Did you know that you can watch TV on your computer? I'm not talking about YouTube, or going on the homepage of VH1 to watch deleted clips. I'm talking about using satellite TV software to watch TV on your computer screen and getting thousands of television channels available on your computer via your internet connection.

Whether you are just sick of watching the same old reruns over and over on TV, think your cable company is trying to take over the world (and charging you way too much in doing so), or fed up with a satellite signal that falls out every time it rains, satellite TV software could be an alternative worthy of your consideration.

First the downside: despite what some over-zealous advertisers may try to tell you, the quality of satellite TV on the computer is not normally as good as using a dedicated satellite dish and large-screen television. This is not to say the quality is bad -- just that a satellite dish and quality TV would usually give you higher definition. The quality of the signal will also depend upon the speed of your Internet connection, so you will definitely need to have a high-speed broadband connection to get the most out of the software.

On the plus side, satellite TV software is relatively inexpensive and provides access to thousands of channels. So it's a trade-off that many people are willing to make. I personally appreciate all the international channels available because I have lived all over the world and the software allows me to watch foreign TV shows and sporting events that my local cable provider doesn't carry.

I used to pay hundreds of dollars a year to receive fewer than one hundred basic cable channels. I also didn't get to choose which channels I wanted, so there were probably only a handful of channels that I actually watched on a weekly basis. But with satellite TV software, there are thousands of channels available; making it more likely that you can find something you're interested in watching.

It was always so disappointing to come home and turn on my favorite channel only to find that they were showing re-runs that I already watched several times last week. With satellite TV software, this is not such a big issue, because if there's nothing on my favorite channels; there are thousands of others to choose from. I just flip through the "TV guide channel" until I find something I want to watch.

I still watch some of the same channels I have always watched, only now I don't pay a monthly fee to do so, and I can also watch my favorite channels in the UK and France. When I go away, I don't have to try to figure out where my TV channels are in a different area, and I never have to get upset because the cable provider where I am doesn't carry my favorite show.

So how does the software work? Basically, you just buy the software and download it to your desktop or notebook computer. Once you've completed the steps of the installation, you are ready to watch television on your computer. There is a one-time purchase fee and no monthly fees. And of course, you don't need any special hardware -- any Windows PC with a broadband Internet connection should work fine.

One interesting feature of satellite TV software is its portability. You can travel anywhere in the world and, in theory, still have access the same TV channels you watch at home. All that is needed is a fast internet connection and a laptop computer.