As more and more individuals make the transition from cable television to purely internet based content, the need to expand the availability of television material to the new medium has never been more critical for corporations. In this article, we will take a look at some content providers currently available to internet users residing in Canada. These services make it convenient for individuals who have canceled their cable subscription to follow along with new episodes of their favorite shows.

Rogers On Demand

The first service we will take a look at is, RODO. Are you currently using Rogers as a cable, internet, or mobile phone service provider? If so, you may be delighted to know that Rogers is currently offering their internet based on-demand service (Rogersondemand) at no additional cost to existing customers (Although some specialty content is locked to cable subscribers). Simply visit the website provided in the link above and sign up using your account number or cellphone number. This service will allow you do watch your favorite television shows, movies and live streaming content such as the 2010 World Cup for free though any device that is internet enabled. If you have a data plan enabled smartphone, you will also be able to use your existing data plan to stream content to the phone.

Testing the service for a couple of days has revealed the content to be of decent video quality and generally streams on a 6mbps DSL connection without any hiccups. In terms of availability of content, Rogers is currently partnered with various networks to offer popular shows such as Trailer Park Boys and The Office. Unfortunately,  the content will expire after a certain period of time as it does in Hulu. More shows are also to be added in time as, the service only came out of beta last December.

GlobalTV

Can’t find a show you are looking for on RODO? Another Canadian provider of online content is GlobalTV. Through GlobalTV, one can enjoy shows such as House, Heroes, The Office, 24, Family Guy and Bones. The video quality of the content appears to be in standard 480p definition and also streams without any buffering. Unfortunately, the episodes offered by GlobalTV are advertisement enabled and require the viewing of a 15 second ad at various points.

CityTV

CityTv’s online network is an aggregator that offers a wide selection of online content from networks such as: CTVNews, The Comedy Network, TSN, MTV, Much Music, BNN (Business News Network), The Discovery Channel, Star, Fashion Television, Space, and Bravo. The website enabled users to stream popular content such as Lost, South Park, Battlestar Gallactica and The Colbert Report. Since the video streams are hosted on several different networks, the video quality varies slightly around the 480p mark. Advertisements are typically displayed before the start of an episode. However, some episodes are split into multiple parts and an advertisement is displayed at the start of each part.

Bloomberg

Need to catch up with the fast paced financial market? Bloomberg is a distinguished source that currently offers an international live stream discussing the latest in global markets. To access the stream, click on the “Live TV” link on their home page. Overall, the stream is decent quality but unfortunately requires Windows Media Player to function. Mac users may have to download Flip4Mac in order to get the stream working correctly.

Other Options

Still can’t find the show you’re looking for? Although the following sides may be questionable in terms of legality and video quality, they seem to offer the greatest selection of content without the mandatory advertisements. However, these sites are unauthorized by copyright holders and we hold absolutely no responsibility for any criminal charges that may result through their usage.

1. Sidereel – www.sidereel.com
2. Blinx Tv – www.tv.blinkx.com
3. Tv Ducks – www.tvduck.com
4. Freetube – www.freetubetv.net
5. TED (Torrent Episode Downloader) plugin for µtorrent, Azureus and other clients…

If you have a particular method for watching shows on the computer that is missing from the post, feel free to leave it in the comments section! Other than that, enjoy the free content!