How to watch American TV in Europe
Chris
Chris, a UK-born media connoisseur, is an expert in watching international TV. Known as "The Global Screen Wanderer", he has travelled extensively across the globe with long stints away from home. With over 10 years of experience he has become the go-to guru for streaming content from home and abroad.
In this guide we’re going to show you the best and easiest way to watch American TV in Europe.
Let’s face it, America makes some of the best TV content in the world and if you like movies and drama you can’t really beat US quality.
Unfortunately American TV shows and movies aren’t as easy to access in Europe as you would like and whether you’re an American travelling or living in Europe or you’re a European who just wants to access more American TV then we’ve got the answer.
All you’re going to need to watch American TV in Europe is a simple app called a VPN and below we’ll show you where to get one and how you can use it to watch American TV in Europe.
How to watch American TV in Europe
The best and easiest way to watch American TV in Europe is to use American online streaming services.
Most big networks both free and subscription-only offer online streaming. However, if you’re outside America and you try to access these you’ll be blocked from viewing. You’ll likely see a block message similar to this:
The reason you’re blocked is because the website you’re trying to watch knows you’re in Europe.
To unblock this you’ll need to get yourself an app called a VPN. A VPN allows you to change your online location. A good VPN suitable for watching video will cost around US$5 – $10 per month and the longer you sign up for the cheaper it becomes.
Just follow the instructions below which show you where you can get a VPN and more importantly, how to use it to watch American TV in Europe.
How to watch American TV in Europe Step-by-Step:
- Visit the VPN provider IPVanish.
- Click Start Now and sign-up for their service.
- Download their app from your app store or their software from the “Apps” section of their website.
- Once installed and logged in, select the United States.
- Press Connect.
Once connected all you need to do is visit your favourite American TV online streaming service and rather than see the block message like earlier you’ll be able to stream American TV in Europe.
There’s also a helpful list of American TV online sites further down in this article to get you started.
Take a look at the example images below that show you how easy it is to connect on both a mobile device and a regular computer.
Android / iOS:
Windows / Mac:
There are tons of other VPN providers too and you don’t need to stick with IPVanish.
We recommend IPVanish because in our tests we found them the fastest which is great news for streaming video in Europe. It means you’ll have the best chance of avoiding buffering which may happen with a slower provider due to the distance between America and Europe.
If you’ve got time on your hands and you want to shop around then three other VPN providers that are worth considering are:
American TV Websites
There are plenty of American TV websites that you can watch in Europe with your VPN service.
Some are free-to-air and others require that you have a subscription. You can access both as long as you have a valid account for the subscription based services.
You may want to try some of these:
There are plenty of others too and a quick search of Google will bring up many more.
Why is American TV blocked in Europe
Like most countries, TV networks only want to broadcast to their local area. Either due to rights issues or due to advertising.
I mean, who wants to buy a snow blower if you live in Spain for example? Advertisers don’t want to pay to advertise to a none target audience.
Every internet connection is assigned what is known as an IP Address.
An IP Address is a set of numbers that are unique to your internet connection at the time. Unfortunately your IP Address also gives away what country you’re in.
When you try to visit an American TV streaming website in Europe it knows by your IP Address and so blocks you as you saw in the example earlier in this article.
A VPN works by giving you a new IP Address and with a VPN provider like IPVanish you can choose the country. In the case of watching American TV in Europe you can connect to America and get a US IP Address.
The websites you visit now think you’re in America even though you’re in Europe and so instead of blocking you they allow you to stream the videos as if you were in the United States.
Don’t forget all it takes is a VPN and you can be watching American TV in Europe or anywhere else in the world for that matter. So what are you waiting for?
