Brazilian TV on the internet

You live abroad and want to watch Brazilian TV from time to time – because it allows you to dive into the country’s culture, you want to learn the language, or just because you miss home. Depending where you live you can pay for a cable service, but this can be quite expensive. Here in New Mexico (a state with small Brazilian community), I was asked an extra US$ 100 monthly payment if I wanted to have access to TV Globo. I would also need a second antenna. I declined, of course.

So, I began to look for websites that offer free live Brazilian channels. If you ever tried to do this, you know that some websites don’t work in certain parts of the world. Others offer bad image quality and some are fairly unstable – meaning, sometimes the connection works, sometimes not. So, please, don’t hate me if any of the below is less than perfect. And send your feedback in case you found better options. As you will see, I favored  websites that won’t oblige you to register or download software.

If you want my opinion (not that you asked), you should try only Globo (although this one is debatable), TVE, GNT and Canal Brasil. These will probably be more rewarding than the other options.

So, here is what I found:

• TV Globo – The two best options to watch the top Brazilian channel (both in popularity and production value) are TV Tuga (live transmission) and  Globo’s website, where you can watch video clips of the main shows, newscast and soap operas (but no live transmission). Check for late night series, some of them of very high quality. Once in a while, Fantástico, the Sunday night magazine, can be really entertaining.
• TV Record – this Christian channel is the runner up in the dispute for the viewers’ hearts. It can be watched here (not great quality. But, then, when I watched it, they were airing a preacher promoting some sort of exorcism, so I suppose the quality was good enough).
• SBT – The third most popular, famous for importing Mexican soap operas and for the programs hosted by entertainer Silvio Santos, can be watched on  Choose and Watch (also not great, sorry, but I wouldn’t feel bad about that if I were you).
• TVE – This national public channel is probably your best option if you are looking for quality programs. It offers lots of content produced by TV Cultura, the São Paulo state public channel. Try to check for award winning interview program Roda Viva, environmental newscast Repórter Eco or their series for younger audiences. You can watch TVE on Choose and Watch.
• Band – formerly known as TV Bandeirantes, it can be watched here. But, frankly, I see no reason for you to go there.

• Rede Brasil – You can check it either on the channel’s website or, again, on TV Tuga.
• GNT – One of my favorites, this girlie cable channel offers all sorts of clever documentaries. Unfortunately, you can only watch clips of a few programs here.
• Canal Brasil – Specialized in Brazilian movies. You can peep on some programs here, but there is no access to live programs.

Also, note that Choose and Watch offers 61 different Brazilian channels, including Canal Rural (very relevant if you are into the agribusiness), several Christian channels of all possible denominations, official channels (TV Câmara, Canal Assembléia da Bahia) and university channels (FAAP TV, Canal Universitário).

Enjoy! And, if you liked this post, try also 10 memorable soap operas and Sunday TV marathon.