Up until now, you might have thought that the only way to make money from movies or TV is to have a job in the movie or TV industry.

Watch breaking news videos, viral videos and original video clips on CNN.com.

Watch Edmonton News Videos - your source for the latest news videos, and news clips,featuring, weather, sports and traffic news videos from GlobalNews.ca. Swagbucks does have surveys listed, but you can earn by doing so much more.

That’s not the case, although doing what we suggest here is probably not going to amount to a full-time income, but merely some extra cash.

Yes, you can get paid money for watching movies or TV, and, usually, doing something extra such as reporting on it.

It’s not very easy to get one of these positions, but if it’s going to pay you to sit in front of a screen (which you’re probably doing a lot of the time anyway) then it’s worth having a try.

You get paid for doing something that helps someone else out, whether it’s for a market research company or for an advertising agency.

The following are some of the opportunities you can find online.

1. Get Paid to Watch YouTube Videos

Paid2YouTube is a site that pays you for watching YouTube videos.

The only downside is that you have to be addicted to YouTube videos, as each one you watch only pays half a cent. As an hourly rate, that’s not very good, but if you were going to watch the videos anyway, what the heck?

You can earn a bit more by contributing in the ratings, adding comments to the videos, and referring other people.

2. Earn Points with Viggle

Viggle will pay you, in points, to listen to music and to watch TV shows. You can download this as an app on android and Apple devices.

Once you have enough points you can redeem for rewards such as gift cards, music downloads, and more. Viggle users have reportedly earned over $19 million in rewards so far.

3. Watch Netflix For Money

The jobs don’t come up very often, but Netflix has openings from time to time for people to watch their movies and shows and make sure they are categorized properly.

Netflix call these people “taggers”.

The hours will be long, but watching the shows is in all likelihood what you were going to do in any case.

Look for openings on the Netflix job board.

4. Get Paid to Watch TV Commercials

If you register on HitBliss.com, when you watch TV shows, movies, and ads you earn cash – that is you “earn cash”, as the cash you earn can only be spent in the HitBliss store to rent movies, and is not paid out in money.

Nevertheless, it saves you having to spend to rent the latest movies, so it keeps money in your pocket.

5. Get Paid $8/hr to Watch TV as a Professional TV Watcher

You can be paid as a job to watch television.

You have to be more than a couch potato, though.

Professional TV watchers do things like watch different shows and identify clips that can be used in other programs such as “The Daily Show” or in the news programs. These clips must encapsulate the point that is being made.

The amount you get can vary a lot. Jimmy Kimmel’s show used to offer $500 – $600 a week back in 2005.

A job posting on EntertainmentCareers said that the starting pay would be $8 per hour, and that those who were employed would need to pay close attention to details. You can read more about it on InvestoPedia.

Another website you can look at is WorkInEntertainment.com, another industry site, or you can look at the general job boards and search for the keywords “TV watcher”.

6. Get Paid to Play TV Trivia Games

Update: Unfortunately, RewardTV has shut down after 14 years.

You can watch what you like, and then find questions about it on RewardTV.

The website offers you trivia questions on all manner of programs, and by answering these you can earn rewards points.

As with the other websites, points can be redeemed for gift cards, cash, or other things. And every day you play you get an automatic entry into a $10,000 sweepstakes.

This is a great website to visit with friends, because then you can test each other on your own favorite programs, or all join together to try and get a perfect score. And all the time you are racking up points on your account, while enjoying yourself!

7. Get Paid to Watch Movie Trailers & Commercials

Unlike some of the other programs, in this case they are really interested in your opinions, and not just wanting you to log in hours and hours of viewing.

You can get paid to watch movie trailers, as the research companies help movie companies figure out which trailers work best before they are put out for publicity.

Another type of video is advertising for food and other products. Once again, the market research companies want to find out which adverts will work, and appreciate feedback from the public, for which they will pay.

Some of the market research companies you can check out are:

8. Enter to Win a Scholarship

CableTV.com is currently running a promotion that allows you to win $1000 for school by watching TV.

It is interested in getting photos of you watching TV in your favorite place, and wants you to write an essay describing why you chose that place, as well as detailing what show you’re watching and on what device.

These scholarship opportunities are offered at regular intervals, so if you are interested and there’s nothing on at the moment make sure you bookmark the site and come back at intervals to check on the next promotion.

9. Become a Part of Nielsen Family

As you probably know, Nielsen is a respected company that tracks the viewing habits and provides ratings for TV programs.

Reportedly Nielsen is increasing the number of families who take part in its surveys, so you might be lucky.

The families get paid for their opinions, and also influence what gets shown on TV.

The trouble is you can’t simply apply. Nielsen put it like this, “We cannot ask every home to participate, so we carefully select a sample of homes in your community to represent the entire TV audience. To be statistically accurate, it is essential that our samples be randomly selected. Every household in the US has a chance of being selected, no matter where it is located.”

So as long as you’re included in “every household”, then there’s hope.

10. You Cubez

You Cubez, at you-cubez.com, is an advertising agency. They offer advertisers guaranteed views of their websites, for which the advertisers pay. So they need people who will view the websites.

You can sign up with them to view websites, complete online surveys, and watch videos, and you get paid a portion of the fees that they are paid.

How To Earn Real Money By Watching Videos

If you introduce friends to the website, you will get paid extra.

11. SwagBucks

SwagBucks offers another easy way to earn a little cash.

You can get free gift cards for watching videos, taking surveys, playing games, searching the web, or even for shopping online.

It’s free to join and offers gift cards to many popular stores.

There is also an option for you to receive money back through PayPal, and the site has sweepstakes where you can win gift cards, a PlayStation, or other things.

12. QuickRewards

QuickRewards is for UK, US, and Canadian viewers, and by now you probably have a good idea how it works.

Yes, you watch videos, fill out surveys, play games, etc. and earn rewards.

The rewards will be paid out on PayPal or with credits to Amazon, Walmart, or Disney.

13. Earn Cash for Viewing Ads on Successbux

It’s probably struck you by now that you have to do a lot before you can receive any reward with these programs.

In which case, let me introduce Successbux.

With this program you can look at videos and adverts for rewards, and you will soon be cashing in. That’s because it has the very low threshold of $1.10 before you can get the money sent to your PayPal account – most other programs require you to earn $10 or more before they will pay out.

14. Get Paid to Watch Ads on Your Phone

Slide Joy is an app for your phone, which allows you to earn money with very little effort.

It works by taking over your phone’s home screen, littering it with ads and/or news stories. When you want to use your phone, you simply slide to the right and get on with your business.

If you’re interested in the ad, then you slide to the left and find out more details.

That’s really all there is to it.

Whether you slide to the left or slide to the right, your account still gets credited with points. Build up the number of points, and you can ask for a payout to PayPal.

15. App Nana

App Nana is another rewards program in the form of an app for your phone, this one rewards you with points, or “Nanas” for doing various things, such as trying out new apps, playing games, or looking at advertisements.

Your Nanas can be redeemed for Amazon gift cards, things from the iTunes store, paid apps or paid games.

16. Creations Rewards

Creations Rewards is another site for earning gift cards doing things you probably already do.

In addition to watching videos, you can complete surveys, visit websites, and do online shopping.

At the moment, they even have a $5 sign-up bonus, simply for joining.

Watch Videos For Money

You have a selection of videos to watch, including movie trailers, and clips from TV shows, as well as advertisements.

17. AdFun

AdFun is an app with a difference. It encourages social networking.

It’s available in the Google play store.

It’s a sort of bidding game, where you can bid along with your friends. Of course, you earn points by watching videos too.

There are many aspects to Adfun, far too many to explain here.

18. Earn Cash to Watch Perk TV

Perk TV is similar to Viggle. You watch videos and television and earn points for doing so.

There’s a variety of rewards available (Amazon, Target, Walmart, etc). You need 1000 points per dollar value for most gift cards or you can get cash via PayPal; you can donate to charity, or you can even get electronics and Perk merchandise. It is reported that you can earn a few dollars a day. Go to the website for full information.

19. A Nonspecific TV Watching Position: Pet Sitting!

If all you want to do is watch TV and earn money, you might consider becoming a pet sitter.

You can stay overnight, or stay at a house while the owner is on vacation.

Sure, you have to make sure that Fido is fed, let out when necessary, and given regular walks, but that still leaves a lot of time for you to sit around watching the owner’s TV.

Fido may even watch it with you, on the couch!

20. Finding Other TV Watching Positions

The general job boards don’t have all the possible TV watching vacancies. They are good place to start, but now and then you should also try doing a general search with Google.

Note that under Search Tools, Google allows you to specify the time frame, so you can set this to past week or past month to look only at the latest vacancies.

How Much Money Can You Make Watching Videos?

With few if any exceptions, you are not going to quit your job taking part in the suggested activities.

But depending how much you get into it, you can earn some nice spending money or store credits.

Pick a couple that take your fancy, sign up, and see how you like it.

So, whether you ardently or casually are interested in watching videos, you will find opportunities to earn some money. You don’t necessarily have to watch advertisements all the time, but can pick and choose the type of “work” that you want to do from the selection above.

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. We may receive a commission when you click on them, but this is at no extra cost to you. Read our privacy policy for more information.

Want to Make Extra Money?

• Survey Junkie: Earn up to $50 per survey with the highest-paying survey site on the web. Join Survey Junkie Now
• Swagbucks: Make money watching videos, taking surveys, shopping online and more. Join Swagbucks Now & Get a $5 Bonus
• Mistplay: Earn free cash by playing games online with friends from your mobile phone. Join Mistplay Now For a 50 Unit Bonus
• MobileXpression: Earn free money (passive income) just by leaving an app installed on your phone. Join MobileXpression Now & Get a Free Gift Card in One Week

You’ve seen over and over the different articles about earning extra money with Apps.

The majority of them are survey sites in which maybe you just don’t have the time or the patience to work through.

Not to worry, you can still earn a considerable amount just by watching videos. Here are eighteen sites that pay you to watch Ads.

Table of Contents

1. Swagbucks

Swagbucks does have surveys listed, but you can earn by doing so much more.

You can also earn by shopping online through their site, search the web with their browser, check out deals, play games, as well as watch videos.

You can download their App, hit Play videos and put your phone down and do other activities while it continues to play.

2. FusionCash

I listed this one last as they do offer earnings for viewing videos it’s very limited and you must have the window open and viewable at all times.

Nonetheless, FusionCash gives you another way to earn by watching videos.

Now you have 18 different sites to watch videos instead of those long, countless surveys. An added bonus is that these sites will give you a bonus of $5 or $10 for signing up!

The quickest way to earn towards your gift card or cash is to do the “Daily Tasks” that many of these sites have – usually just 5 things, refer your friends to the program – you could earn from their earnings, then let the videos run while you do other chores, work online, or even while you sleep.

Cycle through each App or website each day, or designate a day for each site only. In due time you’ll earn several free gift cards and cash.

3. InboxDollars

I love InboxDollars for it’s ease of use and many options to earn points.

Not only are there surveys, you can also shop, play games, watch videos on the website, and other options – you can download the App which is just for watching videos only.

You also earn a scratch & win card after a certain amount of earning actions as well as after a certain number of videos.

The number of videos you can view a day on the App is limited, but not so much that you can’t play them all night while you sleep.

4. MyPoints

I have earned countless gift cards on this site through their shopping portal as well as from reading emails. They’ve recently added a video portal on the MyPoints site.

You do need to stay on the video page and view several in a row before getting your earnings and they must be viewable otherwise the timer pauses.

Instead you can download their video viewing only App called Daily Scoop.

5. EarningStation

Another survey site that offers more than surveys. EarningStation also gives you the choice to play games, check out offers, print coupons, play games, shop and watch videos.

An Android App is available and even though the F.A.Q. says there’s an iOS App, I cannot locate it anywhere.

Nonetheless, you can have the website open on a browser and play videos while working or browsing on another tab.

6. CashCrate

Another small-task site with offers, surveys, shopping, referrals and a daily “check in”.

CashCrate pays to watch videos, but there’s a slight catch – they’ll flash 2 numbers across the video screen while the video is playing and you have to enter these numbers at the end in order to be credited.

7. National Consumer Panel

This site is a consumer data site where you scan products you’ve purchased to earn points. You either use your smartphone camera, or they’ll send you an actual scanner to use.

After a while, the National Consumer Panel will send you videos and you’ll need to answer questions about the videos.

8. QuickRewards

Another basic survey site that also offers video viewing for points. QuickRewards is slightly different from the “mainstream” reward sites as you can actually be more specific to how you want to earn.

For example instead of joining the whole site, you can opt for “Shop & Save” (shopping only), “Paid for your Opinions” (surveys only), or the “Earn Cash Online” (offers, emails, videos and more).

Watch Videos For Money On Your Phone

9. Perk

Perk has several different Apps under it’s name that does a variety of things such as shopping, quizzes, scratch & win, television check-in, and watching videos.

The video viewing App is called PerkTV. I have claimed about $50 in Amazon cards through their video App.

It used to be that you could run it all night without interruptions, but they’ve recently changed that and started asking if you’re still watching.

10. CashPirate

This is a downloadable App that pays you to watch videos, download free games and apps, product trials, surveys and others.

You can make about 300 “coins” a day on CashPirate, in a week (7 days) you’ll have 2,100 points. 2,500 points is needed for a $2.50 PayPal card. It seems to be a quicker earning site than most.

11. Viggle

Viggle is one of Perk’s Apps and it’s a great App to use if you watch a lot of television or streaming services.

You simply play your television show, get the App to “listen” and when the correct show pops up, check in and forget it.

It plays videos intermittently, but you can just put your phone down and watch your show. Check in to a new show to start over again.

12. CheckPoints

Even though this is a shopping rebate App, CheckPoints does have a great video player on it.

You can earn hundreds of points just watching videos, the only drawback is you have to close each ad that plays between videos to keep continuing.

13. Creations Rewards

Earn rewards the same way as many other sites on Creation Rewards that includes watching videos too.

Their video page has two types of videos – unlimited videos to stream (the EngageMe videos) and others are one time viewing for points and they disappear after you’ve watched them.

14. AdFun

This website and App is completely different from the rest I’ve mentioned. This is a prize bidding site.

You can be part of a team or go solo, chat online with friends and your team and earn bidding money by watching videos.

You can select what sponsor you prefer to win prizes from and much more. Basically you watch videos to earn “money” towards a prize to bid on.

15. AppNana

This is an App that pays “Nanas” to download games and Apps. The great thing about AppNana is that you get these games and Apps for free instead of their regular cost.

You then redeem the Nanas for free gift cards for Amazon, iTunes, Google Play or Xbox. You also earn Nanas for watching videos as well.

It does take a while to earn up points, but for free games and Apps, why not?

16. Netflix

Yes, you can earn some money working for Netflix. The opportunity to work as a “tagger” is rare but keeping an eye on their job page you may get lucky.

It’s only a part-time job but if you’re a binge-watcher, this is a great side hustle to have.

17. YouTube

Yes, you can get paid to watch YouTube videos on any topic you like. Just sign up at Paid2YouTube and start watching.

You can earn more for commenting, rating videos and referring friends. You earn 0.005 per video, 0.10 per comment, 0.01 per rating and 0.15 for each subscription you make.

18. App Trailers

This site pays you to watch videos about new Apps, video games, movie trailers and such.

The only drawback to using App Trailer is that you have to click next to see the next video, so this is a one at a time video viewer.

Final Thoughts

We hope you’ve enjoyed this list of 18 sites that pay you to watch ads. See one that’s not on this list and should be? Feel free to let us know in the comments below. Thanks for reading and happy frugaling.