FYI: There's enough free entertainment out there to make anyone wonder why paying for cable is necessary.
The program you want to see can be found online in many cases and all you have to do to access it is watch a short 30-second commercial before the opening scenes, or a longer two-minute ad where a commercial break would normally be. That is not a bad price, considering most of us watch TV ads anyway.
If you're ready to cash in on these freebies yourself, here are tips:
Use Hulu.com. As most people under age 25 know, the website Hulu.com makes it easy to watch many shows for free, including fan favorites such as The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Office, and Modern Family. With limited ads and easy streaming, the only downside is that not all shows are available at all times. That's when you might need to use the next option. [See also: The Economic Reality of Primetime Families.]
Before paying for a new episode of your favorite show on iTunes, do a Web search with the name of the show and the words "full episodes." Networks don't always make it easy to find the latest show through their websites, but a Web search with those terms will help turn it up. This technique helped us find the latest 60 Minutes, Survivor, and Amazing Race episodes, for example. But it can also turn up spam sites. Steer clear of any urls that you don't recognize.
Take advantage of the online content you might already be paying for. If you subscribe to a cable provider, you might be able to watch even more of your favorite shows online than you can find through your TV screen. For example, the HBO Go app allows users to access all episodes of shows such as Curb Your Enthusiasm and Sex and the City.
Check out iTunes, and not just for music. Networks often make their shows available through iTunes at low or no cost to the user. It was easier, and in some cases cheaper, to rent foreign films through iTunes than it would be through a video rental company (such as Netflix or Redbox). For just a few dollars, download an amazing foreign film.
Iinvest in a USB device which allows u to stream shows from iPad onto the bigger television screen and still watch all new Internet shows for FREE.