Watch Television Online: The Next Level of Entertainment

Stuck in traffic, have you missed your favorite TV show? Gone are the days where you would have to stay up till late in the night to watch a repeat telecast. Switch on your computer, and watch TV shows online, at your leisure and with no loss of quality.

Television has come a long way since the first broadcasts began in the 1920's. The first broadcasts were followed by the Video Cassette recorder, Compact disc players, DVD players and now Blu-Ray players. Since the beginning of broadcast television people have tried to record the programs they like and watch it at their leisure. The advent of the internet changed the entire dynamics of watching a show. With the increase in broadband availability in the early 2000's, streaming video and online viewership soared exponentially.

Today almost every television channel has an online portal that offers streaming content and gives people the luxury of watching their favorite shows online. This service is a boon for the people who cannot watch the shows they like due to their busy schedules.
With the rise of online video sites like Youtube, Vimeo and Dailymotion, most of the syndicated content of the channels was being posted online as short videos.

In India the trend of watching shows online has begun only recently. The rise of reality shows and their daily broadcast created a huge demand for online content as people rushed to watch TV shows online.
With the growth in the number of channels and the spread of the indian diaspora, watching tv shows online has become a simple way to keep in touch with your favorite programs, anywhere in the world.

Almost all Indian Channels have a web portal that streams their shows online. The Star TV network with its bouquet of channels have introduced Star Player which broadcasts live feeds from 6 channels, Star Plus, Channel [V], Life OK, Star Pravah and Star Jalsha. Sony Entertainment put clips of their famous Bigg Boss series online. MTV puts uncensored footage from Roadies on its website.

Music is one the most downloaded and popular topics on the internet. Indian music channels have come a long way from the time they started. While Bollywood music has been their staple, they have also ventured out into fusion and rock music. Initially the music channels only played English music, but slowly worked Hindi music and its various genres and sub-genres into their playlists.

Services like Hulu and and ITV player are popular in the US and UK. In India Star Player is the platform used to deliver TV content from the Star TV network on the internet. It streams some channels live and also offers archival content from other channels for free. With increasing broadband penetration in India, the number of people watching shows online has increased and with message boards and feedback mechanisms woven into the site, watching a program has now become an interactive experience. People can leave their comments and suggestions and communicate directly with the channel and the show's creators.