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A lot of people are cutting costs.  Maybe you traded in your cable for an over the air antenna, but still want more content.  Well, a lot of the major networks have gotten on board with posting their shows online.  However, not all video sites are created equal.  Where are the best places to go to watch your shows online?

All in one solutions

If you don’t want to navigate through different network sites, there are three big options for you. 

Joost

The oldest is Joost.com.  It’s an almost forgotten pioneer in the online video world, but it houses a lot of content.  You can find CBS shows like CSI:NY, Warner Bros. shows like Smallville, and even MTV programming.  Their video player is pretty good.  If you find a bunch of shows that you like, it’s pretty easy to queue them up so you can watch one after the other.  The site uses Facebook Connect so you don’t have to sign up for another account.  You won’t find content from NBC like “The Office” on Joost.  However, if you do find programming you like, you can subscribe to shows and receive e-mail notifications when that show is updated.

Hulu

Hulu has a great offering of NBC and Fox programming including shows from their related networks like USA and FX.  If you sign up for a free account, Hulu becomes very useful.  You can subscribe to shows and they will be put into your queue automatically.  If you go into your account settings, you can make sure that the videos play at 480p instead of 360p when you are logged in.  Even if you don’t sign up for an account, it’s pretty easy to use and has a lot of shows to watch.  The site has a few videos in HD, but that’s not site-wide yet. 

Updated 05/04/2009: The deal between Disney and Hulu should bring ABC programming to Hulu, giving it a decided lead in content.

Sling

Sling.com is one of the newer all-in-one solutions.  You can watch NBC and Fox shows through some kind of deal through Hulu on Sling, although it doesn’t appear you can change the resolution.  You can also play CBS programming here.  Sling also works with Facebook Connect.  If you’ve got your own Slingbox, you are able to watch it via this site as well if you’re on a Windows machine.  Sling also let’s you subscribe to shows and also to other users. 

Who’s the master?

All three sites also have their share of classic television and movies. Sling is one of the better sites since you can access programming from the most networks on one site, but the video quality on Hulu is just better.  The question is whether you want convenience or video quality. 

Hulu is tough to beat if you want good video quality.  Sling is the best if you want to queue up videos from the most networks.  Joost falls behind Sling and Hulu. 

All-in-one solutions are pretty good, but if you’re willing to do more work, you can get better quality and a bigger selection.  Keep an eye out for a follow up piece covering the best of the networks.