Most people who have been using the Internet for a while have already heard of different file-sharing venues and peer-to-peer (P2P) downloading sites where you can get virtually any MP3 or audio file that you want. The fact that these music downloads are available is pretty common knowledge. What is perhaps less commonly known, however, is the fact that you can also find a significant number of TV shows online as well.
Downloading television programs is basically the same as downloading other kinds of files. You first need to find a website that contains links to TV shows online, and then you have to make sure that you have some kind of file-sharing client that will allow you to access the files (often called "torrents" after the name of one of the most popular clients out there). Television program files contain both audio and video components, so they are much larger than music files. As a result, it can often take several hours to download a single file.
There are a couple of different ways you can watch the files you've downloaded. First, the most common way to watch TV shows online is to simply view the downloaded file in a media player. You probably already have a media player on your computer; if you don't, there are several different ones that are available for free. You just have to run a search and choose the one that you think will suit you the best. You'll also have to download the appropriate codecs so that you can both see the video and hear the audio of the television program files. Again, a few minutes spent with your favorite search engine can point you in the right direction as far as codecs go.
If you're a bit more comfortable around your computer and know what you're doing, there's another way to watch TV shows online. You can actually burn the MPEG file to a CD-ROM (thus creating a VCD), which you can then watch on your regular DVD player. You should be aware that this extra step takes much longer and that not all DVD players are capable of handling VCDs. But the end result is definitely worth it, so give VCDs a shot.
Even though most television programs are available for free to anyone who owns a TV set, it's also helpful to know where you can find TV shows online. That way, you'll know exactly where to go if you happen to miss an episode of your favorite program or if you suddenly find yourself in a position where you don't have access to regular television options.
