BBC iPlayer, Channel 4 4OD, ITV Player, TV Catchup and Zattoo are five great – and free – ways to catch your favourite UK TV programmes if you pack a laptop on your travels and have Wi-Fi internet access. Now there’s a sixth – SPB TV.

 

Launched last year for a wide range of smartphones, SPB TV is now available to any PC web browser free of charge. There’s a wide range of channels, but most originate from Europe and Asia, so SPB TV is best seen as a complement for existing UK internet TV options rather than a replacement.

 

Variable quality

Quality was a bit hit and miss over a home broadband connection when we tuned into various channels, with the video stream stuttering a bit too often for our liking. The service also seemed to be a bit random on some days too, so don’t count on it being available to watch a particular programme. Still, there’s no complaint about the price of SBP TV and it’s another useful internet TV site to add to your web browser bookmarks.

 

One final point, though. As with all internet TV services, SPB TV is far from ideal for use with a mobile 3G internet connection. Streaming video from a service like this gobbles up data, which means you’ll soon hit your data allocation if used in the UK and you’ll be charged a fortune if you use it with data roaming. So stick with Wi-Fi for any internet TV service.