How To Watch ITV Without Adverts

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With popular shows such as Love Island, Britain’s Got Talent, Cold Feet and Coronation Street, ITV is a channel (or rather, a set of channels) you’re bound to flip to at some point. Cord Cutters have two easy and free options to watch ITV – Either via Freeview (or a similar service like YouView and Freesat), or with the ITV Hub app.

But with ITV being a commercial channel, there’s one annoying thing about it: Adverts. And lots of them.

As TV watchers in 2019, most of us are used to TV on Demand from the likes of Netflix and NOW TV. We like binge-watching, and sitting through endless ad breaks is terribly annoying – yet that’s how channels like ITV make their money, so can we really protest?

Yet, at this time of year, there’s one question I keep getting – How can I watch Love Island without adverts?

Well, there are a few solutions – so here are three methods to watch ITV without adverts.

1. ITV HUB+ – The No-Ads (Almost) Streaming Service

The ITV Hub is already a well-known service and app from ITV. After registering (for free), you can use it to watch the ITV shows on demand (and live), either directly on your computer’s browser, or via apps for most of the major streaming devices – the Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Roku, Google Chromecast, some of the Smart TVs, smartphones, and more.

Keep in mind though, as is the case with most of the content on the BBC iPlayer, programmes on the ITV Hub are only available for 30 days (from the day they were first broadcast.)

Back in 2016, ITV announced the ITV Hub+ service – a premium subscription add-on that allows you to watch (almost) everything on the ITV Hub WITHOUT adverts. Unfortunately, due to some licensing issues, some American shows are still shown with ads.

How much does the ITV Hub+ Cost?

£3.99 per month. There’s no ongoing contract – you can cancel at any time and stop future billings.

Can I Watch ITV Hub+ Everywhere?

Unfortunately, no – for the time being, you can only watch the ITV Hub+ portion of the app on a PC browser, on an iOS device (where you can also download shows for offline viewing), or on some Smart TVs – no Android for now. But there’s a workaround – thanks to Amazon…

Cold Feet itv
Cold Feet [Photo: ITV]

How Do I Subscribe To ITV Hub+?

There are two ways to subscribe to the ITV Hub+, each with its own pros and cons.

Directly through ITV: You can subscribe to ITV Hub+ via the ITV Website (or through the iOS app). You get the first week free (as a trial), but you still have to enter your credit/debit card details, and once the week is over – unless you cancel – you will be enrolled for the Â£3.99/month subscription. It’s flexible, though, and you can cancel at any time.

Subscribing directly via ITV will let you watch without adverts on a browser, your iOS phone/tablet, and some Smart TV models.

As an Amazon Prime Video Channel: If you’re an Amazon Prime subscriber, you can add the ITV Hub+ as an “Amazon Prime Video Channel”.

You’ll get one free week (as a trial), and then, unless you cancel, you’ll start paying Â£3.99/month. Again, there’s no ongoing contract, and you can cancel at any point.

The advantage of subscribing via Amazon? You’ll be able to watch (and download) the ITV shows without ads on more devices – everywhere the Amazon Video app is available, including the Amazon Fire TV and Android phones. (Remember, though – there are some devices where the Amazon Video app ISN’T available.)

The downside? As mentioned, you need to already be an Amazon Prime subscriber – you can’t add the channel without a Prime subscription. But you can also get a 30-days Free Trial for Amazon Prime.

Love Island
Love Island (Photo: ITV)

2. The ITV Hub Hack: Watch Without Adverts On Your Browser

Yes, there’s also a “free” way to watch ITV shows without adverts – sort of – but it’s not a very elegant solution.

The trick? “Prepare” the show you want to watch in advance. Go to the ITV Hub on your computer’s browser, and let the show play out with the volume down (while you’re busy doing other things). The show will run with all the ad breaks, and by the time it’s done – you can drag the play marker back to the beginning, and the show will play again – this time without the adverts.

It’s a crude solution, and if you’re going to watch a lot, the ITV Hub+ is obviously a better solution. But if you rarely watch ITV shows, and need this as a one-time-thing – that’s a viable solution.

3. Use A Freeview Recorder – And Skip The Adverts

Remember the good old days of VHS tapes, when we could quite easily fast-forward the adverts? Well, you can still do that. Get a Freeview box with recording capabilities, and then you will be able to fast-forward the adverts (or even skip whole minutes).

I particularly recommend the Manhattan T2-R Freeview Recorder for that, as its user interface is superb. Check my full review here.

Britains got talent
Britain’s Got Talent (Photo: ITV)

Do I Need A TV Licence To Watch ITV Shows?

With the TV Licence in the UK used to fund the BBC, people sometimes think it only applies to the BBC channels.

Well, that’s a mistake, unfortunately – IF you watch (or record) LIVE ITV shows.

That means that if you ONLY watch ITV Hub (or Hub+) shows on demand, you DON’T need a TV Licence. But if you watch any portion of ITV live – including recording the live shows AS THEY AIR, you DO need a TV Licence. You can read our full TV Licensing guide here.

3 thoughts on “How To Watch ITV Without Adverts”

  1. (1) Press ‘mute’ when the tedious irritating advert begins. Un-mute afterwards.

    (2) Record the programme on your Sky, Virgin or Freeview box. As the tedious irritating advert begins, fast-forward for 8 seconds, resume.

    (3) Don’t buy any product or service promoted by a tedious irritating tv advert.

    Don’t the advertising agencies realise that repetitive, tedious, irritating adverts alienate potential purchasers?

    Reply
    • It still works for me (at least on a desktop browser). But do note that you have to stay on the same window when you start the programme over – you can’t reload the page (or leave it altogether and come back).

      Reply

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