How to Stream ITV Abroad in 2021 – It’s Simple
If you’re an expat living abroad and want to keep up with your favourite British TV shows, then this blog post is for you! Whether you’re in America, Australia or anywhere else in the world, it’s still possible to be watching ITV from abroad. The only thing that separates people who live in the UK from those in the US for example is a small piece of water called “the Atlantic Ocean.” In this article we’ll show you how to stream ITV online no matter where you are.
ITV stands for Independent Television and it’s the UK’s largest commercial television network. It’s a free to air channel that was set up in 1955 to provide competition to BBC Television. It currently has six main channels which cater for different audiences all of which are broadcast and streamed online much like the BBC’s iPlayer site. All of these channels are streamed online via the ITV Hub website, where you can watch live and any of the programmes from the archive.
Although ITV covers most genres it’s perhaps most famous for it’s period dramas and soaps. Over the years, it has produced dozens of brilliant detective shows for example ranging from Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot to more up to date ones like Midsomer’s Murders. All are big budget, top quality productions which rival some of the best in the world. From over 70 years of broadcasting there’s obviously a lot to choose from and a huge selection of some of the most popular shows available on the ITV Hub. Let’s not also forget shows like Coronation Street and Downton Abbey which are known pretty much worldwide.
How to Stream ITV Abroad – Watch ITV Hub from Anywhere
The ITV Hub also has a selection of programmes which are licensed from other UK channels such as the BBC. Another option is to use one of the many online streaming services that are available, for example Netflix and Amazon Prime Video which have a good number of British TV shows on their platforms.
All the current channels are available live 24/7 on their web streaming platform – just access ITV Hub online. There’s also an ITV app which you can install on your phone or mobile device if you prefer to watch live TV on the move. This site also includes thousands of box sets and programmes from their back catalogue too.
Can I Stream ITV Abroad
Unfortunately the wonderful ITV website, which is easily as good as many expensive cable packages is only available free of charge if you live in the United Kingdom. If you try and access from outside the UK then you will get blocked from accessing any of the content. It’s particularly annoying when you discover you can’t watch ITV abroad and enjoy your favorite ITV shows when on holiday too. Basically like many other geo-targeting sites when you connect it will look up to see where your IP address is registered to. If it’s not located in the United Kingdom then you’ll not be able to watch any of the shows or channels. Without some help, you’ll find ITV Hub doesn’t work anywhere outside the UK.
Fortunately there’s a way to bypass this issue, in fact it’s relatively simple to watch ITV Hub abroad if you know how ! Indeed the ‘fix’ can work for any of the thousands of other websites which do this. Here’s a short video detailing the process of unblocking ITV on a computer using something called a VPN service –
How to watch ITV Hub abroad with a VPN
It’s not difficult and there are millions of retired ex-pats who use a VPN app like this to unblock ITV Hub app and BBC iPlayer every day. Don’t be worried about using a VPN (virtual private network), it’s very simple to use if you choose the right one. They don’t cost much and even the premium ones are only a few euros, it’s worth buying a premium VPN though as the very cheap ones rarely work well. The problem is that they put too many users on each server which means that the video stutters and worse they are often blocked. You may come across a couple of free VPN applications, be very careful with these. As usual in life, rarely is something completely free they are they normally are financed with adware or sharing your internet connection with paying customers!
You will need an ITV Hub account though, you can use one set up while in the UK. If you’re creating one abroad, just remember to ensure you’re connected to a UK server before you register. They will ask you for a UK postcode (like a US Zip code) when you register, just pick any valid one and you’ll be watching UK TV in minutes.
Here’s the VPN we used in the above demonstration – NordVPN
The Future of Geotargeting
Unfortunately this procedure only seems to be accelerating and not just among streaming platforms. A few years ago there were only a few websites across the world that restricted or limited access based on your location. Nowadays almost every major site will at least assess your location when you visit them. Not all of them restrict access currently but many charge different prices or redirect you to specific areas.
Much of the media companies use of this technology is mainly driven by the rather archaic licensing arrangements of the content they distribute. For example the rights will often limit the streaming of a movie to a specific country. Netflix has this issue but only with the movies and programmes it buys the rights to.
However the biggest increase is definitely to do with profit maximisation. Companies have long realised that they can charge different prices to different markets and geo-targeting allows them to do this online.
If you want to watch ITV Hub content from anywhere in the world, or if you have a family member living abroad and they miss their favourite shows back home, then a VPN is your best bet. We’ve provided our best choice for a VPN that will be perfect for watching geo-restricted TV programs on channels like ITV Hub. Keep reading to learn more about how these services can help keep you connected with friends and family no matter where life takes them!
Using a VPN makes lots of sense in today’s online world even beyond wanting to stream ITV hub. Not only can you bypass all the blocks and filters but they’re also important for online privacy, hiding both your data and identity when online. The best VPNs work seamlessly in the background allowing you access to all the popular services in other countries using a single account.
Best VPNs for streaming ITV Hub abroad
There are a whole load of VPNs to choose from as you’ll discover when you have a look around. In theory any VPN which gives you access to UK servers should be enough for ITV to play abroad. The site willl pick up the UK IP address of the server and everything should be fine during your travels abroad.
In practice this doesn’t always work, simply because ITV like all the main media sites tries to stop this practice to prevent ITV access abroad.
Here’s a quick list of the main VPN services you’ll come across – I have tried them all over the years. Please remember though apart from NordVPN I have used some of these for a few months so not sure what they’re like now.
Check them out first.
NordVPN
My current preferred VPN for ITV Hub in 2021 is definitely NordVPN because it works. Last year it stopped working with ITV for a couple of days, mind you every other VPN did too. However they fixed the problem quickly and it’s been working ever since. Make sure you use their ‘BBC preferred servers’, which they optimize for access to UK Television.
Surfshark
Love the interface and it usually worked pretty well with ITV Hub. My problem with Surfshark was speed, too often it slowed my connection down and watching live TV with lags and freezes is very frustrating. Decent price though.
ExpressVPN
Another intuitive interface which is easy to use, one of the biggest VPNs companies close to NordVPN. A bit more expensive than some, however access to ITV and BBC was fairly unreliable in my experience. that experience has been reinforced by lots of people I know who have become frustrated by access to the BBC in particular.
CyberGhost
Speed could be a bit intermittent with CyberGhost – in fact it was often terrible. I was not very keen on the interface either which seemed a bit difficult to use. The one point that stopped me using was security concerns, the company who own Cyberghost are an Israeli company called Kape Technologies. This company own quite a few ‘security products’ and have some history of security issues including malware distribution under their previous name as Crossrider (worth googling). I’d certainly not bother with this product again.
Hotspot Shield
Had a terrible reputation regarding dubious business practices in the past (just google). However apparently they’ve been transferred to a new company who run it as a proper secure service. It’s still not very quick though which is my main issue with it, last time I checked though it wasn’t blocked by ITV or BBC a couple of years ago.
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