How do I record a TV show or streaming video???

[barnkeeper]

I am newbie to all things about Apple. Our family just bought a new iMac with a huge screen and it's loaded with everything. We got it primarily because I want to watch ice skating shows that are not broadcast on TV any longer. Also, I'm a big fan of old TV shows that aren't broadcast anymore. I'm really confused by all the terms I read about in the forum that I've never heard of before. Could you please outline for me (or tell me where to look for it) exactly what additional hardware and software I need to watch the shows online? Plus, I want to record some of the shows. We have to use satellite for our source of TV here because of the mountains and lack of a city near us.
I want to sit in front of my iMac and watch the shows that are online AND occasionally store them on DVDs for later viewing on a DVR or DVD player that's connected to a TV. How do I do these two tasks????
Thank you SO much.

 

[cuestakid]

First of all, could you maybe list some of these shows? It is possible that it may be impossible to do as almost all of the shows that you can watch online are current ones. Even shows that are 2 or three years old can be extremely difficult as someone would have to have either recorded them at when they were on and then transferred them to their machines.

But if you can give us some of the shows in question that would help.