Free Streaming Services

[Flopper]

There are a number free streaming services such Tubi, Freevee, Pluto, etc. If you don't mind advertisements or have a means of recording and bypassing commercials, they are a bargain. But is there any ad free service, with no fees, and with large video database? The answer is yes. It is completely free, no ads and no fees plus, it sports a database of 30,000 to 35,000 videos. The name of the service is Kanopy.

To become a member of Kanopy, you need either a library card from a participating local library or to be a student or faculty member at a college or university that is a Kanopy member.

I personally have library cards from three local and regional libraries, and all three are members of Kanopy, so I would expect that most city, county, and regional libraries participate as well.

How it works:

Access
Kanopy is available through apps for iOS and Android, as well as on streaming devices such as Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Android TV/Google TV. Apps are also available on some smart TVs, including Samsung models. You can also access Kanopy through most web browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge.

Signing up
Signing up is simple. You just enter your library card number or your student/faculty ID, create a password, and you’re ready to start streaming.

Content
In addition to commercial films, Kanopy offers TV series, documentaries, and children’s programming. There are also a selection of foreign films available.

I have used the service for a couple of weeks so if anyone is interested, I have more information.

 

[knuckles]

I'm cutting my cable tomorrow......internet only. Have GoogleTV and bought a dongle.

 

[playtime]

i love my ROKU. a one time purchase & there are tons of free channels & also an ala cart for paid subscriptions.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

There are a number free streaming services such Tubi, Freevee, Pluto, etc. If you don't mind advertisements or have a means of recording and bypassing commercials, they are a bargain. But is there any ad free service, with no fees, and with large video database? The answer is yes. It is completely free, no ads and no fees plus, it sports a database of 30,000 to 35,000 videos. The name of the service is Kanopy.

To become a member of Kanopy, you need either a library card from a participating local library or to be a student or faculty member at a college or university that is a Kanopy member.

I personally have library cards from three local and regional libraries, and all three are members of Kanopy, so I would expect that most city, county, and regional libraries participate as well.

How it works:

Access
Kanopy is available through apps for iOS and Android, as well as on streaming devices such as Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Android TV/Google TV. Apps are also available on some smart TVs, including Samsung models. You can also access Kanopy through most web browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge.

Signing up
Signing up is simple. You just enter your library card number or your student/faculty ID, create a password, and you’re ready to start streaming.

Content
In addition to commercial films, Kanopy offers TV series, documentaries, and children’s programming. There are also a selection of foreign films available.

I have used the service for a couple of weeks so if anyone is interested, I have more information.

Yeah - no.
What you didn't mention: KANOPY
1) Many libraries set limits on how many vids you can watch, you are allocated a certain number. When you reach it - the service ends for the rest of the month. Now - that is perfectly okay, but you are spinning it as if it is a replacement for regular streaming. It is not.
2) They push liberal social narratives. No one can argue that, that is a core part of the videos they provide - and they say so themselves.
3) Kanopy is a vehicle for uber liberal colleges and institutions to try and change society to become more liberal. Again - that is not arguable.

Hard pass

 

[Flopper]

I'm cutting my cable tomorrow......internet only. Have GoogleTV and bought a dongle.

I had cable for many years before cutting the cord and subscribing to a number of streaming service. After a couple of years my wife wanted to go back to cable so we did. One of the features in cable I really liked is the search. It search all sources, TV channels, apps such as Netflix and ON Demand movies, everything you subscribe to. I found it was a huge time saver vs searching individual streaming services.

Prime will also search all streaming services you subscribe to thru Prime.

 

[Flopper]

i love my ROKU. a one time purchase & there are tons of free channels & also an ala cart for paid subscriptions.

Are there any free channels that are commercial free?

 

[Dekster]

Are there any free channels that are commercial free?

It may depend on whether you watch it through a ROKU tV or via the web. I just finished watching the first two season of Our farm Next Door series through ROKU online and I didn't encounter any commercials in any of the episodes. Not sure if that is because of adblocking in my browser or because of Roku though.

 

[Flopper]

Yeah - no.
What you didn't mention: KANOPY
1) Many libraries set limits on how many vids you can watch, you are allocated a certain number. When you reach it - the service ends for the rest of the month. Now - that is perfectly okay, but you are spinning it as if it is a replacement for regular streaming. It is not.
2) They push liberal social narratives. No one can argue that, that is a core part of the videos they provide - and they say so themselves.
3) Kanopy is a vehicle for uber liberal colleges and institutions to try and change society to become more liberal. Again - that is not arguable.

Hard pass

If you have a database of 35,000 videos, which includes many foreign videos, you are going have a lot of "liberal" videos because most commercial videos would be judged liberal by most American conservatives.

Most libraries that subscribe to KANOPY award the user 15 tickets a month. A two hour movie will require two tickets. So you get 7 commercial free movies a month. Many people like myself have multiple libraries cards or attend a college. I get 15 tickets from 2 libraries and 10 tickets from the other one for a total 40 points a month (20 movies a month with no commercials and no fees.

There are certainly drawback. While the apps seem to work very well, the browser version is difficult to use. The service does not have many modern blockbusters or major award winters. Most of the movies have rotten tomatoes ratings of 50 to 70, not bad but not great. However there are certainly some real jewels to be found. I ran across the movie Best Years of Our Lives, winner of 9 academy awards and Cold Mountain nominated 7 academy awards and winner of 2.

 

[playtime]

Are there any free channels that are commercial free?

lol ... in this capitalistic nation?

shirley you jest.

 

[Lockback]

There are a number free streaming services such Tubi, Freevee, Pluto, etc. If you don't mind advertisements or have a means of recording and bypassing commercials, they are a bargain. But is there any ad free service, with no fees, and with large video database? The answer is yes. It is completely free, no ads and no fees plus, it sports a database of 30,000 to 35,000 videos. The name of the service is Kanopy.

To become a member of Kanopy, you need either a library card from a participating local library or to be a student or faculty member at a college or university that is a Kanopy member.

I personally have library cards from three local and regional libraries, and all three are members of Kanopy, so I would expect that most city, county, and regional libraries participate as well.

How it works:

Access
Kanopy is available through apps for iOS and Android, as well as on streaming devices such as Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Android TV/Google TV. Apps are also available on some smart TVs, including Samsung models. You can also access Kanopy through most web browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge.

Signing up
Signing up is simple. You just enter your library card number or your student/faculty ID, create a password, and you’re ready to start streaming.

Content
In addition to commercial films, Kanopy offers TV series, documentaries, and children’s programming. There are also a selection of foreign films available.

I have used the service for a couple of weeks so if anyone is interested, I have more information.

Very cool. I'll check it out when I get time.

 

[g5000]

Asking for ad-free content that isn't pirated porn and doesn't cost you any money is literally asking for communism, folks.

I cut the cable way back in 2010 and haven't regretted it for one second.

I have a YouTube ad blocker on my laptop which works flawlessly. I have not found a way to block ads on my TV. There was a time when I rarely watched YouTube, but I am watching videos on that platform more and more lately. There are some fantastic educational, science, and history channels there now. I am subscribed to a ridiculous number of channels.

It is possible to cast from my laptop to my TV, but it is very glitchy. If it worked better, I could cast YouTube videos, which the ad blocker works on, to my TV.

I have a Fire TV cube and Amazon Prime. Amazon is cramming more and more ads into their Prime content lately and it is pissing me off to the point where I am about to cancel Prime.

Prime now wants MOAR money to eliminate ads. If I'm already paying for Prime, which costs more and more each year, why the **** do I have to pay for no ads on top of that? It's bullshit.

Jeff Bezos has also gone full MAGA, so that's one more reason to throw Prime to the curb.

I watch Netflix almost exclusively now, and just can't justify paying for Prime any more.

There are occasional movies and shows on HBO Max I watch, and the Seattle Krakens' games, so I'll probably keep that.

Watching Peacock and Tubi and all those platforms is just like watching old timey commercial TV. Since I am of the age where that was the norm when I was growing up, it doesn't bother me at all.

Peacock, Tubi, et al. carry a lot of low-budget, low quality chaff, but once in a while there is some pretty good stuff there.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

Asking for ad-free content that isn't pirated porn and doesn't cost you any money is literally asking for communism, folks.

I cut the cable way back in 2010 and haven't regretted it for one second.

I have a YouTube ad blocker on my laptop which works flawlessly. I have not found a way to block ads on my TV. There was a time when I rarely watched YouTube, but I am watching videos on that platform more and more lately. There are some fantastic educational, science, and history channels there now. I am subscribed to a ridiculous number of channels.

It is possible to cast from my laptop to my TV, but it is very glitchy. If it worked better, I could cast YouTube videos, which the ad blocker works on, to my TV.

I have a Fire TV cube and Amazon Prime. Amazon is cramming more and more ads into their Prime content lately and it is pissing me off to the point where I am about to cancel Prime.

Prime now wants MOAR money to eliminate ads. If I'm already paying for Prime, which costs more and more each year, why the **** do I have to pay for no ads on top of that? It's bullshit.

Jeff Bezos has also gone full MAGA, so that's one more reason to throw Prime to the curb.

I watch Netflix almost exclusively now, and just can't justify paying for Prime any more.

There are occasional movies and shows on HBO Max I watch, and the Seattle Krakens' games, so I'll probably keep that.

Watching Peacock and Tubi and all those platforms is just like watching old timey commercial TV. Since I am of the age where that was the norm when I was growing up, it doesn't bother me at all.

Peacock, Tubi, et al. carry a lot of low-budget, low quality chaff, but once in a while there is some pretty good stuff there.

Bezos did the same thing to Amazon Music.
At one time Amazon Prime Music was awesome! It was a benefit of paying for Prime.
Then it wasn't. Slowly but surely more and more and more songs were only available if you paid more. Then that wasn't enough. Then they added commercials. Don't want commercials? No problem - pay another fee.
Amazon Prime TV is the worst, yet best example of runaway capitalism. **** the consumer. Let's annoy the hell out of them and to get us to stop annoying them - they must pay us more. Then change the rules - repeat.

 

[g5000]

Bezos did the same thing to Amazon Music.
At one time Amazon Prime Music was awesome! It was a benefit of paying for Prime.
Then it wasn't. Slowly but surely more and more and more songs were only available if you paid more. Then that wasn't enough. Then they added commercials. Don't want commercials? No problem - pay another fee.
Amazon Prime TV is the worst, yet best example of runaway capitalism. **** the consumer. Let's annoy the hell out of them and to get us to stop annoying them - they must pay us more. Then change the rules - repeat.

I just cancelled Amazon Music a few days ago.

 

[Flopper]

I just cancelled Amazon Music a few days ago.

All businesses are market driven. Amazon got started as a low cost provider outerings free delivery, significant price reductions, and ever expanding product offering. As their customer base and product lines grew they became more and more market driven. Today, pricing is controlled by computers monitoring and raising prices until volume falls. Amazon Music and Amazon Video works the same way.

On Amazon Prime Video, movie prices move up and down with demand. Christmas movies that are free in Sept will start increase in price and peak a week or so before Christmas.

The problem I have seen with Amazon Prime Video, is that more and more movies are rented or being sold. Series that cost nothing when you start watching them can suddenly become $1.95 per episode. Another problem is their selections tend to be more price driven than driven by view preference.

There are many good thing about Amazon Prime Video. They have become a consolidator in the streaming business. They offer subscriptions to about 20 streaming services and they make it very easy to add and cancel services. Also when you do a search on Prime it search all of your subscriptions. Lastly they have a huge selection of videos. Unfortunately, most of them are not free.

 

[Flopper]

Asking for ad-free content that isn't pirated porn and doesn't cost you any money is literally asking for communism, folks.

I cut the cable way back in 2010 and haven't regretted it for one second.

I have a YouTube ad blocker on my laptop which works flawlessly. I have not found a way to block ads on my TV. There was a time when I rarely watched YouTube, but I am watching videos on that platform more and more lately. There are some fantastic educational, science, and history channels there now. I am subscribed to a ridiculous number of channels.

It is possible to cast from my laptop to my TV, but it is very glitchy. If it worked better, I could cast YouTube videos, which the ad blocker works on, to my TV.

I have a Fire TV cube and Amazon Prime. Amazon is cramming more and more ads into their Prime content lately and it is pissing me off to the point where I am about to cancel Prime.

Prime now wants MOAR money to eliminate ads. If I'm already paying for Prime, which costs more and more each year, why the **** do I have to pay for no ads on top of that? It's bullshit.

Jeff Bezos has also gone full MAGA, so that's one more reason to throw Prime to the curb.

I watch Netflix almost exclusively now, and just can't justify paying for Prime any more.

There are occasional movies and shows on HBO Max I watch, and the Seattle Krakens' games, so I'll probably keep that.

Watching Peacock and Tubi and all those platforms is just like watching old timey commercial TV. Since I am of the age where that was the norm when I was growing up, it doesn't bother me at all.

Peacock, Tubi, et al. carry a lot of low-budget, low quality chaff, but once in a while there is some pretty good stuff there.

Free, ad‑free content isn’t communism. It’s the internet working as intended. Libraries, public radio, open‑source software, Wikipedia, and countless creators offer their work free without overthrowing capitalism. Wanting some things to be accessible without a price tag isn’t socialism or communism, it’s just common sense

 

[Flopper]

Yeah - no.
What you didn't mention: KANOPY
1) Many libraries set limits on how many vids you can watch, you are allocated a certain number. When you reach it - the service ends for the rest of the month. Now - that is perfectly okay, but you are spinning it as if it is a replacement for regular streaming. It is not.
2) They push liberal social narratives. No one can argue that, that is a core part of the videos they provide - and they say so themselves.
3) Kanopy is a vehicle for uber liberal colleges and institutions to try and change society to become more liberal. Again - that is not arguable.

Hard pass

First off, Kanopy is not any more or less liberal than the run of the mill streaming services. In general the video entertainment industry is considered liberal by most conseratives. After using it for few weeks I discovered a number faults.

1. As you mentioned, points expire every month. I have library cards at 3 libraries. I get 10 points a month from two of them and 15 points from the other one. Most commercial movies cost 3 points. The problem I have with the point system is that series cost for more points than they should.

2. The App for Samsung smart TV does not work on my Samsung TV and apparently there are no plans to fix it. The developers simple did write for all the Samsung operating systems.

3. The search is complicated when running it on a browser such as Chrome, Edge, Firefox, etc and is hard to use.

4. Often movies are slow starting.

5. When in Full screen, you lose a lot of capitaines. About the only things I found you can do in full screen is run, stop, pause, and go 30 secs back or forward.

I didn't mean to imply that Kanopy was as good as the expense streaming services. No free service is going offer as much as get when you pay $15 or $20 month. The Pros of Kanopy are:
Free
30,000 to 35,000 videos, more than most pay services.
About a quarter of the movies are foreign and about another quarter are for kids.

You won't find many highly rated movies made in the last 10 years. The quality and quantity improves a lot in movies over 20 years old. If I'm looking for an older movie for free and the major streaming services don't have it, I often find it on Kanopy.

To my knowledge, it is the only no cost ad free streaming service with an exceptionally large number titles.

 

[g5000]

Free, ad‑free content isn’t communism. It’s the internet working as intended. Libraries, public radio, open‑source software, Wikipedia, and countless creators offer their work free without overthrowing capitalism. Wanting some things to be accessible without a price tag isn’t socialism or communism, it’s just common sense

Libraries are not free. They are paid for with your taxes, as is public radio.