ITV for Free.....
 

I know Hutchie has done an excellent website for setting up your computer for watching UK and worldwide TV but it always seems to cost money one way or another. Now I don't know whether this method has been posted before or whether or not Hutchie has provided this info, if he has then apologies to you mate, but if not I have a way that you can stream ITV 1,2,3,4 programmes for free from anywhere in the world and have been using this method for well over 6 months and it works like a dream. I have posted this info on other forums and have had other members get it to work in under 10 mins, so I thought I would share this information with fellow BE members.

If you visit my website it gives clear step by step guide and all the software needed to set it up, the software is 100% legal and virus free. As mentioned before this is for ITV only so you can watch yesterday's Corrie, Emmerdale or any other programme ITV has aired in the last 30 days, this will not work for ITV live streams and take note of your internet quota as these are streaming progs only you cannot download them so don't watch too many episodes in one go (if a BE member knows of a media player that will allow you to download these programmes then please feel free to name it).

Re: ITV for Free.....
 

I've tried and it seems to work fine.

Re: ITV for Free.....
 

I tried this and couldn't get it to work. It tried to open real player everytime I tried even though I have WMP as my default player for media files. For me I can't see the benefit as torrents work well and I can watch them on my normal TV rather than sat at my PC.

Re: ITV for Free.....
 

Fantastic. My wife has just watched the Friday episode of Corrie and is over the moon. The only reason we subscribe to Foxtel at the moment is so she can watch that soap, and then its a year out of date. Thanks for the helpful advice. :thumbup:

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Far too technical for me!!

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Thanks. I tried it and it says they are experiencing technical problems - is it just me?

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mmm, i think it is something to do with that xpi file. It does not say install only save so I saved it then opened it, but I have no tv screen in firefox. Help:)

Re: ITV for Free.....
 

hehehe it works:)
Thanks Mate:thumbsup:

Re: ITV for Free.....
 

WOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! It worked for me!!! :thumbsup::thumbsup:

I already had windows media player and firefox so only needed the download and the instructions. I found the very last instruction was slightly incorrect (for me - I have Vista which could explain it) and the media player didn't come up automatically. However when I opened the Media Player and then clicked on the programme I wanted to watch, it prompted me with a list of programs to view my selection on - I chose the media player and lo and behold, it started to play. :thumbsup::thumbsup:

(Hope this helps people who have had probs!)

Re: ITV for Free.....
 

OMG !!! :thumbsup:

You have made my day/week/month/year, even!

Saves me downloading from thebox.tv and I can watch it instantly.

So glad that I don't subscribe to Foxtel. I knew that Foxtel would be obsolete in no time at all.

Err, any chance of same for BBC programs?

Re: ITV for Free.....
 

Thanks Flyaway for the extra instructions, you are correct in that the Windows media player may not start automatically especially if it is not your default player. Just start windows media player manually before you choose your ITV programme and then all should be fine...

For those people that are seeing the message "save file" when you try to install the add-on. I would guess that you must be trying to download this file using Internet Explorer, Chrome or the Safari browser if so then the set up will not work. You must use the Firefox browser when you carry out step 2 of installing the add-on...

Re: ITV for Free.....
 

The good thing about this method is most modern computers have an HDMI connection so my PC is hooked up to my HD TV and all I do is choose a programme and I'm viewing it instantly, unlike torrents where you have to download the file to the PC then burn it to DVD to play on the telly..

Torrents may work for some but not for others, I personally don't touch them as you run the risk of importing viruses, adware and spyware on to your computer, if you pay your bills, shop and bank online using the same computer you download your torrents to, then you are far more braver than I and my job is in computer repairs, I would say around 50-70% of them are infections because the owner downloaded something they shouldn't have.

Re: ITV for Free.....
 

thanks aussiedreamz, great to watch up to date things..

can you explain to me why you need Firefox for this and why IE wont do it?

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I can see how this would work if you have all the new fangled gadgets. I also see the point about viruses. I think I am taking as many precautions as I can to avoid adware, spyware and viruses and so far (touch wood) haven't had an issue. A high speed connection enables me to get a regular episode of corrie down onto my PC, onto a thumb drive and watching it within 8 minutes so I don't suppose that's too long to wait.

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actually you dont need to, I see now that the 'add on' is cheating the system.

is it possible to do this with BBC ?

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wouldnt it be illegal though ?

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Because the add-on has been designed for Firefox only, IE does not offer the versatility that F/F offers the add-ons are vast, I use F/Fox for my photo uploads to websites, print and save web pages as PDF documents, save my passwords, download and upload facebook and flikr photos with one click and can even change the skins of the browser in a nutshell it is just more versatile than IE.

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Fair enough, it is just my opinion but if it works for you then that's great....

Re: ITV for Free.....
 

ITV would argue it is illegal but they don't seem to have a very good copyright protection system in place to stop it. ITV get some of their revenue from adverts so maybe they are not that bothered about it as they are getting paid by the ad companies. Unlike the BBC which rely solely on TV licence funding and from worldwide distribution rights selling programmes, DVD's and CD's...so there iplayer system is harder to crack....(at the moment)

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Thanks very much it is working fine now. I plugged my laptop into the TV yipee. Shame BBC doesnt work though:( Thank you:)

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Excellent news, enjoy!!!

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Ah, that's cool. Nope - hadn't heard of that particular Firefox plugin before, but it's pretty neat. Only tried it on the Mac so far and couldn't get it working - though the screenshots on the plugin developer's site clearly show he's using a Mac himself, so it obviously does work when set up right. Wonder if any my other Firefox plugins are stopping it - Adblock or something. I will add it to my guide next time I can be arsed to update it. :D

Re: ITV for Free.....
 

I am using adblock but have it turned off but even when it is on it does not seem to effect it, you are right the developer has said it will work for Mac and Linux too but can't help on that front really as I am using windows, is there a add-on from his site specifically for the mac as this is where I got the add-on from for windows? And apologies for calling you Hutchie, I realise now it is Hutch but great site you have all the same...

Re: ITV for Free.....
 

Firefox uses universal binaries so they're not platform specific - any plugin that works on Firefox will work on Firefox Windows, Mac or Linux. :)

Have now got it working okay - think it probably was but I was expecting different behaviour. Basically I have to drill down to the programme itself I want to watch and then it appears in the menu on tray icon. Default behaviour on the Mac is to start Quicktime player which doesn't work very well, but I can cut and paste the resulting URL of the stream into VLC and it runs fine. Will have to work out how to change the default streaming app.

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Thanks for this! I have got it working but there is some sort of problem with the sound and picture? it keeps breaking up. Is this down to my internet speed being too slow??

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Probably a combination of two things - your connection and the fact that you're 12,000 miles and about 32 'hops' away from the server that's streaming the video.

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It says I cant watch videos because im not in the UK :confused:

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I've downloaded the Firefox but when I go to add the ITV Add-on, it brings up a box saying 'Do you want to save this file or find a program on-line to open it?' Neither Find or Save seems to work. I've got the Firefox screen open.

Sorry I am not computer literate!

Re: ITV for Free.....
 

Hi, If you are getting this message I would suspect that you are trying to view the programme on ITV's website using internet explorer this will not work you must close IE and start Firefox.
1. If you have followed step 1+2 of the guide on my site which is to install Firefox and the add-on your 2/3rds of the way there.
2. Start Firefox and go to the ITV player website, click on the programme you want to watch, don't press on the programme again or it will try to play the iton the ITV website which we don't want.
3. Now move your mouse down to the TV screen in the right hand bottom corner of Firefox and right click on it, you should now see the programme that you have just chosen and now left click on the programme.
4. Your media player should start automatically, allow it to buffer for a few seconds then the programme should start. If your media player does not start then start it manually then then repeat step 3, you should be good now.

Another option if people are still having trouble is to download the file to your computer instead of letting Windows Media Player open it. Once the file is on your computer double click on it and it will start this way too.

Re: ITV for Free.....
 

Looks like I am going to have to re-write the set up guide, Doh!!!

Tip: After you have installed Firefox please close Internet Explorer and start Firefox, now visit my site again auspedia.com/freetv and proceed to step 2....It should not say save file it will only say Install Now?....Hope this helps....

Re: ITV for Free.....
 

Sorry I'm really testing your patience here!! :rofl: I've done that and it has installed but I can't see a TV screen and dare I ask where the Firefox browser is? :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: Please don't put your head through your computer screen in frustration!! Just be glad your not married to me!! :rofl::rofl:

Re: ITV for Free.....
 

Found the TV screen!!! So now I know what the browser is!! Duh! When I go onto the ITV Player it says Download Flashplayer now, which I did but it still says the same!! I have got Windows Media Player. And I've restarted the computer and gone through it all again and it still says Download Flashplayer now!

Its so frustrating or I'm so thick!! One or the other!! :rofl:

Re: ITV for Free.....
 

Thanks for that, i'm sure i'm not far away from making it work, but when i clicked on it, i saw an advert for scotland and then a message saying i could only view video's if i was in the UK

did i do something wrong?

Jazzys

Re: ITV for Free.....
 

Thank you !:thumbup:

Re: ITV for Free.....
 

aussiedreamz thanks for the info to get ITV for free.It works! :thumbsup:

Re: ITV for Free.....
 

Don't worry I am not getting frustrated I'm here to help, I don't know why you are being asked to install flashplayer as you probably have this installed on your computer already? Ignore this message and follow my help guide below.

So you have Firefox and installed the add-on and you can see the small TV screen in the corner, so far so good, this is what you need to do next.

Start Firefox if you haven't already and go to the ITV player website, now click on a programme to watch, for example just click on the Corrie tab under soaps you are then taken to the next webpage which says programmes don't click on anything else as this is as far as you need to go.

Now move your mouse down to the little TV symbol in the corner of Firefox and right click on it, you should now see a list of programmes for Corrie, you can now scroll up to an episode to watch and left mouse click on that episode, it should now start the programme....

Any problems then your welcome to get back to me.....

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I believe you are clicking on the programme you want to watch too many times, if you do this it will load the programme on the ITV website page which is what we don't want, follow the instructions that I have left for other members above....

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How is downloading a torrent anymore 'illegal' (wouldn't be my choice of words) than using a bit of software which bypasses checks that the TV company makes to ensure that you're in the UK?

Another benefit to downloading torrents is that they'll often take up much less of somebody's download quota than a streamed episode of something.

Cheers

Steve

Re: ITV for Free.....
 

Those ITV streams look really low res to me, wonder what 30 mins worth is... 30 mins of torrents are usually at least 200 Mb's more like 300 Mb's.... Has anyone measured them or know the answer ? I've got Net Limiter here, so that should be able to tell me, if no one has the answer. I've just had a quick google, and it should be somewhere between 90 Mb's and 150 Mb's per half hour TV show.

I'm curious as to how people build these firefox add ons. If someone can build an ITV one then surely it's possible to build a BBC or Sky one as well.

I wouldnt be suprised if there is a BBC firefox addon out there already.

BTW.... Thanks to Aussiedreamz for putting me on to this... Got to admit I stuffed up the installation at first because I thought I knew better lol !

Re: ITV for Free.....
 

I just tried watching the martin clunes islands of britain program and for some reason it only seems to last 15 minutes then the time line on WMP comes to the end and it starts again.

Is that the two halves of the program with the adverts cut out?

Jazzys