TELEVISION doesn’t have to break the bank. In fact, it doesn’t have to cost anything at all.
I’m The Sun’s resident Tech expert and I’ve rounded up some of the best ways to get TV and movies for free. That includes top Hollywood films, thousands of live channels, and access to premium services like Disney+ and Apple TV+ for no extra cost. These bargains are too good to miss, especially in the run up to Christmas.
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FAST apps
One easy option for bagging free telly is by using FAST apps.
No, they’re not speedy. FAST stands for Free Ad-Supported Streaming Television.
As the name suggests, it gets you free telly with the catch that you’ll have to sit through ads.
But if you’re paying for the cheapest tiers on Netflix, Disney+ or Amazon Prime Video, you’ll already be sitting through ads anyway.
And regular TV has been showing ads for years, so it won’t be a deal-breaker for most.
There are plenty of great FAST TV options, which you can combine to unlock almost endless live TV channels.
And they usually have an on-demand section built-in too, so you can enjoy specific TV shows or movies at your leisure.
Here are some of the most popular FAST apps in the UK:
- Pluto TV
- Xumo Play
- Tubi
- Rakuten TV
- Plex TV
It’s very likely that the device you’re using to watch telly supports at least one or two of these.
Better still, several of these apps feature sports channels – and you won’t pay a penny extra.
Free trials
Lots of TV providers offer free trials.
They’re usually not wildly generous, but they can be enough to make your way through a series or a few films.
So time it right to make sure you can watch what you need to.
Remember to plan for weekly releases: if you want to watch a full season, wait for the final episode to drop before you sign up for your free trial.
Here’s what free trial availability looks like for some of the main TV apps:
- Netflix – NO FREE TRIAL
- Disney+ – NO FREE TRIAL
- Apple TV+ – 7 days
- Now TV – 7 days
- Amazon Prime Video – 30 days (via Prime)
- Crunchyroll Premium – 7 days
- Paramount+ – 7 days
- Discovery+ – 7 days
But if you’re an Apple fan, you can get an expanded free trial.
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You can bag a three-month Apple TV+ trial if you’ve recently bought a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, or Mac.
It needs to be capable of using the latest iOS, iPadOS, tvOS, or macOS software.
And you need to have bought it directly from Apple, or from an Apple Authorised Reseller.
It’s not available to current TV+ subscribers, and you can’t combine it with the regular 7-day free trial.
You’ll need to head into the Apple TV app within the first three months of setting up your new gadget.
Then you can claim the offer, which will get you free Apple TV+ for free months.
After that, it’ll automatically renew at the full £9.99 price – so make sure to cancel it ahead of time if you don’t want to be charged.
Sky VIP
One handy way to bag a free movie is available to all Sky customers.
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If you have Sky TV or broadband then you can join the Sky VIP rewards scheme.
It’s totally free – you just download the My Sky app, and join via the VIP tab.
Then once you’re in, you’re able to claim a free movie from the Sky Store, which could be worth up to £20.
It’s a decent freebie but you can only use it once – so choose wisely.
Rewards
There are a couple of ways to get some TV freebies via popular services.
EE will give you free Apple TV+ for six months.
You can find the perk inside the Plans & Subscriptions > Manage TV and Sport > TV Extras section of your EE app.
Another option is the 12-month Disney+ offer with a Club Lloyds account.
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This is a no-fee bank account if you pay in £2,000 each monthly – or a £3-a-month fee if you don’t.
And you’ll get a full year of Disney+ as a perk.
Apple TV+ for students
If you’re a student, there’s a very simple way to get Apple TV+ without paying anything extra.
You can get Apple Music for £5.99 a month instead of the usual £10.99 pricing as a student.
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And you also get a month free.
Anyway, once you’ve claimed this offer, you’ll find that you also get Apple TV+ thrown in for free too.
The Apple TV+ membership will run for as long as you have the Apple Music Student offer active.
CLAIM YOUR STUDENT DISCOUNT
Here’s Apple’s official guide on how to claim Apple Music Student and free Apple TV+…
- Open the Apple Music app on your iPhone, iPad, Mac or Android.
- Go to Home.
- Choose the trial offer.*
- Choose Student.
- Choose Verify Eligibility.
- Follow the onscreen steps to verify your student status.
- After your student status has been verified, follow the onscreen steps to start a free trial and purchase a student subscription with your Apple Account.
Once you’ve claimed the Apple Music Student offer, just open the Apple TV app.
You’ll be able to watch it right away.
You won’t see any extra billing either – it’s tied directly to the Apple Music Student subscription.
Just note: you can’t share your Apple TV+ access with Family Sharing like you can with the full membership.
Samsung devices
Samsung devices – so smartphones, tablets, TVs and even some smart refrigerators – can access a special free TV service.
It’s called Samsung TV Plus and it’s a free streaming app that’s supported by ads.
The app has a vast library of TV shows, movies, and live channels too.
You don’t have to pay any subscription fees or even fill in credit card information.
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Just head to the Samsung TV app (or download it if it’s not already on your device) to start watching.
You don’t need to create an account to begin viewing content.
But you can create a free account that unlocks some extra features.
That includes:
- Continue watching
- Favourite channels
- Edit channels
- Watch reminders
- Watch lists
If you’ve already got an existing Samsung account, you can just sign in with that.
YouTube Kids
Everyone knows that YouTube is chock full of free content.
In fact there’s so much that it’s sometimes difficult to know where to start.
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But parents shouldn’t ignore is the child-friendly version of the app, which is called YouTube Kids.
You can download YouTube Kids as a dedicated app – or access it via a child’s profile on your TV’s YouTube app.
It’s meant to be an app “made just for children”, and walls them off from any of the adult content you might find on YouTube proper.
“YouTube Kids was created to give children a more contained environment that makes it simpler and more fun for them to explore on their own,” explains Google, which owns YouTube.
“And easier for parents and caregivers to guide their journey as they discover new and exciting interests along the way.”
It uses a combination of automated filters and human review to keep the videos family-friendly.
And it has loads of built-in parental controls so you can limit what your child watches, their screen time, as well as giving you the ability to block specific videos.
So if you’re looking for some free telly for your child to watch, YouTube Kids is a good option.
FREELY
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Freely is a free TV service that launched in April last year.
It’s a project backed by Channel 4, the BBC, ITV, and 5, and serves up loads of live channels and on-demand content too.
You can get more than 50 channels on Freely, and the list keeps growing.
In fact, this week, Channel 4 announced the addition of three streaming-exclusive channels on Freely.
They include 4Reality, 4Homes, and 4Life.
And some of the shows those channels add include:
- Married at First Sight
- Naked Attraction
- First Dates
- Made in Chelsea
- Grand Designs
- A Place in the Sun
- Location, Location, Location
- The Dog House
- Travel Man
You can get Freely on lots of TV models, including screens from Hisense, Panasonic, Toshiba, Sharp, and TCL.
RECENT CHANNEL ADDITIONS ON FREELY
- The Chase
- Saturday Night Every Night
- 4Reality
- 4Homes
- 4Life
- 5 GPs Behind Closed Doors
- 5 Bargain
- 5 The Yorkshire Vet
- 5 History
- 5 Crime
- Milkshake!
- 5 Police Interceptors
- 5 Cops
- 5 Trucking Hell
- 5 A&E
- 5 Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly
Image credit: Everyone TV
There’s no need for a dish or aerial – it works over Wi-Fi.
But that does mean you’ll need a decent internet connection with speeds of at least 10Mbps. Don’t worry: that’s well below the national average.
All prices in this article were correct at the time of writing, but may have since changed.
Always do your own research before making any purchase.
