As I am changing homes soon, I realized I am going to have full access cable again, and it occurred to me that I have been without live TV for over a year now. I streamed most all the shows I wanted to catch or I got the DVDs in some cases. So I got to thinking, how do most of us AllSparkers get our TV fix, be it Scrubs, Mythbusters, Transformers, Top Chef, CSI, whatever. What is your primary method to see first run TV? Not necessarily your preferred one mind you.

As a tangent from this, I really hope networks are giving more attention to their streaming sites to get numbers for show ratings, since I know a lot of people like me have to go via that method these days.

I went with Other because I'm in Canada and watching Hulu through a proxy is a pain in the be-hind. So its mostly torrents and the like, as well as some websites I probably can't name.

I try to watch stuff on TV, if at all possible. Unfortunately, most networks don't show first-run shows in reruns anymore (so if I'm not in front of my TV at, say, 10:00 Monday night, I am not going to see Castle on TV until a few years from now when it turns up as 4am filler on Mystery or something).

We don't have TIVO in Canada; instead, we'd need a DVR box, which is a $300 piece of hardware that apparently has to be installed by a professional.

Streaming from network websites is impossible for me since I'm in The Wrong Country; stuff is either not available here at all or. it. st.re.am.s s.o s.lo.wl.y a.nd. un.ev.en.ly. th.at. I c.an't. wa.tch. it.

For live-action stuff I try to find a torrent so I can spend hours downloading something to watch on my too-small screen and not-entirely comfortable computer chair.

Also, YTV has apparently decided it hates anime now, so I've turned to ANN and Crunchyroll for stuff that's not available here (watching in tiny little windows, because if I go fullscreen it starts lagging), and a couple of pirate sites to get Bleach and Naruto dubs (which do technically air on YTV, but so late at night that no one can watch them, and so ridden with reruns that it'll be 2043 before we get to where The US is now).

DVR
Hulu
Torrents
DVD

That's how I TV.

It's rare that I actually watch something when it airs.

"other".

Hulu, augmented by rental DVD, augmented in the case of Transformers by torrents (replaced by legal DVDs when they are released.) The living room TV is a media center, so I don't have to deal with a tiny screen, but the network connection is such that I do have some skipping and buffering to deal with. It's not a huge problem with Hulu, which I can almost stream properly, but it makes the Daily Show website somewhat infuriating.

There are a couple of shows I'm annoyed to wait for DVDs for, but cable is prohibitively expensive here and would be useless to me without DVR. I watch when I feel like it, and more importantly when I can actually make time for it, so live television is just not practical to me.

Mostly DVR, then online (although I agree that networks need to be better about streaming their shows...if they don't, someone else is, and I'll watch it where I can see it, not necessarily waiting for the people who own it or can get ad revenue from it), then DVD, then live.

Live TV is for if I'm bored or want something on in the background.

DVR is the reason I'm never really caught up on playing the Wii games I've bought, and watching my DVDs.

Because of my restaurant work schedule where I work a lot of evenings, I'd miss most of my shows otherwise, and I'm totally spoiled on fast forwarding through commercials now.

Cable and on ocassions, You Tube.

I use my DVR most of the time. I have watched a few shows live, but most of the time, I am too busy to watch them as they air.

This is one of the things most annoying me right now. I feel that I never make time for videogames. Between TV, movies, books (oddly enough I've decided to cram those back into my free time!), a couple of creative things, and then just personal chores and other responsibilities, that's pretty much it. I want more Wii time, dangit!

I have a dvr, but seldom use it since I usually just torrent the shows I'd dvr anyway, as it's more convenient with our entertainment center setup.(dvr is in a different room from the entertainment center, so I stream from the PC to the 360 to watch our shows).

The only shows I watch are the ones that have late night reruns. Mainly Countdown and Rachel Maddow.

The few shows I can't watch, due to college or work, I download via torrent. I've done this for cartoons that interest me.

The only show I really went out of my way to watch was The Shield. I would get out of work early to get home in time to catch new episodes when they were on.

If it's a show I like a lot, I try to catch it live. My TV stays on most of the time I'm home. I end up having to tape or Hulu shows fairly often, though.

For things that show on local channels I pretty much always get alternatively. This is part due to local channels broadcasting the image wider than my TV can correctly show. It's kind of old but replacement would be difficult. There's also a matter of the broadcast quality being kind of crappy in some instances. Plus, a Homebrewed Wii being able to stream most video files right off my hard drive to the TV? And doing that way I can make sure the picture fits right, hey, I don't care to wait an extra day since it's a total improvement on my viewing experience.

I've got a DVR too, but I mostly use it for pausing/running back live TV if I have to leave the room in the middle of something I care that much about.

But I do watch some things first-run on TV, usually when I don't actually care enough about them do go to further lengths to watch them.

TiVo, almost exclusively. I my TiVo; alas, it is old, and I think the hard drive may be developing problems. (Either that, or the cable input is a little flakey, which also seems possible.) Currently thinking about upgrading to an HD TiVo for extra shininess and etc.

I watch a few things from the Internet, but it's nothing I could watch over the boob tube, anyway.

Combination of hulu, unofficial streaming, and torrents.

I TiVo everything that I want to watch, but if I am home I watch it live. I'm a shiftworker, though, so I am often either at work or in bed when my shows are on.

TV if I feel like seeing what's on, usually internet streaming or the rare download if I know what I want to watch at the time.

Typically I go online and get it through hulu, amazon or netflix. I work first and second shift, so I can never catch anything through the week. Every couple of years I might get a show over a torrent.

I ususally try to catch it live but if I can't, I hit Hulu.

Usually DVD, though we've downloaded stuff we're really into (like Battlestar Galactica and Dr Who) as we usually end up buying the box sets when they come out anyway.

I don't watch a lot of TV casually, and the stuff I buy is usually stuff I want to keep and re-watch.

Generally on TV, but I'll watch BBC stuff (which is pretty much all I watch on TV these days) on iPlayer if I miss something.

A combination, like most, making this poll impossible to answer by... most...

I don't understand this. Does your cable provider up there not support DVRs? It's nothing more than a cable box with a hard drive inside. You plug the coax into the wall and into the back of the box and it's done. It costs us an extra 7 bucks a month to rent it with our cable service down here (with the digital cable package).

DVR has been a life-saver honestly. I HATE to watch shows live anymore. I'll watch something else or go play on the internet to let a show record for a half hour or so before I start watching it just so I can fast forward the commercials.

My only complaint about our cable DVR is it can only record two shows at once so there are a couple of days that we miss something, but not that often. V is the most recent example b/c my wife has her two shows taping. In these instances, that's where Hulu comes in handy.

I often work late, and I'm almost never home when my fave shows are on.

I'm all about the official streaming. It's free and legal, and although I can't get exactly every show I'd like to watch, I can get more shows than I actually have time to watch. Further, my laptop has an S-video out that I can jack right into my TV.

Torrents and Hulu.

I haven't had cable in over a year and my computer is connected to my TV -- I pretty much watch Hulu exclusively, but every once and a while I'll catch something live with my HD antenna.

Mostly TV and DVDs... Except for certain shows that have it's season spread out across three fricken networks *non of them showing any other season besides the one they have*, and no torrents of the show, and no DVDs.


You know where I have to get it? Fricken mIRC... And I have to make sure to download it every weak or it might be replaced.... I mean WHAT THE HELL?!

I watch stuff as it airs. A lot of times when I watch TV it's in the background while I'm doing something else. I also find it hard to figure out what to watch. If what was available for me to watch wasn't determined by a schedule I wouldn't know what to watch on Hulu, etc. lol

The only show I ever got concerned enough about to track down was The Shield. After I moved and didn't get it, I watched the last 5 seasons as they came out on DVD. I'd buy the set the day they came out and watch all the eps one after the next over a weekend. It made for a looooooong weekend but damn that was fun to look forward to once a year. Plus I actually prefer to watch a fast paced show like that all at once.

I don't even have TV aynmore, just a bluray player, dvd player and VCR