Free Satellite TV on PC?
"I saw a website advertising software that's supposed to give you free satelite TV on your PC. The program costs $40, but they claim it lets you watch hundreds of live worldwide channels free of charge. Sounds too good to be true... is this a scam?"
Can I Really Get Free Satellite TV on my PC?
Everything I've read about this type of thing tells me it's a scam, or at least a waste of money. The software you get for your forty bucks is nothing more than a menu of free online television broadcasts. Most of the stations listed are foreign, and the list contains many entries that are obsolete or do not work.
If you're considering buying a software package named "PC Satellite TV", "Satellite TV Elite", "Satellite TV on PC", "Satellite TV for PC 2008 Elite Edition", "TV on PC Elite", "Digital TV 4 PC" or anything similar... they are ALL THE SAME type of scamware. You will pay $40 and in return you'll get a crappy software program that does NOT deliver what it promises. You WILL NOT get any premium or pay-per-view channels for free. The only thing these packages offer is links to online video sites that you could find for free with a quick search on Google or Yahoo.
Sorry, but there's no way to turn your PC into a satellite dish and get free HBO or MTV. But there is some good news... You CAN use your internet-connected computer to tune into a huge number of free television broadcasts. You can watch SOME programs from the BBC News, Comedy Central, Discovery Channel, ESPN, and other broadcasts from around the world.
I suggest that you first go to the official website of the TV station or broadcast that you'd like to watch and look for a link to view live or recent broadcasts. Here are some links to popular TV network websites:If you don't see what you want there, try one of these sites that aggregate content from various video and TV sites across the Internet:
Exposing the "free satellite tv on pc" scam has not made me popular with some people. Many times I've received emails from people saying that I'm a liar, that I must be "really old fashioned" or "a Direct TV executive." Others post comments here with a glowing review of some Satellite TV software and a link to buy. But EVERY TIME, it's the exact same scamware, being sold through an affiliate link. My advice here is only meant to protect people who might otherwise be tempted to waste their money and fall for this scam.
As I said before, these programs will NOT give you access to anything that's not already freely available on the Web. What this software provides (when it actually works) is little more than a searchable list of websites that offer streaming video. You can find the same information yourself with a search engine query. It's ONLY dishonest people, who stand to profit from ignorance, that continue to push this scam. Don't fall for it.
Oh, and one last point... every few months someone posts a comment and asks "Why do you sometimes have ads on this page for the same type of products that you warn against?" That's a fair question, and I've answered it several times in the comments. But since those replies can get buried after a while, I'm going to address the issue here. The Google ads are not under my control, and are automatically selected for relevance to the content of the page. And in an ironic way, even those questionable ads are. My hope is that people will actually *READ* the article and understand why they should NOT believe the hype. Click if you want, just be forewarned.
Got comments or questions about free online TV? Post your thoughts below...
|
|
Need more tech support?
|
Posted by Bob Rankin on December 29, 2006 10:23 PM
| Need More Help? Try the AskBobRankin Updates Newsletter. It's Free! |
 |
Prev Article: Registry Problem |
|
Next Article: Changing Disk Partitions |
 |
|
Link to this article from your site or blog. Just copy and paste from this box: Related Keywords: Video online tv satellite television |
There's more reader feedback... See all 310 comments for this article.
Post your Comments, Questions or Suggestions
|
Ask Bob Rankin Home Page
Subscribe to AskBobRankin Updates: Free Newsletter |
|
| Copyright © 2005 - Bob Rankin - All Rights Reserved | ||
Article information: AskBobRankin -- Free Satellite TV on PC? (Posted: December 29, 2006 10:23 PM)
Source: http://askbobrankin.com/free_satellite_tv_on_pc.html
Copyright © 2005 - Bob Rankin - All Rights Reserved
Most recent comments on "Free Satellite TV on PC?"
(See all 310 comments for this article.)Posted by:
brad
15 Feb 2010
Thanx bob u have confirmed what suspected
the only one worth a dam is tvu & it`s free
but then u get what u pay for ha ha
Posted by:
David
22 Feb 2010
I bought the program Satellight Direct. It is a scam and they will not refund my money.
Posted by:
Pinky
23 Feb 2010
I admit, i was tempted ! Satellite Direct were advertising a game i was desperate to see, and i couldn't find it anywhere on the web. After a google search of the company, before parting with my hard earned cash, i came across this place !
So many thanks to Bob Rankin and his team for the info ...keep it going folks :)
Posted by:
mark
25 Feb 2010
Thanks Bob,for your in put on the satellite to pc scam. I was about to throw away 40 bucks lol ,but i have found live stream to fox news and that really helped out being im a news junky,so i dropped my dish and now putting that money under my mattress again ty....
Posted by:
Jacqui
01 Mar 2010
I'm so glad i found this. I googled it with "scam" added at the end and all I got were glowing reports on the product, all written in the same clipped English ... obviously the same people posting all over the place to cloud possible buyers vision of what this really is.
My curiosity was aroused when their ads failed to provide clear details of the channels offered with this service, so I searched to find out more info. Thank you for posting this :)
Posted by:
N2KMaster
06 Mar 2010
If you're looking for something free this is what i know
TVU Player
TVants
Theres a few others with that to
Posted by:
Laura
07 Mar 2010
Thanks so much! You just saved us $$ and we are grateful!
Posted by:
Pascal
11 Mar 2010
I once tried such a program. Just out of curiousity. I bought it using a Paypal account. Result:
I was billed for 40 dollars. I got a program that is actually freeware. All the channels were also available using internet explorer. In the end I complained at Paypal and demanded a refund because I was misled. Paypal gave me back my money, but they also wouldn't take measurements against the person that is doing this scam.
Lesson: always use a service to pay a bill that gives some kind of payback protection.
Good to see that someone brings this to attention.
Posted by:
d
15 Mar 2010
thank you bob yoo u kind
Posted by:
Gideon
16 Mar 2010
Thanks a lot for exposing this SCAM. I googled and found this , which is what I suspected but thought I'd better check. Misleading is too nice a term for these company's advertisements, hopefully people get to see what you have to say before they get fooled.