Maybe one day it may happen, but BBC Iplayer in the USA doesn’t look likely soon.. But you might be interested that it is not impossible to watch BBC TV from the US. Simply getting rid of the adverts makes TV so much more watchable, if you’ve ever watched the same programme with and without commercial breaks you’ll know what I mean. The two don’t even compare, the endless breaks spoil the structure and the flow of most programmes so given the choice I try to watch UK TV abroad if I can.
So BBC Iplayer USA – how’s it done ?
Well there are surprisingly a couple of options, of bypassing the restrictions that actually block you watching from the US. It’s called geotargeting and what happens is when you connect to the BBC Iplayer web site, your IP address is looked up. All IP addresses that we use are tied to different countries, so Iplayer looks up to see where yours is registered. If it’s based in UK fine it works, anything outside the UK and you’ll get a little notice saying you cannot access the programme.
All you need to do is change the IP address that BBC Iplayer sees by using what’s called a proxy server . A proxy server is a compueter that will sit between you and the web site you visit. You have almost certainly used one before without realising, most companies or colleges route all their internet traffic though one for speed and security.
The trick to accessing the BBC Iplayer in the US is to make sure you use a UK based proxy server. When you do then the IP address that is recorded by BBC Iplayer is a UK one and you won’t be blocked from accessing BBC IPlayer abroad or from absolutely anywhere. However before you start surfing looking for a UK based proxy to access the BBC let me give you some tips.
You have two main options to using a UK proxy server, you can search for a free one or go for a paid proxy service. Obviously most people try the free route first, just as I did. There are lots of free proxies available online but unfortunately they can be hard to find, the reason is because the ones suitable for watching video online are very scarce. There are very few fast free proxies available online and when they appear they are normally overloaded in a matter of hours. So the search will be a continual one, every time you want to watch a programme you’ll have to find a new UK proxy which can get very frustrating.
There exists of course a less attractive way of accessing BBC Iplayer the united states and that’s using a paid proxy service. The drawbacks are needless to say the obvious one that it costs money, the benefits though are security,speed and reliability. Using ones of the paid proxy services means you are able to watch anytime, over a fast connection.
With the increase in all sorts of blocking, filtering and censorship, these private proxy services are becoming increasingly popular. Whichever method you use I hope you enjoy some of the best telly on the internet.