Although most of us don’t necessarily watch television, we can’t help but feel great when mentioning US TV channels. ABC, The CW, HBO, and many others are the pinnacle of the TV industry and entertainment, offering varied, interesting, and fresh content.
Unfortunately for the rest of the planet, people can’t watch American TV outside of the US, as the channels are geo-restricted to this country only. That’s why many people want to access US TV channels abroad and enjoy all of their glorious shows, movies, and series.
The good thing is that is entirely possible, even though you’re not located in the United States. Today, my task is to show you how to do that and make sure you know everything about bypassing this annoying geo-restriction.
Why I Can’t Watch US TV Abroad?
Let’s start with an explanation of why you can’t watch US TV outside of the United States. TV channels in different countries are known for geo-blocks that make these channels available only in their native countries.
The same applies to channels in the UK, Australia, Norway, India, or any other location. The content they show is meant only for the users in these countries and that comes down to licensing and streaming rights. Showing the content abroad would result in a copyright violation.
That’s because these channels have the license to broadcast their content only in their respective countries. If you thought there were other reasons involved, you’re wrong. There’s always a legal background that many people don’t want to see.
Here’s what happens when you try to watch HBO MAX abroad. As you can see, you get an error message if you’re not in the US, indicating exactly what I said. You’re out of the region where the channel has streaming rights, hence, you’re not allowed to watch anything.
How to Watch American TV Abroad (Live and On Demand)
There’s a light at the end of the tunnel, though. By using a VPN, you can alter your IP address to another country and by doing so, change your online location. In simple words, you’ll need to get a US IP address which will make any site you visit see you as if you’re located in America.
And that, my friends, should allow you to watch US TV outside of the USA. Beware that not all VPNs will allow you to unblock US TV channels like ABC, HBO, The CW, History Channel, and others, so choosing the right one is the key.
In the steps below, I’ll show you which VPN I used to watch American TV channels in my country (Eastern Europe) as well as the steps I took to make it work.
1. Subscribe to ExpressVPN
My #1 choice for bypassing geo-blocks and unblocking foreign TV channels is ExpressVPN. It has 3,000 servers in 105 countries around the globe, with 20+ locations in America. As such, getting an IP from the US is easy and will let you bypass geo-restrictions.
Besides, it offers a 49% discount for its annual plan, where ExpressVPN sprinkles over 3 FREE months on top of that. This, along with a 30-day money-back guarantee, makes the entire purchase risk-free, as you can always get a refund in the first 30 days if you don’t need it anymore.
Watch US TV Abroad With ExpressVPN
I recommend using the button above to claim this cheapest deal. After that, just choose the payment method, enter your email, and subscribe – it’s pretty simple.
2. Install ExpressVPN on Your Device
Installing ExpressVPN on your device is easy, as well. It supports all devices, so you can get this VPN for iOS, Android, Windows, Linux, macOS, and even Smart TV and Fire TV Stick. For this tutorial, I’ll show you how to use it on Windows but the app looks identical on all other platforms.
Once you download the setup file, simply install it and open the app afterward. It should look like this:
3. Connect to a VPN Server in the United States.
You now need to get a US IP. To do that, simply connect to a VPN server in this country. Open the server list, select All Locations, and click on Americas. You’ll see the US below it, and on Windows, double-click on it to connect to a VPN server in the country.
On iOS/Android, you’ll have to tap just once to achieve the same effect:
Once the connection is established, ExpressVPN will turn from orange to green, which tells us that the connection is successful and that the new US IP is in place.
4. Visit a US TV Channel of Your Choice and Start Watching!
All you have to do now is watch American TV outside of the US (live and on-demand) – go ahead, you know it’ll work. With a US IP, I tried watching ABC and as you can see, it’s pretty successful:
The same will apply to other TV channels from this country as long as you have an American IP from ExpressVPN. This is the best VPN with servers in the US.
CyberGhost: An Alternative VPN to Watch US TV Abroad
Another great provider I also use is CyberGhost. If you find ExpressVPN a bit more expensive and you don’t like it for whatever reason, you can try CyberGhost as a cheaper alternative. This provider is known for 9,500+ worldwide servers but also dedicated streaming servers.
They’re made for unblocking geo-restricted streaming platforms and TV channels and on the server list, you can find servers for channels like HBO Max, NFL+, NBC, Comedy Central, Fox TV, Sling TV, and many others.
Not to mention that it’s very affordable and offers a 2-year plan that will cost you almost a pocket change per month. The provider includes a 45-day money-back guarantee as well, so you can try CyberGhost for free if you want.
Much like ExpressVPN, it offers great speeds for streaming and most importantly – it really works for this purpose. Once you choose one of the servers from this country, you can watch a myriad of American TV channels abroad – take a look:
I’ve unblocked NBC using CyberGhost, but of course, you can do the same with any other TV channel in this country.
NordVPN Works With US TV Channels: Check It Out!
NordVPN is a popular option for security enthusiasts looking to stay anonymous online. However, aside from its wide gamut of features, the provider is very capable of streaming. It’ll unblock 15+ Netflix catalogs, along with a myriad of US TV channels outside of the US.
For those uninformed, NordVPN packs 5,500 servers in 60 countries and 2,000+ of them are in the United States. As such, it’s extremely easy to find the server, connect to it, and watch US TV abroad, both live and on-demand, depending on the channel.
Like its two previous rivals, NordVPN is equipped with every security feature you can expect. Plus, it stores no logs and offers this NordLynx protocol based on WireGuard, which boosts the performance further. We’d also like to point out that it works on all devices.
Therefore, it’s easy to unblock US TV channels abroad on your phone, tablet, laptop, or desktop computer. SmartPlay is another integral feature, which is actually SmartDNS. This allows you to stream on every device and set up the provider to work on every US TV channel + Netflix US catalog.
Watch US TV Channels With NordVPN
Of course, you’ll be able to snag a special discount on NordVPN through our site. Use the button above to claim a 2-year deal with a 30-day money-back guarantee at a pretty low price. Once you set it up, connect to one of the 2,000+ servers in the US and watch US TV live abroad. Easy-peasy!
The best VPNs to watch American TV from anywhere:
6300 servers
111 covered countries
30 days money-back guarantee
10 simultaneous connections
9.8 /10
3000 servers
105 covered countries
30 days money-back guarantee
8 simultaneous connections
9.4 /10
12000 servers
100 covered countries
45 days money-back guarantee
7 simultaneous connections
9.2 /10
Can I Watch US TV Outside of the US With a Free VPN?
Unblocking US TV abroad is quite tricky, as these channels have solid anti-VPN measures put in place. This is used for obvious reasons – to prevent users abroad from accessing content that’s not meant for them.
While paid providers like ExpressVPN, NordVPN, or CyberGhost can easily bypass these blocks, free VPNs, unfortunately, can’t do that in 99% of the cases. Free providers are notoriously bad as they limit your bandwidth and performance, making them not great for streaming from the start.
For example, I recently reviewed Windscribe and in this review, I stated that it’ll work with some streaming platforms and TV channels, all while offering 10 GB of monthly bandwidth. You’ll agree that 10 GB isn’t enough for watching more than 3 movies or episodes of a show.
To that, we should add slow speeds and poor device compatibility, which usually prevents you from installing a free VPN on Fire TV Stick or Smart TV. Last but not least, many free VPNs are known for intrusive logging that ruins your privacy and makes you an easy target for advertisers.
By collecting and selling your data to the highest bidder, “free” providers ensure their existence at the cost of your privacy. All in all, I strongly recommend avoiding them if you can because they’ll do you nothing good – but at least try them to see what I’m talking about.
In the long run, for privacy, security, streaming, and other benefits paid VPNs are a way to go. Even the best free VPN for PC (or any other platform) can hardly help you here.
Bottom Line
Despite their unavailability abroad, watching US TV outside of the United States is, after all, not something impossible to do. By using a VPN like ExpressVPN, CyberGhost, or NordVPN you can easily unblock these TV channels no matter your location, even if you’re located thousands of miles away.
It’s important to get an IP address from the United States and that alone will make these channels see this as your real location. In doing so, you can unblock your favorite channels, watch HBO, and Netflix US, or access geo-restricted US betting sites anywhere (like DraftKings).
FAQ
In the end, I think it’s time to talk about a few other things related to American TV that I haven’t talked about.
🤑 Can I watch US TV outside of the US for free?
Let’s first clarify what it means to watch them for free. If you’re thinking about free VPNs, they won’t work in a way that they can’t unblock geo-restricted TV channels. And if some of them can, it’s limited bandwidth that will prevent you from enjoying these channels to the fullest.
If you’re thinking about the channels being free, unfortunately, that isn’t the case with the majority of them. I found out that ABC won’t require a cable TV subscription in many cases, so you can watch it even if you haven’t subscribed to any TV provider.
However, pretty much any other channel will require this subscription, which isn’t free. Thankfully, US TV channels support 100+ providers, so as long as you have at least one subscription, you can easily sign in and start watching anywhere – with a VPN.
On the other hand, we have subscription-based channels like HBO and Disney+, which tend to cost a lot more. Either way, if you’re a US resident and you’re on a vacation abroad, you surely won’t have any issues as pretty much all of us have a subscription to a TV provider.
⚖️ Is it legal to unblock US TV channels abroad?
Yes, it is legal to unblock these channels anywhere. In fact, using a VPN is completely legal and you won’t face any charges if you’re looking to stay anonymous online and bypass geo-restrictions. In short – you can use a VPN to watch US TV outside of the United States without the fear of legal issues.
Some channels might forbid the use of VPN but that shouldn’t bother you. It’s just a rule of the site, which, if violated, can result, at worst, in the ban on your account. However, we haven’t heard of a single case of an account ban for something like this.
Do you know someone whose account is banned on ABC, The CW, and other channels? We don’t, to be frank. While we recommend respecting the terms and conditions of each TV channel, we can’t lie to you and tell you that you’ll end up in jail for unblocking US TV with a VPN. You won’t – it’s completely safe.
🧰 American TV isn’t working with a VPN – why?
Sometimes, when trying to access US TV abroad, you’ll notice that you still can’t unblock the shows and movies you want. Usually, the problem lies in the VPN and its level of quality if you’re using a free provider. In this case, changing to ExpressVPN or CyberGhost should fix the issue.
However, if you’re using a quality VPN and it still isn’t working, you can try switching to another browser, clearing the browser cache, and selecting another server in the US. Sometimes, your browser can leak your IP or DNS, which contains info about your location.
But if you switch to, let’s say, Brave or Edge, the solution might work. Conversely, if you’re using a server in New York, try switching to Washington or Atlanta, for example. By doing so, you’re still in the USA but in a different state/city, which often ends up working.
