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The Best Places to Watch Free TV Online

How You Can Watch TV Online for Free

By , About.com Guide

Watching free TV online is a great way to save some money on cable/satellite and DVDs or even just catch up on your favorite shows that you may have missed.

Most of the websites below are portals to places where you can watch free TV online. This means they don't actually host the TV shows but they gather up all the links and videos to the TV shows you want to watch from all over the rest of the Internet. Just think of it as all the hard work being taken care of for you.

The websites below are legal places you can watch free TV so you don't need to worry about breaking the law or violating anyone's copyright.

If you like watching free TV online you might also like to find out the best places to watch free movies online, where you can download free movies, and how you can rent free DVDs.

Hulu

Free TV© Hulu

If you're wanting to watch free TV my first suggestion is that you visit Hulu. They have hundreds of full episodes you can watch for free as well as clips of almost every show out there.

Some of the free TV on Hulu includes shows like The Office, New Girl, Community, Hell's Kitchen, The Daily Show, Pretty Little Liars, Modern Family, The Simpsons, Glee, and many more.

There are different rules for how long after airing a TV show can be put up on Hulu as well as how many episodes of the show they can keep up at a time. Just click on the show to get all the details on each show's rules.

Besides free TV shows, Hulu also shows free movies, trailers, and documentaries.

Clicker

Free TV© Clicker

Clicker is another great place to go to watch free TV. They don't actually host any videos but act more like a search directory so you can easily find your favorite TV shows that are already streaming elsewhere on the Internet.

A great feature that Clicker has is the ability to subscribe to certain shows so you can be alerted when the next episode is available to watch online. Very handy in making sure that you don't miss any of your favorite shows.

Your favorite shows like Jersey Shore, Family Guy, and Teen Mom are just a few of the free TV shows you can watch online or on your smart phone.

TumTiki

Free TV© TumTiki

TumTiki, run by the popular cable provider Frontier Communications, houses content from both Hulu and Amazon meaning that you can find a ton of free TV episodes here as well as movies and other video clips.

Integrated TV listings makes this a great places to go to watch some free TV of shows you haven't seen or can't wait to see again.

YouTube

Free TV© YouTube

YouTube may not be your first thought when you think of watching free TV online but maybe it should be.

YouTube has full episodes of reality, comedy, drama, action, news, travel, food, nature and sports shows that you can view by genre. You can also look to the right to view the top episodes that people are watching on YouTube.

Xfinity

Free TV© Xfinity

Xfinity has free TV shows and is a similar service to Hulu and Clicker.

While a lot of the TV shows here are free some will require a subscription to Comcast and certain movie channels for you to be able to watch them.

TV Guide

Free TV© TV Guide

You can also watch free episodes of your favorite TV shows over at TV Guide.

View the TV shows by most popular or use the search box or show listing to find what you're looking for.

Your Favorite Network's Website

Free TVPhoto: Tim Robberts / Getty Images

If you have a TV show you love and you want to watch it for free because you missed it or maybe you don't get that channel, a great way to catch up on it is to visit the network's website and see if it's available for streaming.

All of the networks below show some full episodes but also clips as well.

Here are some of the popular TV networks out there that have free TV on their websites available for you to view:

  • NBC - NBC does a great job of quickly posting and keeping the free TV shows around so you have plenty of time to watch them. It's even possible for you to catch up on an entire series though the free TV shows they have on their website.
  • ABC - They have full length videos of the latest episode of every show as well as video clips, highlights, and sneak peeks into all your favorite ABC shows.
  • CBS - At CBS you can watch free TV shows after they've aired on CBS. There are quite a few advertiser interruptions during the streaming video but you'll know when they're coming because they are clearly marked on the screen.
  • FOX - FOX posts free TV shows for you to watch one day after they've aired on TV but they remain locked so you can watch them until eight days after they've aired.
  • The CW - The day after the CW television shows air you'll be able to watch them for free at the CW website. For those of you on the go CW also has an app that let's you watch free TV on your Android phone, iPhone, or iPad.
  • PBS - PBS has a ton of free TV episodes online including Masterpiece Theater, PBS NewsHour, and Frontline.
  • MTV - MTV has full episodes of all your favorite MTV shows including clips and after shows.
  • ABC Family - The day after the TV shows on ABC Family air they are put online so you can enjoy them.
  • A&E - Watch full episodes of Storage Wars, The First 48, and Dog the Bounty Hunter.

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