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mumaluke

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 12, 2011
15
0
Is there somewhere that you can download full free tv episodes that work with ATV2?

I am not looking for paid shows on networks like HBO, Showtime or anything like that, just stuff that would be on local TV, ABC, CBS and such.
 

CylonGlitch

macrumors 68030
Jul 7, 2009
2,956
268
Nashville
They post many episodes on their websites. But most do not stream to ATV. There may be a hack for it, but I don't know it. Anything else would be illegal and against the TOS of these forums to discuss.
 

mumaluke

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 12, 2011
15
0
Thanks, I am not looking for illegal activities. Looking for a reasonable solution for ditching DTV and easy way to have a "DVR" for shows we miss. I think its a shame that :apple: charges for free tv shows.
 

nwcs

macrumors 68030
Sep 21, 2009
2,722
5,262
Tennessee
Thanks, I am not looking for illegal activities. Looking for a reasonable solution for ditching DTV and easy way to have a "DVR" for shows we miss. I think its a shame that :apple: charges for free tv shows.

They aren't free. They are paid via advertising and other business deals like syndication. So it's reasonable to pay for a TV show that airs over network TV that doesn't have advertising. Not like we can get TV show season DVD sets for free for over the air broadcasts.

Apple does offer single episodes of some TV shows for free and there may be opportunities later to stream from the content provider or via third parties like hulu.
 

newagemac

macrumors 68020
Mar 31, 2010
2,091
23
Is there somewhere that you can download full free tv episodes that work with ATV2?

I am not looking for paid shows on networks like HBO, Showtime or anything like that, just stuff that would be on local TV, ABC, CBS and such.

They are plenty of them on the iTunes Store. The podcast section on the ATV2 has thousands of free shows and channels you can watch or you can stream them from your computer or iDevice.

As for shows from networks like ABC and CBS, when new shows come out there is almost always a free "pilot" of the first episode on iTunes and it stays free throughout the season. And sometimes they offer an episode or two in the current seasons of their most popular shows for free to entice you to purchase the whole season.

Then for some channels there are dedicated iOS apps that you can Airplay to the Apple TV. For example, the CNN Live app has live CNN TV and supports Airplay. The PBS app also has full episodes of its shows and supports Airplay.
 

mumaluke

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 12, 2011
15
0
They aren't free. They are paid via advertising and other business deals like syndication. So it's reasonable to pay for a TV show that airs over network TV that doesn't have advertising. Not like we can get TV show season DVD sets for free for over the air broadcasts.

Apple does offer single episodes of some TV shows for free and there may be opportunities later to stream from the content provider or via third parties like hulu.


I realize they are not free - I would be willing to download them with commercials. I'm not really looking for seasons or the pilot episode, just the occasional, hey we missed our show, lets go watch it now situation.
 

Panch0

macrumors 6502a
Feb 23, 2010
684
9
Virginia
Elgato EyeTV will let your Mac perform DVR duties, and it will let you convert your recordings into iTunes friendly formats that can be streamed to the ATV. This is the closest thing I can think of to what you are asking for, other than those illegal sources that were not mentioned earlier.

Since I started watching NetFlix on my ATV, I find that I don't even watch the vast majority of shows that I record over the air. It's just not worth the hassle of stripping out the commercials - I'd rather just wait a year for the season to show up on Netflix.
 

slothrob

macrumors 6502
Jun 12, 2007
443
0
I'm not really looking for seasons or the pilot episode, just the occasional, hey we missed our show, lets go watch it now situation.
On the occasions where we miss an important episode of a series, we've paid the $0.99 to rent it from iTunes.
 

mumaluke

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 12, 2011
15
0
On the occasions where we miss an important episode of a series, we've paid the $0.99 to rent it from iTunes.

That is an option, and I am not opposed to that. I am thinking of going with an OTA DVR and supplimenting with the :apple:TV
 

0dev

macrumors 68040
Dec 22, 2009
3,947
24
127.0.0.1
If you have an iPhone or iPad, you can get a lot of different video player apps and use AirPlay to watch your stuff via the Apple TV.
 

mumaluke

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 12, 2011
15
0
If you have an iPhone or iPad, you can get a lot of different video player apps and use AirPlay to watch your stuff via the Apple TV.

I do have an iphone, what video player apps are you talking about?
 

0dev

macrumors 68040
Dec 22, 2009
3,947
24
127.0.0.1
I do have an iphone, what video player apps are you talking about?

For mp4 and m4v files, the default iPod app. For other formats, VLC and CineXPlayer. Some TV channels have their own official streaming apps too, though I'm not sure they're AirPlay compatible. I suspect it'll vary.
 

newagemac

macrumors 68020
Mar 31, 2010
2,091
23
That is an option, and I am not opposed to that. I am thinking of going with an OTA DVR and supplimenting with the :apple:TV

I use Eyetv and an HDHomeRun and record OTA HD broadcasts. The Eyetv acts as a tv guide and DVR and the app automatically converts them to formats for the Apple TV, iPad, and iPhone. Plus there is an app for the iDevices that allows you to watch the live tv and your recordings from your iDevice directly.

It's an excellent solution if you have a desktop mac that it can run on like a Mac Mini or iMac. I wouldn't depend on a laptop to do my recordings though since they aren't on all the time.
 
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