BBC iPlayer USA

Back in 2007 the BBC started allowing people to watch TV shows that had been recently broadcast online through its iPlayer service. From the moment it entered a public beta (and in fact before that even for those of us who found the test streams) watching the BBC online became very popular. However unlike those early test streams the actual iPlayer content was only accessible from the United Kingdom, the BBC were using IP addresses to establish your location and restrict the programming accordingly. The service allows you to watch all BBC channels both live, and in most cases up to 7 days after they are broadcast.

Since then just about all the UK TV channels have become available online in one form or another, but each and ever one of them has been restricted to those living in the UK using the same method as used for BBC iPlayer.

Thus if you were living in the USA you could not in theory get access to the iPlayer service, there has never been an iPlayer USA service.

As it happens the solution is pretty easy, it worked back in 2007 and it still works today (in fact it will work for as long as there is an iPlayer service and an Internet to run it on!).

All you need to do is make it 'look' like you are in the UK, and you can do this by using a VPN or a proxy server.

Now it is possible to do this for free, however I don't recommend it at all. To start with the setup is quite complex, and you need to adjust the setup frequently, and the overall performance of the free options is pretty bad. They may be acceptable if you are just visiting northern France for a few week, but living on the other side of the Atlantic you will find they just do cut it. There is also a very considerable security risk in using the free methods, in that you don't know who you are connecting through.

It is far better to work with a reputable company offering proxy or VPN connections, in the past I have used the proxy only hide-my-ip with there premium proxy upgrade (which gives you an iPlayer USA proxy). However they only offer proxy solutions, so you can't download from BBC iPlayer in the USA or watch most of the other UK TV channels through it. These days I prefer to use a program called Identity Cloaker which gives both VPN and proxy solutions for about $10 a month.

Now there is no need to go in to the difference between proxy and VPN, all that is important is they allow you to watch UK TV abroad! If you want to know which option is best for each of the UK TV channels then you can find that information at getTVabroad.

Please be aware that neither of these companies advertise the fact their software can be used to watch TV, they take this use seriously but they don't publicise it.

Now of course I can understand you may want to test this out for yourself, and luckily they have a 10 day trial you can take out for about $7. At the end of your 10 days they will NOT auto bill you, if you dont want to watch any more UK TV then you can you need do nothing more.

If you want to know more leave me a comment at the bottom of the page, or visit the large link just below!