Internet television, or Internet TV, is television distributed via the Internet. Previously television was only distributed via cable, satellite, or terrestrial systems. Today with the increase in Internet connection speeds with broadband, advances in technology, the increase of total number of people online, and the decrease in connection costs, it has become increasingly common to find traditional television content accessible freely and legally as Internet TV. In addition to this, new Internet television content has appeared which is not distributed via cable, satellite, or terrestrial systems.

Internet TV can come in many forms. For instance, it can be watched on a regular TV via a Set-top box, or on a computer, or on a portable device such as a mobile phone. Internet TV can show a channel live like regular TV, or allow the viewer to select a show to watch on demand like Video-on-Demand. Internet TV can involve any budget productions, from home camcorder productions to expensive professional productions. Internet TV can be protected from copying, or easily duplicated as a perfect copy. It can also be free or paid paid service and may be supported by advertisements. Internet TV can also be an interactive or passive medium.

Internet Television services have at least two different types of models, fee based and free.

Fee based Internet TV services are generally funded and supported by large telecom providers and is based on a subscription fee, adding new features like high-definition TV, video on demand and digital video recording.

The usage of internet protocols to provide two-way communication will also open the way for interactivity with the Internet TV program content, for example making it possible to choose between multiple camera angles, vote on an interactive TV show, or order a product sample.

Europe and Asia have been the leaders in implementing these Internet Television services for paying customers, which are expected to become mainstream in just a few years replacing traditional cable subscriptions. In the US the providers have not shown so much interest about this technology yet. Internet Television is a more interesting alternative to cable TV also in countries where there is a poor cable infrastructure, like India and China.

The software platform chosen by network operators to provide the most recent Internet television services has been Microsoft TV IPTV Edition, which works together with a set-top box.

Free Internet Television is available from the Web, and is accessible without the need for a set-top-box, a specific carrier nor operator. The greatest core theme of the free Internet Television model is that it allows access to an open platform, that anyone can access, use and build for, together with the development of open source software, open standards and formats.

Those that create valued and interesting video products have now the opportunity to distribute it directly to a large audience. Something only possible with Internet TV.