there is a section of the society that is still unaware of the fact that it is possible to watch past episodes of TV shows online. We also have those who know (in theory) that it is possible for them to watch past episodes of TV shows online, but they don’t know exactly how to go about it. And it is with this in mind that we felt the need to come up with a brief exposition on how to go about watching past episodes of TV shows online.

What you need to have to watch past TV episodes online

To watch past TV episodes online, you need to have a device that has media player capabilities, and is capable of accessing the Internet. This could be your smart-phone, or specialized devices (for online TV access) such as the Roku Streaming device, the Apple TV device, the Google Chromecast device, the Amazon Fire streaming device… and so on. You could even be able to access past TV episodes online, through your TV set itself, if it happens to be to a smart-TV.

To watch past TV episodes online, you will also need to have a reasonably fast Internet connection. So a dial-up connection, at 256 kbps probably won’t do! You need broadband. And it has to be ideally the sort of Internet connection that allows, within a given minute, you to download more content than you can stream (within that minute). Otherwise if you have a device that is slower than that, you will keep on encountering ‘buffering’ pauses which can be very frustrating.

If the past episodes you will be trying to watch are of a ‘premium’ nature, you would need to have paid your subscription fees to watch them. And this means that you would need to have/to remember the username and password you need to access your subscription TV account online, after which you can proceed to watch the past episodes over the Internet. But that is of course only if the past episodes you are seeking to watch are on premium channels that charge subscription fees. For ‘free’ channels, you should (in most cases) be in a position to start streaming past episodes without paying any subscription fees.

The types of past TV episodes you can watch online

You can watch almost all types of past TV episodes online. Whether what you are looking for are past episodes of dramas, soap operas, ‘series’, movies… you should be able to watch them online. You can even watch past sports matches, and even past newscasts, online. Almost anything that you could have watched in real time, as it was being broadcast, can be watched later on certain platforms.

But there are some low value programs whose past episodes may prove impossible to find online. So although ‘all types’ of past TV episodes can be accessed online, it doesn’t mean that ‘each and every’ past TV show is accessible somewhere online, waiting to be watched. You are likely to realize that the more popular a TV show is, the easier it is for you to find its past episodes online.

Ways in which you can watch past TV episodes online

There are several ways in which you can go about watching the past episodes of TV shows online.

One way is by going to the website of the broadcaster who airs the TV show (that is, the show whose past episodes you are interested in). Once you get there, you should search for the past episodes and proceed to watch them at your convenience, by way of streaming.

Another approach is by launching the apps associated with the broadcasters who air the TV shows whose past episodes you are interested in. Then you can use the apps to search for the past episodes: after which you can proceed to watch them by streaming them through the said apps.

Yet another approach is where you would go to a third party website, such as YouTube, and search through it for past episodes of the TV shows you are interested in. Then you can proceed to stream the said shows through the platform — like in this case, YouTube.

Situations where you may feel the need to watch past TV episodes online

There are several situations where you may feel the need to watch past episodes of TV shows online.

The first situation is what we alluded to earlier, where having missed the TV shows when they were being aired ‘live’, you can opt to go online to watch them as ‘past episodes’.

Another situation is where you may have watched the TV episodes as they were being aired ‘live’, and got very highly impressed with them. So you decide to watch them again later – only that this time, you would have to watch them in the form of ‘past episodes’.

There is yet another situation where you may be seeking to study the TV episodes closely. That is like if you are a content creator, and you are trying to figure out how to come up with similar content. So you opt to watch the past episodes several times, as you try to figure out how you can come up with similar content.

Steps you need to follow, to watch past TV episodes online

There are two simple steps you need to follow, if you want to watch past episodes of TV shows online.

The first step is that of ‘searching’ for the past episodes. You may search for these past episodes on the broadcasters’ websites, on the broadcasters’ apps, on platforms such as YouTube and so on.

The second step is that of ‘streaming’ the past episodes of TV shows. Thus, once your search yields the desired results (in terms of the past episodes of TV shows you want to see), the next step is that of simply streaming them. You should be able to do this smoothly,  as long as you have a reasonably speedy Internet connection.