Viewing Television channels through the internet is largely done with the help of two new evolving technologies known as IPTV and ITV. They are Internet Protocol Television and Internet Television. At the risk of sounding similar, these two technologies are actually greatly different from each other. Both have their propagators and are pretty much on a roll.

IP TV is a technology that is basically of a closed network type. It is widely used by proprietary television networks for its internet protocol based delivery distribution system which allows them a large degree of control over their content. This helps protect their content from fraudulent theft of content. IP TV hence is a good method of content delivery for established content producers in the media business. It requires individual physical infrastructure on a pretty large scale and is an end to end user system thus being pretty much closed. Due to its requirements in terms of infrastructure it tends to have geographical limitations. Infrastructure is required in close proximity to the consumers and hence limits geographical coverage. Most IP TV networks are of the ‘pay and view’ type requiring customers to shell out a regular fee on the basis of usage.

Internet Television or Internet TV on the other hand does not have any of these limitations. There are no fixed licenses of any sort and no one can claim ownership of anything. It is completely free to air and free to view too. Internet TV does not require specific infrastructure and works on existing internet connection networks from telephone lines to satellites. Hence it allows all small and medium scale producers to broadcast content with ease. The ability to broadcast through wireless networks like satellites means that remote locations can be connected and provided with content for viewing. This makes IP TV unbeatable in terms of coverage. IP TV is simple and easy to use for the regular person.