What Is The Cheapest Legal Way To Watch Cnn/Bbc In Thailand

[opalhort]

Right now we have UBC (True Vision) Gold via analogue cable at a cost of about 17K for 13 months. We started with them when they were still called IBC, 15 or so years ago when they were still using the Microwave signal. We are located in BKK.

My wife and son usually only watch the normal Thai fare offered by True and I spend most of the time on CNN or sometimes BBC.

HBO, Cinemax, Sports etc. is NEVER watched at our home.

The requirements of my wife and son can easily be filled with some offers from TRUE or other providers at a very low cost.

BUT how can I get CNN or BBC legally without having to pay the outragious price True is charging for channels nobody watches anyway???

I don't mind investing in a Sat.dish if we can save money in the long run.

opalhort

Edited June 29, 2010 by opalhort

[garyh]

Try here Jsat

[filingaccount]

Online streaming?

As far as I know it is not illegal to tune in and watch.

Literally tens of thousands of choices.

[mahtin]

Try here Jsat

Sorry, what antenna is necessary?

I have tiny south-facing balcony only.

[opalhort]

Online streaming?

As far as I know it is not illegal to tune in and watch.

Literally tens of thousands of choices.

Thanks for the links you've sent me via PM.

I have found many stable and reliable CNN links but all are only for CNN USA. No links listed for CNN international is working.

opalhort

[jfchandler]

Several BBC TV channels and CSPAN as well are available online for free via http://www.livestation.com/. CSPAN networks also are available online directly from the CSPAN website.

I don't know of any online source where the full live version of U.S. CNN TV is available online.

They do offer selected live broadcast content at this website: http://us.cnn.com/video/flashLive/live.html?stream=stream1

CNN also had offered the full, live audio feed of their U.S. TV network online via a link for CNN Radio. But when I checked tonight, that link seems to be no longer working.

[sokal]

Your better off to watch Fox News. Fair and Balanced.

[AyG]

If by BBC you mean BBC World News, you can watch it at http://www.livestation.com/channels/10-bbc_world_news_english#

[Berkshire]

Your better off to watch Fox News. Fair and Balanced.

ROFLMAO! I'm sure you're being sarcastic. I'd like to have Fox News for the entertainment value, but don't currently have it on True. But fair and balanced?

[garyh]

Your better off to watch Fox News. Fair and Balanced.

ROFLMAO! I'm sure you're being sarcastic. I'd like to have Fox News for the entertainment value, but don't currently have it on True. But fair and balanced?

He is a GB fan so what would you expect.

[mogoso]

Your better off to watch Fox News. Fair and Balanced.

ROFLMAO! I'm sure you're being sarcastic. I'd like to have Fox News for the entertainment value, but don't currently have it on True. But fair and balanced?

He is a GB fan so what would you expect.

I rather watch Fox than the other news outlets (and I use the term loosely in their case) as they present only one sides viewpoint. You gotta know the difference between a news broadcast and an opinion show. Fox has both, CNN MSNBC CBS NBC ABC all stooges presenting no dissenting viewpoints, doesn't qualify as a free press. And without a free press freedom will disappear

[grantbkk]

The only reason to watch CNN or BBC is for emergencies like a nuclear war or something. Cuts at both channels have resulted in repeats about the plight of people all over Africa and the Middle East. The few hundred poor folks that are still watching from all over the world I think do so out of habit. At least Fox News has a little entertainment value but I have to watch it online because the continuing criminal enterprise monopoly called True Visions won't offer it unless you buy the hugely popular IPTV system. What a joke!

[opalhort]

Thanks for all the replies, but please do not let us go into a discussion about which station is better.

As for me I'm certainly not interested in FOX and also CNN USA is not really for me.

I am quite satisfied with CNN International as a primary news source and BBC World news as a secondary source.

They are not perfect but suit my needs.

I know some cable (satellite) providers carry them but the signal is probably hijacked and could be cut at any time, so this is not a long term solution.

For ecconomic reasons we have to cut down on expenses and my wife is rightly pushing me to get rid of the 17K we pay for UBC since we don't need most of their offerings.

I won't mind having to pay a small reasonable fee to view them if possible via cable or satellite or even the net (last option) if it is reliable.

The term "Legal Way" in the topic title could be equated with "reliable long term solution".

opalhort

[yabaaaa]

CNN and BBC world news re available all over Bangkok for.............100 baht a month.

My wife has it in her room and w e have a lot of other rooms that also have it. Its some sort of basic tv channels with cnn bbc australia news a few movie channels and all the thai channels. I dont know how w e get it but every condo building seems to have access to it. 100 baht max

[opalhort]

Thanks for the reply yabaaaa.

Any chance you can find out who the original provider is?

We do not live in a condo but in a stand-alone house so no centralized service available here.

Everything will have to be done DIY

opalhort

[garyh]

The link I gave will give you that legally for once off 10k plus setup.

[george]

I use RealPlayer with SuperPass and pay a small monthly fee for news channels.

[jfchandler]

That's interesting, George...

I'm familiar with the Real Network and generally their SuperPass...but nowhere do I see any reference online to CNN or BBC being among their content, or any live network news feeds for that matter.

The way I read about that service, it includes some streaming movies, 10 Mp3 downloads each month, a PC game and on demand TV shows.... and costs around $33 billed quarterly...

What's up with news content there???

I use RealPlayer with SuperPass and pay a small monthly fee for news channels.

[yabaaaa]

Thanks for the reply yabaaaa.

Any chance you can find out who the original provider is?

We do not live in a condo but in a stand-alone house so no centralized service available here.

Everything will have to be done DIY

opalhort

"Happy Home " Cable Tv she tells me but it may be some bulk order for condos if you know what I mean?

http://www.happyhomecable.tv/

Edited June 30, 2010 by yabaaaa

[nisakiman]

I access UK channels via VPNUK (google it) which is a proxy network provider. I pay £5.99 a month for a proxy UK ISP, but if you want a choice of international ISPs to use, I think it's about £7-8 a month. I think that would give you access to just about every terrestrial channel, but not sure about sattelite channels. You also need fast enough speeds to get seamless streaming, although having said that, I only have 2 MB connection, and it works fine.

[jfchandler]

Yabaaa, I looked at the Happy Home Cable web site last night, and their list of provided channels.

According to their online list, they do offer BBC World, but I saw no mention of CNN (either the U.S. or International versions) being offered thru them.

CNN and BBC world news re available all over Bangkok for.............100 baht a month.

My wife has it in her room and w e have a lot of other rooms that also have it. Its some sort of basic tv channels with cnn bbc australia news a few movie channels and all the thai channels. I dont know how w e get it but every condo building seems to have access to it. 100 baht max

[sarahsbloke]

BTV plus VLC media player if you have a good internet connection.

[jfchandler]

What is BTV???

BTV plus VLC media player if you have a good internet connection.

[bonobo]

I have my Direct TV in the US, then a slingbox to get it here.  But even though I have a supposed 2 mb connection, it is never good enough to get a decent quality pic.  And I want to watch on my television, not on my laptop.

I wrote to Jsat yesterday, but still no response.

I have been traveling to the Philippines a lot lately, and their television offerings are much better than True (at about half the cost.)

I don't mind paying, but here is what I want to be able to get:

All the US network channels,CNN, ESPN, Food TV, Discovery, Comedy Central, NatGeo, the History Channel, the Asian Food Channel, Jack TV, BBC, Bloomberg, Al Jazeerah, Australian ABC, ASN, NFL Network, a few premium movie channels, and some British network channels. 

Without being too concerned on cost, is there any way in Thailand to get these, or at least most of these, so I can watch them on my television?  And digital would be best so I can use a digital recorder to manage the time differences. 

[jfchandler]

Bonobo, interesting request... I can see you don't want too much in your request....only IMMORTALITY!!!

But seriously, I've been thinking a lot about this lately.... I don't think there is any ONE place to get all the things you ticked off while residing in Thailand... But I do have some thoughts...

1. I've never tried the Slingbox approach you mention, but I know what it is.. For whatever it's worth, I do a lot of video streaming from the U.S. (like the NFL network). And for those kinds of things, a 2 mb connection just wouldn't cut it. I had 4 mb before with True, and had a lot of buffering problems. I upgraded finally to 8 mb for about 1,100 baht per month (as a True Move subscriber), and now everything runs fine...even though I get nowhere close to 8 mb actual download speeds on streams from the U.S.

2. I did on a different international expat forum once see an advertisement about an online streaming service designed for expats that supposedly include basically all of the U.S. cable network content providers. But then I saw the price, which was something like $80 to $100 a month. I'm not game to pay out those kinds of bucks so I didn't investigate it any further. But if you are, post or PM me and I'll try to find the name and link for that service.

3. My general feeling is the best approach is to pick the True cable package (or Happy Home Cable depending on where one lives) that best fits your desires, and then supplement it with online streaming services, whether paid or free.

I've found that paying for Netflix streaming service (about $11 per month) combined with Hulu streams (advertiser supported so free) -- both also requiring a low cost paid U.S. VPN to access--gives me more than I could want....along with paying individually for NFL, NBA and MLB streaming services (though the game stuff also is available for free...though not always reliably). I like the certainty of not having to hunt around or not know how to find the game I want to see.

4. This thread was enlightening for me because, for example, it produced a link for an online stream of CNN U.S. that I'd never heard of before, and very dearly want to see... since the True cable version of CNN is (what I consider to be the pretty horrible) international edition.

It makes me think, and throw out as a suggestion, the prospect of TV members with an interest joining together to create some kind of online TV channel directory, showing how/where to access different channels... Kind of a master list of TV programming resources. I'm just not sure how we would keep it, or in what form it might be maintained.

[hyperdimension]

I've been interested in online TV streaming too, and had found some free services with hundreds or thousands of TV channels around the world a while ago. I played around with such services as TVUPlayer and TVAnts.

I used to be addicted to the Discovery Channel and CNBC and when I moved to a new apartment I was disappointed that I could no longer get these channels. I considered getting a separate subscription to True or installing a big (non-True) satellite dish to do some hacking to get free international satellite TV. The owner was not willing to cooperate with me so I simply lived in abstinence for years, and my addiction subsided such that I realize how crazy I was in my plans just to get these channels.

These days I'm satisfied with getting news from web sites, and it's information overload as it is with a lot of duplicate content, so I don't see a need to pay to be overloaded with more information.

I like watching documentaries and some movies, and I can often find them available for download through file sharing networks. I think an internet service is all that's really needed these days for news, entertainment and education.

Edited July 1, 2010 by hyperdimension

[meom]

CNN and BBC world news re available all over Bangkok for.............100 baht a month.

My wife has it in her room and w e have a lot of other rooms that also have it. Its some sort of basic tv channels with cnn bbc australia news a few movie channels and all the thai channels. I dont know how w e get it but every condo building seems to have access to it. 100 baht max

We've got the same in our condo I guess.

For 100 baht/month you get close to a 100 channels incl all thai channels, eurosport, a couple of movie channels, music channels and news channels.

Although the one we've got does not feature CNN and BBC. Instead it has Fox and AlJazeera English plus ABC (australia)as news channels.

[jfchandler]

Since George has not re-surfaced since his original post here on RealNetworks and their SuperPass (which he reported includes online access to CNN), I went looking to see what I could find.

As best as I could find, there's no mention on the U.S. Superpass site of any particular news channel coverage including CNN. They do offer a basic package of music downloads, a game and some other lesser stuff for $4.95 per month, and then a $6.95 per month add on for streaming movies.

So then looking more broadly, I came across this UK RealNetworks site for SuperPass that does list CNN and a variety of other online news channels' content for 11.99 UK pounds per month.

Most of those channels are available elsewhere for free or at little cost. And 12 UK pounds per month works out to a lot more than a few U.S. $ per month.

So it would be great if anyone who's using the U.S. SuperPass at $4.95 per month can confirm whether or not it includes the same news channels as the much higher priced UK package. That would seem unlikely...but it'd be nice if it were true.

Channel access from the UK Real site includes the following:

SuperPass Channels

• 
  Al Jazeera
  For the Middle East's perspective.
  English 350kbps English 500kbps
• 
  BBC World News
  For the British perspective. (Sorry not available in the UK)
  English 500kbps
• 
  CNN
  For the American perspective.
  English 500kbps
• 
  Deutsche Welle - FREE
  For the German perspective.
  350kbps 500kbps Odd hours = English
  Even hours = German
• 
  Euronews
  For the European perspective.
  Arabic English French German Italian Portuguese Russian Spanish
• 
  France24 - FREE
  For the French perspective.
  English 350kbps English 500kbps French 350kbps French 500kbps Arabic 350kbps Arabic 500kbps

[uptoyoumyfriend]

Your better off to watch Fox News. Fair and Balanced.

fox news is currently the most dangerous and vile terrorist organization on the planet.

nobody puts out more lies than o reilly huckabee glenn beck and co .

if americans are stupid, fox's contribution to it is enormous.

my opinion - of course.

:realangry::realangry::realangry::realangry:::

[Phil Conners]

Is there one satellite viewable from Thailand using a 2mtr/7' or smaller dish that beams at least CNNI and BBC FTA (any additional news channels an extra bonus) ?

http://www.jsat.tv/satellite-packages/where-to-find-news.html suggest it doesn't exist. The closest alternative seems to be BBC from Australia Network. This is FTA but requires a free smartcard that can be ordered from http://australianetwork.com/tuning/register.htm.

Edited July 1, 2010 by Phil Conners