As Internet connections get faster, computer monitors become larger and HTPC integration become more widespread, watching TV shows online has become downright ubiquitous. In the dark ages, like three years ago, the only place you could get truly high-quality copies of TV episodes was to either buy the DVD or to BitTorrent the episode, you know, if one of the big TV groups happens to follow that particular show.

I love tvRSS as much as the next pirate, in the last 18 months, something pretty awesome has happened in regards to commercial television: free web streams. And the quality continues to get better, with each of the major networks offering some kind of HD-experience (iTunes HD tends to be better, but of course, you pay for that privilege).

So here is a list of all the places you can watch current and classic TV shows for free, online. Many of these sites have regional restrictions, based on country. Not to fear, in my next article, I'll discuss how you can access any of these sites (or any region-locked) site, regardless of your physical location.

Comcast has added a video download store to its Fancast online video site. Up until now, Fancast featured free streaming video from sites like Hulu and CBS video. Now you can pay to rent or purchase the same TV shows and movies, plus a wider selection of new releases and older videos. In other words, the Fancast Store is a bit like Amazon Unbox.

What's funny is that while Fancast started out as a video streaming service and moved into downloads, it's starting to look like Amazon might be moving in the other direction. What's even funnier is that Comcast recently announced plans to limit the amount of bandwidth the company's internet service customers can use each month. If Comcast really wants you to spend $3.99 to $20 to download videos which can be several gigabytes large, the company might want to rethink that whole bandwidth cap thing.

[via ZatzNotFunny]

Comcast-owned media portal Fancast has announced that it will soon have full length streaming episodes of The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, and South Park. Up until now, if you wanted to get your Daily Show or Colbert Report fixes online, you had to check out clips with segments from the shows on their official websites, or hunt through YouTube. Fancast will be the first site we're aware of that will let you watch episodes from start to finish.

Comcast introduced Fancast last fall. At the time it was more of an IMDB style site with information about movies, TV shows and actors, directors, and other artists. But over the last half year, Fancast has added a decent selection of streaming movies, TV shows, and clips through partnerships with CBS, Hulu, and other media distributors.

[via Mashable]

Comcast has officially launched its online video portal Fancast, you know the same web site the company kinda launched last August? What's different this time around is that Comcast is building out a new plan called "Project Infinity" to make video on demand available via the web, your set top box, or pretty much anywhere else you want it. Oh yeah, and Comcast CEO Brian Roberts is speaking at CES this week and he needs something to talk about.

All kidding aside, Fancast is starting to look pretty interesting. When it launched, the site didn't have much content, and was more of an IMDB competitor than a go-to spot for online video. But now thanks to partnerships with Hulu and CBS, you can watch thousands of hours of TV shows and movies at Fancast. Eventually you'll also be able to schedule your personal video recorder from the website, although it's not yet clear if that feature will apply just to Comcast customers.

[via NewTeeVee]

Comcast has launched Fancast, a new online media portal that's best described as an IMDB challenger with way more multimedia, and a generally less useful interface.

Fancast does have some good ideas. You can type in the name of an actor, movie, TV show, or director and Fancast pulls up a biography, photos, and videos. You can also buy movie tickets through Comcast-owned Fandango or play "six degrees," a game where you can try to connect actors to other projects.

In time, Comcast plans to add full length TV episodes and movies to the site.

But IMDB thrives for much the same reason as Craigslist. Although there are pictures and some links to videos on IMDB, it's clean design makes it extraordinarily easy to navigate. We can't really say the same or Fancast. If you want to find out every movie that an actor has ever been in, we'd recommend going to IMDB, not Fancast. If you want to buy movie tickets, you can probably skip Fancast and go right to Fandango or Moviefone.

[via paidContent]