How to Watch BBC from the U.S. — An American Guide to BBC iPlayer

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If you or a loved one has ever lived in the U.K., you might find it painful going without BBC iPlayer while you're abroad. Unlike most streaming services you might find in the U.S., iPlayer is a free service for U.K. residents, funded off of TV licenses paid by U.K. taxpayers. As a result, both bespoke U.K. shows and films such as Doctor Who, Wallace and Gromit, and much more can be accessed merely by logging into your BBC account and clicking play. That said, it's time to learn how to watch BBC from the U.S.

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Even beyond the expected content, iPlayer offers documentaries in film or episodic formats, music videos, or live concert recordings. Of course, it also offers live and recorded news broadcasts. Last but certainly not least; sports. Cricket, tennis, and soccer, or football, as they'd call it. It wouldn't be too much of a stretch to call BBC iPlayer a lifeline to British culture. As mentioned, there's just one catch — you might find it tricky to access it outside of the U.K., whether you've moved out of the country entirely, or are traveling abroad for work or pleasure. BBC iPlayer is a free and reliable connection to everything British.

How to Watch BBC with BBC iPlayer from anywhere with a VPN

First and foremost; you'll need a VPN such as ExpressVPN, Private Internet Access, or NordVPN.

ExpressVPN is our recommendation thanks to its speedy and reliable connections, with plans starting from $4.99/month when paying for a 2 year plan up-front. There's no worry if things don't work out, either, with a 30-day money-back guarantee. For a cheaper option, Private Internet Access comes out to just over $2/month when paying up-front for 3 years. NordVPN currently comes out to $3.39/month when springing for a similar 2-year plan to ExpressVPN.

Next, you'll want to open up a private browsing window on your browser. While you can certainly access iPlayer on a regular window, if you access the site without your VPN, you'll end up with browsing cookies that will prevent you from accessing the service even with your VPN connection active. A private browsing window will be free of any cookies, while still allowing you to login and access the service normally, bypassing that potential issue. This also means that if you make a mistake, clearing your cookies is as simple as closing the private window and opening another.

With your VPN taken care of, the next step is creating a BBC account if you don't already have one, and then logging in. Then it's as simple as searching up what you want to watch and clicking play; for live programming you can choose whether to watch it live, or from the start of the broadcast.

What Does BBC iPlayer Offer?

Besides the obvious inclusions — sports, BBC news coverage, the usual — iPlayer also includes original BBC programming. Doctor Who, The Office U.K., and many more. As far as sports are concerned, you'll want to know the schedule for matches ahead of time, as they'll only be available on iPlayer for a short window of time. Original documentaries like Planet Earth have, so far, been available indefinitely. 

How to Watch Live BBC Channels with BBC iPlayer

When logged into your BBC account and connected via your U.K. VPN connection, you'll be able to watch live broadcasts from various BBC channels at your leisure. The available channels accessible on iPlayer are One, Two, Three, Four, Radio 1, CBBC, CBeebies, Scotland, News, Parliament, Alba and S4C. You can access these channels through the labeled "Channel" dropdown menu through the iPlayer website, and the first listing will be the currently airing programming, with a link to the specific channels schedule near the "Watch Live" and "Watch from Start" buttons.

If you're already set up for watching recorded shows and films, you're good to go with live broadcasts as well. This is where we'd like to remind you that BBC iPlayer is officially only available in the U.K., as it is funded by U.K. taxpayers in full. While iPlayer is not directly a paid service, please keep this in mind when using iPlayer at your own discretion. That being said, a VPN will make accessing iPlayer with your BBC account all the more convenient, no matter where you might find yourself.

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