TV over broadbandDemand Five
Demand Five offers free TV content along with premium content that's available to buy or rent
Demand Five offers a mixture of TV programmes you'll need to pay for (due to specific deals with production studios) and free TV shows you watch online or download. Demand Five includes programs from Channel Five, Five US and Fiver.
You can watch some TV programmes online, or download to watch later using the Demand Five Player (which you'll also need to download once you've registered with the Five website).
For tech-savvy users there's also the capacity to connect your computer to a television to watch Demand Five programmes at broadcast standard.
Paid-for TV shows typically include episodes of Five's most popular US drama series, such as CSI and Grey's Anatomy. Free TV programmes include many documentaries, home grown series and soaps such as Neighbours.
TV shows to buy or rent
You can buy TV programmes or rent them. Once you've paid to rent a TV show you need to download it within 14 days and it can then be watched as many times as you like within 48 hours. Users can also pre-order shows to be the first to get them when they arrive on TV.
TV shows can be downloaded in three different formats, standard, high definition and portable. High definition is more expensive than standard (regular television) format. It is clearer and sharper, but not available for all TV programmes and costs a little more.
Many TV show downloads now come with a free portable version so it can be downloaded onto a MP4 player or other portable device to watch while you're on the move.
What you'll need to use Demand Five:
- A PC running Windows: Windows XP or Vista
- A broadband internet connection: Dial-up users can find out more about upgrading to a faster connection in our Broadband report.
- Internet Explorer version 6 or 7, or Firefox : Upgrading to the latest version of Internet Explorer is free through the Windows website.
- Windows Media Player: Version 10 or above is needed for streamed programmes and Windows Media Player 11 or above is required for downloads. Windows media player is free to download from the Windows website.
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