If you’ve actually narrowed down what TV show you want to watch, congrats on clearing the first hurdle, but now you’ve got to figure out where said show is streaming online. More importantly, find out if it’s available on the streaming service(s) you already pay for. The easiest way to do this — Google it.
That’s right, all you literally have to do is Google the name of the TV show. Thanks to the Google Knowledge Graph, you can easily see what is available where. Google will also tell you how much it’ll cost to watch, or if the series is included with a subscription. On desktop, the “Available on” section is conveniently placed front and center of the search results page.
Desktop View of “Available On”
If you’re searching on a mobile device, you can either scroll down a ways, past the general overview, “Cast”, “Similar Shows”, “Episodes”, and “Top Results” to the “Watch Show” section. Or slide the menu bar to the left to the “Watch Show” menu item, which will take you directly to that information with one click.
Mobile View of “Watch Show”
One additional piece of advice, for some shows you might need to add the words “tv show” to the end of your search query in order to more quickly find exactly what you are looking for. For example, if the show’s title is ambiguous like “Scrubs,” your search results may include more than you are looking for like ads and local results for where to buy scrubs instead of just the hijinks of J.D. and Turk.
Also, while the “Available on” section does appear to be pretty comprehensive it isn’t infallible. It seems to account for all the major players like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Disney+, YouTube, iTunes, Vudu, Google Play, and all the major network / cable sites. However, I did discover a blindspot – Facebook.
Yup, Facebook is also dabbling in the streaming game. It has original series like the critically acclaimed Sorry For Your Loss and older more recognizable titles like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly – all streaming for free, with ads. But Google won’t tell you that.
So just know that Google should be the first place you search, but there’s still a chance it doesn’t know everything. Not yet anyways…
