It’s not just streaming in life! Replay is the other way to watch movies, series or TV shows where and when you want. Here are the best solutions to enjoy it on TV, computer and mobile.
The periods of confinement and curfew that pushed the French to stay at home have allowed television to regain an importance that it had gradually lost in recent years. According to Médiamétrie measurements, the daily listening time for 2020 is almost 4 hours. We talk about listening because even if the television is on, we do not necessarily watch it simply by being satisfied with the sound. And if watching live TV remains the preferred activity, replay is not to be outdone and for some programs represents a third of the audience. Appeared at the end of the 90s, catch-up television, which is more commonly known as replay (replay, in French), has definitely entered into television consumption habits. Can’t be in front of your set to watch your favorite TV show? What does it matter! It will be available for replay within hours of its live broadcast. Replay is undoubtedly the most flexible method to watch on TV, on a computer, tablet or smartphone, what you want, when you want, most often for free. With some limits all the same. Programs already broadcast and offered in replay are not available indefinitely. Depending on the channel, the deadlines for free access vary from seven days to sometimes several years. But some channels like Arte sometimes offer replay programs even before they are broadcast on TV!
Be careful, however, not to confuse replay and video on demand (VOD), even if the two services use the streaming technique. In the first case, the content is offered free of charge by the TV channels, which remain masters of their programs. In the second, it is the operator who concocts a catalog of paid content (most often, films, series and shows) to rent for a certain period, as in a video club.
Several solutions coexist to enjoy the replay for free. On a connected television set, through the Internet box, on PC or Mac as well as on mobile devices, you are spoiled for choice… as long as you have a fairly stable Internet connection with sufficient downstream speed. Count at least 3 Mbit / s for an image in SD (standard quality), 6 Mbit / s for HD (high definition) and 25 Mbit / s for UHD quality (ultra high definition or 4K). It’s up to you to choose the solution that suits you best depending on the medium used.
If your fixed Internet package includes access to television, then you must have the replay of the channels available on TNT (Digital Terrestrial Television) and on the basic package of your operator. The interface of the TV box of your Internet box must present a menu Replay Where TV on demand in its TV section. The path and organization vary depending on the box and the operator, but you just need to play with the remote control to find it. All you have to do is browse through the different channels using the remote control and then choose the program category you are looking for to find the program you want.
In the same way that you can watch live TV on your PC or Mac as we explain in our Watch TV free on PC practical sheet, you can also access replay programs from the various TV channels. There are several methods for this.
TV channel websites
If you know exactly what you want to see in replay, the easiest way is to go directly with your web browser to the site of the channel which broadcast the program. All offer catch-up television service. Sometimes it even has more programs available than on your Internet box. Be careful, however, with certain audiovisual groups such as TF1 or M6, you will have to register (free of charge) to access the various programs offered by the group’s channels.
Access FranceTV (France Télévisions group)
TV program sites
If you do not know which channel the program you are looking for was broadcast on, the easiest way is to use an online TV guide. There are several such as TV-Program, PlayTV, or even Free Webmaster. They list the content available in replay for the TNT channels and allow you to access it either directly or by redirecting you to the channel’s official website with a few clicks. Here again for the channels of the TF1 and M6 groups, free registration remains compulsory before being able to access the desired program.
Specialized software
Few reliable apps are available to watch replay TV channels on your computer. Molotov.tv (Windows and macOS compatible) gives access to live television as well as to many replay programs… except those coming from the channels of the TF1, M6 and Canal + groups. The use of Molotov.tv implies the creation of a free account. More practical and without registration, you can also count on the Captvty software. Free and available for Windows only, this great tool (developed by a French and regularly updated) not only allows you to read all the available replays but also to save them on the computer disk so that you can watch them even when the broadcaster will have removed them from its catch-up catalog. Be careful, however, as for the TV program sites or for Molotov.tv, Captvty cannot access certain programs from the M6 group channels (the most recent are protected by a digital lock). Those of TF1, however, remain available.
- Download and install Captvty on your computer.
Download Captvty for Windows
- Launch the software. Its interface is divided into three parts. On the left is a list of 38 television channels from TNT and even channels from packages such as Bein Sports, Equida or even RTBF. In the center is displayed all the programs available for the selected channel. Finally, the pane at the bottom of the window presents a summary of the chosen program.
- Click on the name of a channel in the left pane. Wait a few seconds for Captvty to list all the programs available in replay. Click on the drop-down menu Section at the top of the interface to quickly sort the list. Depending on the channel, several choices are available: series and fictions, info and society, documentaries, child, etc.
- In the refined list that appears, find the program that interests you. Even if Captvty does not have a priori search engine, you can type directly on the keyboard (without clicking anywhere) the first letters of the desired program. You can also sort by broadcast date or name of the show or program by clicking on the heading of the corresponding column.
- Once you’ve found the program you want, select it. Its summary is displayed in the lower pane. Check that this is what you are looking for (and not an extract or a trailer for example) by taking a look at the duration displayed on the left of the thumbnail.
- Is this the right program? Double click on her name in the list. In the dialog box that appears, now choose the desired image quality, with the best format (and the most demanding in terms of bitrate) at the top of the list. Click on the one that suits you best.
- All you have to do is make your choice. For example, you can watch your program immediately by clicking on the eponymous link above the thumbnail. In this case, the Captvty video player opens instantly and the video starts.
- Captvty is not limited to viewing, however. You can also record a program by downloading it to your PC to watch it later. To do this, click on the link To download above the program thumbnail. Captvty again offers you to choose a quality level. Make your choice. The download starts immediately.
- At the end of the download, your video file is found by default in the Video folder, found in the Captvty folder where the software is installed (you can however change this location in the Captvty settings).
- By default, the downloaded file is in TS or MP4 (depending on the source), formats readable by Captvty or VLC for example. But you can easily convert it to MKV or MP4 to open it with other players. To do this, after downloading, click on the tab Conversion, at the bottom of the window. Then right click on the recovered file and then from the context menu choose the desired format for conversion. The operation is very fast (a few seconds or minutes, depending on the duration of the program).
The whole advantage of replay is that you can watch TV shows where you want, when you want and of course, on the device you want. Also, as long as you have a good 4G connection (and a substantial data plan) or a Wi-Fi connection, smartphones and tablets are particularly suitable for exercise. And there are plenty of solutions!
With Molotov.tv
So you can count on the Molotov.tv app again. Available for iPhone and Android mobiles, it offers the same services as on a computer… and the same restrictions too. You will therefore not be able to access the replay of the channels of the TF1 and M6 groups.
Download Molotov.tv for iOS (iPhone and iPad)
Download Molotov.tv for Android
With the app of a mobile operator
You can also turn to your operator’s official app: Orange TV for Orange, SFR TV for SFR, B.TV for Bouygues Télécom and Freebox Compagnon for Free. Be careful, however, with the exception of Free and Bouygues which offer free access to TV and replay on mobile in their subscriptions, you will have to check that this option is included in your package, at no extra charge.
With channel apps
Almost all TNT channels have their own dedicated mobile app for Android and OS with free catch-up TV service. MyTF1 gives access to TF1 group channels (TF1, TMC, TFX, LCI, etc.), 6Play to M6 group channels (M6, W9, 6Ter, Gulli, Téva, etc.), France TV to France Télévisions channels ( France 2, France 3, France 4, France 5 and France Info), myCanal on Canal group channels (Canal +, C8, CNews, etc.) and Arte TV on Arte. If you are fond of television and replay, you will need to install several, sometimes by creating an account.
