How to Play Internet TV in Windows Media Center
Windows Media Center lets you watch TV on your PC – instantly from the Internet.
If you watch Internet TV in your browser, you’re used to surfing between sites. Searching for what you want to watch. Struggling with different playback experiences. Now, you can stay put and Internet TV will come to you. Watch your favorite Internet TV shows, movies, and videos – all in one place!
Easily find the Internet TV – online shows, movies, videos – you want to watch, with no need to search across different websites. No matter which network your shows and movies come from, you view them in one consistent way with Windows Media Center.
You can visually pick what you want to watch in a Guide, Top Ten Lists, or Search for what you want to watch by keyword. Just click to watch – instantly. You always know how to play, pause, stop, fast forward, rewind, skip back and skip forward in your videos. A ‘seek bar’ lets you jump to any point in any TV show, movie, or video clip you’re watching.
Note: Windows Media Center is included with most versions of Windows 7. Internet TV in Windows Media Center supports WMV, SilverLight, and Flash.
Most experiences are free, ad-supported Internet TV. Some offers are subscription based where you sign up for a monthly fee to access content, like Netflix.
The Internet TV features in Windows Media Center are only available in a limited set of geographies and not all content will be available over Windows Media Center Extenders.
How to Access Internet TV
Before you can access Internet TV content in Windows Media Center, you must:
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Have an active Internet connection.
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Complete the Windows Media Center setup.
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Wait a few minutes for an automatic download to complete.
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If you don't see these menu items within a few minutes after setup, go to:
Tasks » Settings » General » Automatic Download Options » Download Now.
Welcome to Windows Media Center Setup
Choose Express Setup or Custom Setup
After the updates download, these menu items appear on the Windows Media Center Start menu:
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Guide: A schedule of Internet TV and broadcast TV* program listings.
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Internet TV: A visual discovery experience for exploring shows, movies, and videos.
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Promotions: Direct links to specific Internet TV shows, movies, and videos.
Your Internet TV Guide
Select “Guide” from Television: When you open your Internet TV Guide, you’ll see the familiar concept of a program guide applied to Internet TV content. Virtual channels display the same way you’re used to seeing your broadcast TV channels and shows – each tile with a relevant selection of Internet TV.
Select Guide in the Television Start Menu strip
The Guide displays Internet TV virtual channels
If you’ve added and configured a TV tuner:
For those who watch and record broadcast TV on their laptop or PC, the program Guide integrates broadcast TV shows alongside Internet TV content – so you can find both in the same place.
No matter which channel you choose, the navigation experience is the same.
Internet TV in Windows Media Center supports WMV, SilverLight, and Flash. If you don’t have the right player installed, Windows Media Center will prompt an automatic download of it.
An “all-in-one” Guide – broadcast & Internet TV in one place
Internet TV – Visual Discovery
Select “Internet TV” from Television: When you open your Internet TV visual discovery experience, you enter a very visual way to find all of the Internet TV shows, movies, and videos available to watch.
Select Internet TV on the Television Start Menu strip
The Internet TV discovery experience starting page
Popular Categories: Most Popular Shows, Episodes, and Clips help you easily find what you’re looking for. Promotions for featured content link you directly to a show or episode. And at the top of the page, you can sort by TV or Movies. Other menu options can be used to further sort content.
Discover and Explore the Most Popular Shows in Internet TV
Discover and Explore the Most Popular Clips and Podcasts in Internet TV
Internet TV: Search & Networks
Internet TV Search: At the top of the Internet TV discovery experience page, there is a box that lets you search for whatever Internet TV show, movie or search term you type into the box.
Internet TV Search Results will span across all Windows Media Center content providers.
When in a specific network’s section: The contextual search prioritizes results from that particular content provider first, followed by any search results that point elsewhere.
Internet TV Networks: You can also select Networks from the top of the page to select a content provider. The same search, discovery, and playback experience appears in each section – with each clearly branded by the specific content partner, so it’s easy to know which Network you’re browsing.
The Internet TV discovery experience for Networks
