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IPTV is in a great momentum. In Spain we saw the rise of a lot of platforms: Yomvi, MovistarTV, OrangeTV, Nubeox… mainly paid platforms, but I am only interested in channels in English and Filmon is a great (and legal) option to watch some of them for free.
Filmon offers more than 600 live channels. There are lots of crap, but others are quite interesting:
Filmon is free for SD resolution, if you want to watch it in HD and access to program recording you must pay a 15€/month fee.
You can can watch Filmon directly from their web page http://filmon.tv. or from their Android and iOS apps.
There is also an unofficial Kodi plugin (previously called XBMC) at SuperRepo .
FilmOn have been one of the trailblazers in Internet streaming television, not only being amongst the first pioneers in the industry but also offering some of the Internet’s best selection of live UK television channels available. Couple all this with a PVR to record content plus great iOS video quality and this could very well be a winning formula.
Sometimes quality is more important than quantity and for any live streaming television service to work for the UK, it must include at the very least, the core FTA networks. In this case, FilmOn offer not only the main BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and 5 channels, but no less than 25 that would be found within the UK on either FreeSat or FreeView, as well as various additional +1 channels.
This doesn’t mean to say FilmOn only offer 25 channels all up. In fact they advertise over 500 and a good deal of these are geo-restricted to particular regions. What is left could at least number over 200 channels and comprise a lot of categories with almost everything covered between sport and mind, body and spirit. In all honesty however, these appear more in tune with the “higher number ” channels on a cable or satellite subscription – in other words, the less ventured.
Despite that, hiding amongst all of them, are 25 official UK channels, which although not a lot, include the main FTA services that account for the bulk of daily viewing ratings. BBC One, Two, Three and Four, CBBC, CBeebies, ITV1, ITV2, ITV3, ITV4, Channel 4, E4, More 4, Film4, Channel 5, 5USA, Dave, Really, Yesterday, CBS Reality, CBS Drama, Pick TV, BBC News, and to almost everyone’s surprise including our friends in Belfast, BBC One Northern Ireland region. (BBC Parliament is being mentioned purely for technical reasons as no human has actually been seen watching it)
FilmOn comes in two main flavours, free or subscription. For the purpose of this article, the subscription package we reviewed was the European TV Package at €9,95 when ordered via a computer, or €13,95 from the iOS app (as of March 2014). There are quite a few small differences between this package and the free service, though a couple of the more notable ones are:
– The subscription service offers significantly higher quality streams when viewing it on a computer.
– The free service has additional advertising from FilmOn during channel switching.
– The subscription service offers 10 hours free recording space, with more space available at additional fees.
Video quality is an interesting point with FilmOn. Regarding the free service, the quality offered is an extremely low 500kbps on web browsers and Android or a far more acceptable quality reaching 1100kbps through iOS. Although there are plans to increase the HD streams to a very impressive 3000kbps, currently the subscription service offers a maximum 1200kbps stream which is a tad confusing when comparing to the free iOS version.
An interesting feature from FilmOn which differs to the official services however, is that it offers 10hours for recording on the basic subscription package via its cloud servers. This isn’t a lot, but conveniently, additional hours can be purchased at any time. Managing these recordings is done from a 2-day EPG although there is no visible series link option so you must set each recording manually.
FilmOn’s main web page is a somewhat cluttered affair. Channels are listed to the left, with a YouTube sized window to the right and details of the currently playing programme are displayed directly underneath. You will also find under the video window a record button which allows you to begin recording the current live programme. Like YouTube, you also have the ability to watch in full screen mode.
Note: There appears to be some issues with the latest version of Internet Explorer 8 that are causing problems with FilmOn. If you experience this, try accessing via an alternative browser.
Although adverts on the free version are more than an acceptable compromise, unfortunately there is the same level of advertisements littering the screen behind the paywall. Thankfully these don’t interfere with video playback in either case and are not visible during full screen viewing.
One notable difference behind the paywall is the lack of ads between switching channels through the subscription package. This speeds up channel hoping significantly and between many channels on the HD setting, there was only a short delay during the actual change, making it pleasant enough to channel surf.
Web Video quality though ranges from poor to acceptable, depending on your package. With a bitrate of only 400kbps available on the free service, watching television in full-screen is a painful experience. In fact, this is the lowest quality stream available for any of FilmOn’s main competitors, free or otherwise for the UK market.
Things do improve as soon as you choose one of their subscription packages. However, it should also be noted, that FilmOn’s interpretation for HD found on each channel does not necessarily mean the general standard of 720p or 1080p. Although far improved over the free service, the video quality for UK channels still appears short of SD quality and although fine for general viewing, on the whole fast action sequences such as that seen in sport would prove challenging.
A 2-day EPG for each channel is handily accessible as is the favourite (star) symbol, which can group together your favourite channels – a nifty, but important feature considering how many channels there are available in the lineup. It does require you to log in to make use of this feature.
At the top of the window is a tab offering access to the current list of recordings and it is here that you can manage these or simply play them back. By recordings, I don’t mean that they are recorded on your computer but instead on FilmOn’s own servers. This means that you still need an Internet connection to access them and they are not available for offline viewing such as when traveling, but it also means you can have access to them on any browser based internet device.
Additionally, even though the paid subscription would remove commercials that play between switching channels, those same ads will disappointingly still play behind the paywall. Another disgruntlement is the inability to resume from the last played spot. This should have been included as it is not a terribly difficult feature to implement.
(Accessing FilmOn’s UK Channels from outside of Europe may require a VPN or good Smart DNS service)
This service is geographically unblocked on this platform by the following Smart DNS providers:
FilmOn.com, the firm founded by controversial billionaire Alki David, has today added hundreds of new channels to its video streaming platform as it looks to further disrupt traditional TV.
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In addition to the free channels, FilmOn has also agreed content deals with the likes of Fox to offer various pay-per-view channels and video on-demand titles.
FilmOn.com was founded in 2006 by Alki David, the heir to the Coca-Cola Hellenic shipping and bottling company, who has a net worth of $1.7 billion.
In addition to launching various businesses and enterprises, he also dabbles with acting, and has appeared in movie The Bank Job with Jason Statham and TV shows Trial & Retribution and Waking the Dead .
David is known for his rather outrageous stunts, including offering $1m in 2010 to anyone who streaked in front of President Barack Obama, and putting up a $10m purse for a boxing match between musicians Chris Brown and Drake. He counts Ice T and Charlie Sheen among his friends.
Speaking today at a FilmOn launch event in London, David said: "Whether you're interested in news and sport or movies and entertainment, FilmOn has something for everyone."
"We carry a total of 200 live TV channels, plus 500 video & audio podcasts from premium brands, including 45,000 new show titles that have been cleared for worldwide distribution.
"We even have Premier League highlights of classic games via FilmOn Football - all free and straight to your desktop, mobile or tablet."
Если вы любите смотреть телевидение, то FilmOn Live TV вам понравится. В любом месте, где доступен интернет, вы можете смотреть телевидение, используя это приложение. Для того, чтобы просматривать ТВ через FilmOn Live TV Вам необходимо только само приложение, а также смартфон или планшет на базе Android.
FilmOn Live TV предоставляет возможность просматривать множество различных каналов со всех точек земного шара. Выбирать каналы также можно по категориям. К примеру, есть категория детских каналов, спортивных, новостных каналов. Всего в приложении вы найдете огромное множество различных передач, которые будут вам по душе. В приложении нет рекламы, вас не будут раздражать всплывающие окна. Также, FilmOn Live TV не содержит вредоносного ПО и других компонентов, которые могут нанести вред вашему устройству. Каналы транслируются в реальном времени, без задержек звука или видео. Также присутствует родительский контроль. Благодаря такому инструменту вы можете закрыть доступ к определенным каналам и категориям, что бывает очень полезно. Разрешение экрана для видео приложение подбирает автоматически. В настройках вы можете более тонко настроить утилиту, если это необходимо.
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FilmOn Website Status History
The above graph displays service status activity for Filmon.com over the last 10 automatic checks. The blue bar displays the response time, which is better when smaller. If no bar is displayed for a specific time it means that the service was down and the site was offline.
Force a full refresh for the site. This can be achieved by pressing CTRL + F5 keys at the same time on your favourite browser (Firefox, Chrome, Explorer, etc.)
Try alternative urls such as filmon.tv
Clear the temporary cache and cookies on your browser to make sure that you have the most recent version of the web page. For instructions choose your browser.
Fix DNS Problems
A Domain Name System (DNS) allows a site IP address (192.168.x.x) to be identified with words (*.com) in order to be remembered more easily, like a phonebook for websites. This service is usually provided by your ISP.
Clear your local DNS cache to make sure that you grab the most recent cache that your ISP has. For Windows - (Start > Command Prompt > type "ipconfig /flushdns" and hit enter). For details choose your operating system.
If you can access a website at office or from a 3G network yet it's not working on your computer, it is a good idea to use an alternative DNS service other than your ISPs. OpenDNS or Google Public DNS are both excellent and free public DNS services.
