How to watch French Television live from abroad?
We have never been big TV consumers and even less so since we travel but there are times when we still want to watch French TV:
- Anh likes to follow the show l’Amour est dans le pré 🙂
- During the crisis of the yellow vests, I felt the need to follow the news
- I like to follow sports events such as the Tour de France or OM soccer matches 🙂
Most of the free channels like TF1, France Télévision or M6 offer a streaming service but it’s only open to French IPs, it’s usually well shielded from advertising and you have to create an account each time. There are illegal streaming services but the quality is rarely there
The almost perfect service is called Molotov TV: it’s legal and it’s free.
Molotov TV: what is it?
Molotov TV is an application that allows you to watch French television on any device (Phone, Tablet, Computer, …).
Just register for free and you will have access to about fifty free channels (TF1, France 2, France 3, Arte, BFM, LCI, …)
One feature that I think is great is that you can watch a show with a time delay on the live show. Don’t worry if you arrive late: you can start from the beginning.
So I’ve gotten into the habit of starting shows about 30 minutes late (I like to watch Capital on M6 for example). That way, I don’t miss the beginning of the show and then I can move on to skip the commercials. Very handy! It is also possible to pause if needed.
Molotov then offers several pay-per-view offers that allow you to access more channels but also to schedule recordings.
For my part I have always stayed on the free offer.
You will need a VPN
The only problem is that VPN is only functional if you have a French IP address. The goal being, for rights reasons, to limit its use on the French territory.
From abroad, you will get this error message.
The solution is touse a VPN that will allow you to benefit from a French IP address. I talked about it in this article: VPN – What is it for?
The little drawback behind this is that by going through a VPN, you won’t be able to use your Chromecast to send Molotov on TV. It’s a detail but it’s a bit of a shame.
The replay solution
Depending on the time zone you are in, it may not be easy to watch live programs
Molotov TV makes it possible to watch replays of many channels.
On the other hand, the two biggest French channels: TF1 and M6 do not offer their replays on Molotov.
TF1 and M6 propose however their own replay service which works but which are quite badly screwed: it is necessary to register, there is a lot of advertising, … You’ll also have to use a VPN to get a French IP.
What about pay sports channels?
Unfortunately, soccer is rarely on free channels.
During the soccer world cup, I had taken out a subscription without commitment at beIN Sport for 15 € which allowed me to watch all the matches.
I’m lucky enough to have a friend who is a Canal Plus subscriber and who lends me his access to MyCanal.
Anyway, even if you have a paid subscription, you will have to go through a VPN to watch these channels.
What about IPTV?
I won’t talk about it in detail because it’s completely illegal, there are services allowing, against a subscription of a few dozen euros per year to access thousands of channels, free as well as paying.
With an IPTV subscription, you will no longer have any geographical restrictions: no worries about watching any channel from abroad.
These services are 100% illegal, it is no more and no less than piracy. They are mostly managed by mafias (the Neapolitan mafia in particular). By subscribing to an offer of this type, you are financing organized crime. At least you are warned!
