Using the BBC iPlayer outside of the UK

I wish iplayer wasn't restricted to UK. I listen to bbc radio online and there isn't any problem with that side of things.
from an frustrated world citizen.

When it will be possible watch BBC outside UK?

This 'only in the UK' stuff is unbelievable! For some reason the UK always has to put itself apart from the rest of the world. I'm surprised you brits don't have imperial computers instead of binary ones.

Oh well, they shot themselves in the foot, I'm just going back to good old youtube...

I for one would be willing to pay a license fee to access BBC programming, such as test matches, from my home in the U.S. The BBC should offer this option--if the cost of access is indeed the only issue, just let us join for a flat fee or a per-program fee!

Wait until later in the year when the joint BBC/ITV/Channel 4 pay as you watch service comes on-line - Project Kangaroo - just Google it !

..that comment about the license fee is about the stuffiest response i've heard in quite some time and makes me so happy i no longer live in the u.k

one person living in the u.s here is offering to pay your tv license fee for you. so guess what? maybe that would mean you wouldn't have to pay the bloody thing full stop

Stuffy or not, I agree with that guys comments... I used to live in the UK, now live in Canada...and trust me for the $30 or so basic cable costs...the results is sh*te TV... the licence fee seemed DAMN good value in contrast... If I could pay and get all the content Piped to Canada, I would (no BBC Canada isnt the same..and costs a fair bit for one channel...digital TV here sucks badly)

So what if thousands of people in other countries want to watch BBC tv? If you live in UK and get stuck with paying the license fee, tough luck! This kind of "unfairness" is all around you. Its called Life.

It's perfectly reasonable that UK residents should be able to access BBC programmes for free given that they've in part financed the BBC through licence fees, whilst non UK internet surfers have not. On the other hand I fail to understand why non copyrighted programmes cannot be downloaded by those outside the UK for a fee. Everyone wins, the BBC - extra revenue, the UK Licence payer - lower burden on him as the principal funder , and of course, the non UK based viewer.

I have been experimenting using a UK based proxy server to watch the programs but so far haven't been able to get around the system because the streaming versions available for the mac send back info to control the streams...

I am not sure but if you use windows then you can download the program, so if you access the website via a uk based anonymous proxy then you may be able to download the full programs and watch them in this way...

I will attempt this later in the week and post a comment to let you know if I am successful in this manner...

I actually pay the license fee in the uk but am away on business so I find it a bit frustrating to have to try and find a way to get around the system and it always seems to get harder and harder as the drm etc get more funky...

I'm with the 'we'll pay the licence fee for access' crowd. Our local Australian networks are far too timid to buy up a lot of the excellent BBC programming so we end up having to download the stuff. I'd rather do it the right way, thanks very much, even if they restricted it to stuff that the local networks have bought or jettisoned (Torchwood, for instance).

You need a SOCKS proxy to watch outside the UK.

Right. Well let us start a petition asking that the BBC offers the service for a fee to overseas users. I know that there are other problems as Setanta sports, who offer an internet based sport service, are selling the internet streaming for the 5 nations at $16.00 a time in the USA - the Beeb does it for free(Or part of that $5.00 a month license fee). So for those ex-pats who think they have it so much better think again. I pay a fortune in the USA now for TV access and to be frank, it's rubbish and expensive.

I'm British but living in the US at the moment and gutted I'm not able to watch the latest series of the Apprentice.
(I'm very sad, I know. But I saw the first episode before flying out and was instantly hooked.)
I'd definitely pay a monthly subscription or pay per show. It's doubly annoying that the BBC puts loads of clips on YouTube which I can't play because I'm out of the country.
And I'm confused because the BBC streamed its coverage of the Six Nations rugby for example which I was able to access perfectly for free online from here in New York.
And the licence fee argument surely applies to radio so why can I listen for free to BBC radio online too but not watch telly?

There are other options as well. NBC for instance offers most of its primetime shows on its websites, with a few commercial breaks. The BBC could do the same, and have commercial-free for Brits only. The other alternative would be to offer their shows through Netflix or a similar service. Netflix already offers many classic Doctor Who episodes in its Live Viewing program.

re: Martin " A lot of people in Britain don't see why you should then get to watch for free, whilst they have no choice whether to foot the bill or not."

Because you're telling us - no we won't allow you to buy-in to our programming legally - please continue to steal it via pirate bay. Gosh - you're soooo smart!

It took me 20 minutes to download it. Would have bought it off iTunes, or paid the BBC for a membership to a website - but since you're totally blind to 21st century options that's never going to happen. I get to watch regardless - BBC gets the shaft until they wake the fuck up.

@Arnoud Delporte

Like already mentioned, one reason its UK only is because its paid for by UK citizens. Having moved out of UK 3 years ago I do miss UK TV. A lot of it here is import from USA, and as a result its over censord (sp?. I do agree though, a pay per view tv would resolve this.

Secondly though, and I think the most relevant, is licensing issues. The BBC buys many of its programs from production companies to be viewed in the UK. The production companies might not want the BBC to broadcast around the world as they may have their own plans for region X. Fair enough, BBC own productions could be transmitted.

And thirdly, since I player launch Uk ISP have seen traffic peak. The UK has an awful internet infrastructure, and its about to come to a grinding halt. As a reult the ISPs want BBC to pay for the extra traffic...which in turn will be charged to the UK citizens. BT have crippled the UK by dragging their feet. INternet in Uk is expensive, slow and I cant believe there are peak hours and non peak, in which some websites are banned!

So its not becuase the UK want to be different, its becuase we want to protect our own interests first.

I live in NZ and have the same problem. I found that "Hide your IP" works. Trouble is that the speed is very slow. For some reason it knows I am outside the UK for downloads but not for live playing! Anybody know why? I removed cookies etc. I would gladly pay the BBC for downloads since US TV and NZ TV is trash with a few exceptions.

re: mgabrys

where did you get it form im in the US atm but want to watch apprentice could you help? :)
thanks

'HIde My IP' actually works great now with Firefox too.You need the premier service though for a UK IP.You must also update your Windows Media player for DRM.You can download and play later too. Use the advanced settings.

Tom, have you actually tried it and seen it working? I'm moving to NZ at the end of the year, and while I don't mind paying for the service, I'd like to know it works in my particular case.

I don't know if this has been addressed but you don't need to pay for any premier services. If you run on a pc and use Ie (don't know how to do it for a mac or firefox) just go to a website like www.xroxy.com and get a UK based proxy, in your internet options select 'use proxy' enter the information and voila. It has consistantly worked for me for streaming. Yes it's slow sometimes it loading a page, but once it streams it's fine. I don't feel too bad though considering I paid my UK tv license fee before I left the country.

Of course it would be great if iplayer was available worldwide.

However, for commenters such as Arnold Delporte, if you would like to contiribute towards paying my £30 per month!! UNAVOIDABLE licence fee, I would have more sympathy for your position.

I did avoid paying the licence fee in my old place, but at my new address, I've had inspectors call 4 times since December....!

Why is it £30 per month instead of £15 or whatever it should be?

Because for the first years fee, the BBC INSIST that it is paid over 6 months......Outrageous...

the Licence fee is collected as a TAX by the inept UK government, who then give a grant to the BBC to operate.The BBC execs then give this money to their sons, brothers, wives and friends, to make programmes with. The BBC pay the full cost of production, but the independent company holds all international rights to it. Thats why its not available overseas, and only for 1week after transmission in the UK. To make matters worse, most of the people making the programs are employed on a freelance basis and most of the junior staff are on less than the minimum wage(approx $2.50 p/h) or are on @work experience (total exploitation). The only winners are the independent TV companies (i've said who they are!)who take on virtually no risk and take all the profit.

So i recommend the pirate bay. DRM free, convenient and fast, I dont feel bad for a second about it your only taking back what was stolen from you in the first place.

I understand why IPlayer and the BBC would want their content to be viewed by those in the UK, which by the way, are their main constituence.

I live in th US, and up until recently, a student at college. Like most students who lived on a dorm, i did not have a TV and could not watch my favorite US shows. However, as luck would have it, I got into torrents and downloading all the entertainment i could fit into my external hard drives (now several).

I am now a huge fan of Doctor Who, Torchwood, and BBC radio. I would not pay a cent to the BBC to watch the shows, even if it was available to me in the US.

Let's get real! The BBC is protecting its interest and rightfully they should.

Instead of complaining of the many reasons why the policy does not work or in some way discriminate your geographic location at the time, do something about it.

I concur with CAZZA, go to the pirate bay!

It's quite simple to watch or download BBC iplayer from anywhere in the World! You just need to access it via a UK proxy server which will also give you all kinds of other privacy benefits. You can download the software to do this from hide-my-ip.com (select Hide my IP 2008) it costs US$38 for the one time program license. However you need to also sign up for the premium service addon which is only US$7 a month on a 12 month basis (or you can sign up for just a month initially to try it) and this will allow you to connect to a selection of proxy servers including at least one in the UK.

Once you have the software installed be sure to select the Premium service and specify a UK server. These proxy servers are very fast and reliable and BBC Iplayer downloads work well via them.

what do i need to download at pirate bay to make this work?

so i pay all the taxes, licensee fee etc, because my primary address is in the UK...but i cannot happen to access all the bbc services if i happen to be outside of the uk... haven't people heard of world travel or working abroad, etc... you've paid for it.. but just because we don't like where you are you cant use the service. they should give us some subscription or login services to use what we HAVE PAID FOR!!!

I know the uk has a strong proportion of the population that just thinks like island people ( just watch the news and mention immigration for example)... but some of us are still be denied the service we have paid for because we don't always live every second of the year within the UK borders. let alone the extra stealth taxes I've have paid, which add up to more than my council tax because I have a non eu citizen wife.. who by the way against the stereotype has lowered her standards of living to join me in the uk... i could go on, but the point is people don't all live the same way.. and thus the current rules make false assumptions to determine whether you have paid for the service or not.

Ladies & Gents,

I too live outside the UK and find it very frustrating that I can't watch the iPlayer programming. I do miss 'Have I got news for you'.

To those who complain about paying the licence fee. I hated it when I lived there, but would pay it if I were there now. I miss the BBC and the impartial broadcasting it produces. TV here in Aus is appalling. Cheap US crap mostly and TV where you can't upset the sponsors. Auntie Beeb may seem expensive but try to appreciate it, 'cos you're a lot better off than some of us.

If you have a UK address, with a broadband internet conection (ie ADSL/DSL/cable etc)there is a workaround that can cricumvent the iplayer all together, in the UK buy a slingbox, and a freeview PVR or if you have a Sky sub, then a Sky+ box.
the Sling box controls the freeview box/PVR/Sky+box and then you can use a reasonably highish speed internet conection anywhere in the world to watch whats on the box in the UK.

The fact is that you can currently legally watch programmes on IPlayer in the UK without having paid a TV license fee as the programmes aren't streamed live at this stage.

I am currently a UK licence fee payer and will be going to Australia for 12 months and will still be paying my licence fee but wont be able to watch Iplayer. Smacks of greed and hypocracy if you ask me!

http://www.thebox.bz and http://www.uknova.tv - problems solved !

i don't really understand why the iplayer is not available in mainland europe considering that all the BBC's output is COMPLETELY FREE-TO-AIR across Europe and is accessible subscription free and perfectly legally to anyone with a satellite dish. So the whole licence fee argument isn't really valid as far as europe is concerned,

As for the US, Canada and Australia is concerned, you can understand the BBC protecting their interests. BBC America would be rendered pointless if the iplayer were to suddenly become available to US residents. There are also lots of legal issues I imagine.

That said, I understand the BBC will be releasing an international iplayer soon anyway, so it'll be interesting to see how that will work.

hide your ip premium DOES NOT WORK with the bbc download manager. windows DRM prevents it. you can stream tv [hoplessly slow] but not download. does anyone know how to fix this?

regarding the tv licence, if you live in the uk but watch all your content online, you dont need to buy a licence.

I'm a UK licence payer, abroad for a while and I don't see why I can't watch Glastonbury on the iPlayer that my licence fee is paying for.

Surely the point of public service broadcasting is that it's a public service?

Not just for those who pay - that's a private service, or is this like the English public schools so-named because they are open to anyone who can afford them?

The BBC don't want people from outside the UK accessing iPlayer because I doubt they have enough bandwidth to meet the demand. Imagine if it was available to all? the demand would be incredible and everyone in the UK would getting frustrated and complaining because their national broadcaster is wasting money streaming BBC2 to someone overseas.

Sorry guys but I agree with the BBC's choice here, also most of the programming on iPlayer is intended for a UK audience only - I've noticed they cant show Heroes on it because they do not have the rights, maybe they don't want to get into similar legal issues by broadcasting their own programming online to the world. BBC America and all the networks that buy BBC programming probably wouldn't if everyone could view non-commercial BBC programmes online.

Also the UK license fee payer is footing the bill for the iPlayer, if you want current BBC programming I'm afraid you'll have to get torrents or usenet binaries and use someone elses bandwidth.

I am successfully using the iplayer download manager using Hide My IP Premium Service on Vista. IE7 would not work but Firefox 3 is OK. The downside is that my connection has become very tempermental since installing Hide My IP and Iplayer. I also had to uninstall NOD32 antivirus as it was interfering with the Iplayer. One thing I have discovered is that once you have begun to download a programme, you can turn-off Hide My IP and the download continues as normal - often a lot quicker.

What a bunch of whiners. Tell you what we'll pay the tele tax and you can pay some US expenses for a while. How about $10,000 a night for hospital care, not the doctor just the hospital. Sure we watch tv for free but we are swarmed with commercials and cut programs to accommodate for those commercials. Even BBC America of which we must bay $65/mo in cable fees for still has commercials. We are the ones that pay double for BBC programs on DVD only to be the last to get them. The BBC is cutting their own market and they know it which is why on their website it says they are working on an international version.

Isn't this a licensing issue?

The BBC can't show you programs outside the UK because other companies have bought the rights to do that. In other words the BBC are not allowed to broadcast beyond the area they have bought the rights for. It can't be controlled with signals over the air, but it can be controlled if the signal is via the Web.

The problem isn't the broadcasting company, it's the whole way that licensing is managed and regulated. The traditional way has been to sell licenses by territory - frankly, the only way it could have been done. The future lies in changing regulations and licenses to enable broadcasting companies to secure rights for their users - whichever country they may be watching from.

And yes, users - wherever they are - WILL have to pay the broadcasting company for those rights.

This can only be for the good as

1) The 5% plus of the population who would like to watch a program but can't because it's not in their natural language will now be able to do so.

2) The licensees will increase their revenue as a result of more people being able to watch their programs

3) There will be competition among companies who broadcast in the same language. That competition will result in either lower prices for customers, or better quality.

Nightmare!....... I just want to watch the news..... Won't even let me do that anymore. I pay for my licence but spend more than 8 months of the year away with work. The BBC should cater for those abroad, often it is the only way we know what is going on. Have you ever watched CNN world service..... What a joke!! Somewhat irresponsible at times! Apparently the cold war is back on!!!!

Lawyers lawyers, lawyers. And marketing men.

I can watch BBC in France, but only due to geographical happenchance. Likewise can hear Radio Five Live on air, but not over the web.

But this is hardly the BBC's fault. They are governed by strict guidelines on how to cater for their licence fee payers. The production companies also have their say, on where and when their content can be shown, as do the Murdochs of the world. BBC also generates plenty of revenue from selling DVDs round the world. Would UK residents want to see that revenue stream crippled?

To those who say it's the Brits being stiffy - think of regional DVDs (Hollywood) that is protectionism by a cartel at its most ugly. Or software companies charging more for software in various different parts of the world.

Yes the BBC's stand is a pain in the arse (espesh for those who pay the fee and are overseas a lot), but without all those picky stipulations on how it operates it wouldn't be providing some of the best news, drama and sport in the world.

You get what you pay for, which in the case of most whingers on here is nothing.

Why the hell can't they make the content available outside the UK for a fee, at least the non copyright ones... I hate them. Trust me it is not just the ex-pat Brits who want BBC, I bet it will be the whole of the Commonwealth

mmm earlier content about uk internet being slow, you posted this in april of this year but I assume the last time you used the uk internet was when you were last there ( 3 years ago) i get on average 800kbytes/s from download.com :) i think they speeded things up since then. p.s. my buddys on virgin media, it's a little more erratic but he can peak 2Mbytes/s.

hey guys! you now can watch UK TV outside the UK. A mate of mine said a company are offering a UK Telly Toolbar for iplayer, ITV, C4 and Sky! Think it launches next month but my mate says it works as he's seen it...so worth a look! think its skytelevision.tv and look for UK Telly Toolbar.

I haven't read all of the comments but the comments about the licence fee are justifiable. However, I'm in Switzerland and can watch many of the BBC channels on Satellite (free to air).

Many digital tv service providers in Switzerland also broadcast BBC and ITV channels as part of their cable tv offering.

If these channels can be received legally outside of the UK why then can't iPlayer also be made available. I understand that those channels that are free to view may be encrypted, in this case they should also be restricted on iPlayer.

I agree - I too am living in Switzerland and can watch BBC and ITV channels - so I can not see why the BBC can not at least offer iplayer to Europe.

Saying all that does anyone know when the BBC intend to launch their world iplayer.

Here is a site with information on 3 different ways of watching BBC Iplayer. One is using Hide-my-IP but the other two methods described are much faster and need cost you nothing at all.

Jeez ease up people, it's not like the US don't have any television of their own.

And its exactly the same case for those in the UK trying to watch US shows- Hulu and the Broadcasters sites with players on them are also restricted. Simply because the broadcaster only have broadcasting rights inside the country. if for instance the US are showing a show, and a UK channel is airing it two months later, the US broadcaster would be undermining the UK one by allowing UK viewers to watch it on the US site first, therefore not watching it on their tv.

All you transatlantic guys really need to do your homework before bitching about the BBC. There are a number of TV shows from the US that are streamed over the internet but I cant access them in the UK in the same way. Your networks make us wait until our networks have bought them and shown them over here. This is not a UK only problem its clearly global where studios invest money in production costs and want to see the maximum return. ITS CALLED BUSINESS.

I don't quite understand why you would publish this post. Your title makes it sound like you have a solution for those outside the uk. However, you clearly don't and this post was a complete waste of time.

We're not talking about the BUSINESS of trans Atlantic media licensing. It's a a question of the BBC being stingy with (what their board of directors perceive as) a product generated from BBC licensees and giving it away for free to the world without recompense.

To ask the BBC licensees to pay for the development and production of something, then give it away (free!?) to the rest of the world is not something that the BBC is willing to do.

That is something that Governments do. Case in point, GPS, the Internet, the Panama Canal, and the polio vaccine. All were developed at the expense of the American taxpayers (that's trillions of USD btw), and then freely GIFTED to the world.

It's really a pity that the only thing holding back the dissemination of the signal (and really just how many oversees listeners are we talking about anyway?) is that somebody in the BBC upper echelon feels that it's not fair; they didn't pay and we certainly don't owe it to them. So our response is to go OUT OF OUR WAY (using methods like IP geocaching) to deny them access to our programming.

So the next time your turn on your GPS, ask yourself what the world would be like if every single public good produced had to be accounted for down to the last p.

-C.Shamis

I'm in the US and love BBC Radio (thank you for providing it for free!) and would love to watch BBC tv.

I don't think any consumer should have to pay for television full stop. Companies pay a lot of money to paste their names, logo's and stupid commercials all over a program.

I watch a lot of tv programs online here and they have commercials and surveys which is fine with me. That's a small "price" to pay to be able to watch what I want, when I want.

Sponsors pay of their own free will, and pay quite a hefty price tag (just look at ad prices for the SuperBowl!). I don't understand why this couldn't work online globally.

No one has explained, to my satisfaction, why this would not work online all over the world, for US as well as UK programs.

I am in Brazil, paid licence in the UK tho watching most bbc programmes with torrents... Some of you mentioned of wanting the news, download livestation! add the bbc news channel and ITN.

Take care

I watch BBC outside UK all the time. I can access all content via VPN. See more information at "The Contemplation"

The reasons BBC Radio is available abroad while BBC television is not are quite simple.

1) Radio programmes have practically no international resale value.

2) UK taxpayers pay for international BBC broadcasts via the World Service - not, however, through the licence fee, but through a grant from the Foreign Office.

Just downloaded the UK Telly Toolbar and works fantastic, take a look at the BBC I Player in all its glory working in Europe at www.uktelly.tv

hi all! hope this will be of interest!

www.uktelly.tv we have now developed an easy to download toolbar that enables you to watch UK TV as if you were in the UK. Supports BBCiplayer, ITV, CH4, CH5 and even Sky! (subscription required for Sky)

FREE trial and then we have a special subscription price of only €99 for 12 months.

We do not rebroadcast any programmes only make UK TV available to you...the streaming quality is therefore just as it would be if you were in the UK.

Try us out!

Look, I do understand the debate about whether BBC should be free or not outside the UK.
The thing is, it's online content is not available for non-UK IP addresses.

What you can do if you still want to access BBC is get a VPN account, with the VPN originating from UK.
That way you will have a UK IP address, to the outside world that is.

There are other positive implications of routing your internet traffic through a encrypted internet network.
Thing is, you can use a UK VPN to connect to the online content of BBC.

Here's a link, there are other companies as well.

cheers

BBC iplayer has changed protocols and can not be accessed by a VPN. You now need a UK SSH tunneling account. Media streaming software like Zattoo which streams BBC, ITV etc can still be viewed with a UK VPN.
Both UK VPN and UK SSH accounts can be purchased from here

I now live in Canada...I used to complain about the license fee but basic cable is complete crap and costs more. I would pay the equivalent of the license fee to have the BBC stream online.

Hey do you think it has sumthing to do with the illuminati?? cough cough think real hard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! n if you say no!! think really hard again

Just use the hotspot shield program and it will work.

Count me as another who would happily pay a license fee (or equivalent) for access to BBC iPlayer fare -- or on a pay-on-demand basis through a service such as Project Kangaroo.

In the U.S., BBC-America too often is more a hinderance than a help. Its programming is so narrow as to exclude many favorites, yet its very presence implies on the one hand "problem solved (what more do you want?)" and, on the other, a promise that skipped over BBC programmes MIGHT someday air here, despite all evidence to the contrary.

The only reliable way of getting iPlayer to work abroad is a VPN connection to a UK server. This allows you to access the web as if from a UK IP address. Works for iPlayer, Zattoo, etc and is fast and reliable. I've looked for the cheapest available that works properly (Allows PPTP and L2TP/IPSec, fast enough for video streaming and good availablity, PC/Mac and iPhone). The winner, so far, is www.ukivpn.com at $50 US or equivalent for a year. They also give you a free trial to make sure it works for your location.

To claim that the BBC is "financed by every household in the UK with a television paying a compulsory TV Licence Fee" is utter nonsense. This is the myth that the BBC put out to ensure that the gullible British public keep paying up! Most of the funding for the BBC comes from selling rights to programmes to overseas broadcasters. The licence fee returns approximately 8% of the revenues of the BBC. Check their latest annual report.

Additionally, this argument doesn't stand up when they allow the braodcast of radio via the iPlayer to overseas locations.

Finally, I'm English. I have homes in Mexico, UK and USA. Why the hell should I only be able to watch programmes when I'm in one of those countries? If I pay my licence fee, it's up to me where I watch TV. If I want to sit naked in the middle of the street and watch TV, that's up to me not the BBC!

p.s, you can only watch certain shows outside the UK even though they've been downloaded fully in the UK.

Tim wrote "If I pay my licence fee, it's up to me where I watch TV"

But its up to the BBC to let you watch their broadcasts. Bad luck mate hehehe

people, the BBC made this decision, not the people of England. the only reason they do it is because the owner of the shows (sometimes BBC sometimes not) demands it so they can sell the shows overseas. it is exactly the same reason songs on itunes are protected. if they were available for free, this would potentially diminish this potential. sounds good on paper, in reality, a pile of crap. pretty much any US TV show can be downloaded for free on bit-torrent. does this have any impact on non US TV stations licensing the shows? no.
as far as UK residents resenting the fact that they need to pay while others don't ... well ... they also pay for road maintenance. maybe they want to start charging tourists a fee for walking the streets of London. BBC is a public service, and an excellent one at that. UK residents fund this service the same way they fund any public service. if the cost of service delivery rises due to the need to provide it for non UK residents (as is the case for hospital treatment) - fair enough. charge a fee or deny it. but this is not the case here (and pls, no splitting hairs arguments about the cost of bandwidth)

my 2 cents

Apparently the eu will be changing the tv laws at the end of this year so that tv companies have to make their broadcasts available throughout the european union... How will the BBC get round this?

I was just wondering if these VPN sites, most specifically ukivpn.com actually works for the iPlayer in the US. Thanks. Also, All i really want to do is listen to the EPL matches that are during the week. Thanks.

Just go through a UK proxy and stream it anywhere in the world. There are tons of free proxy lists which show you the proxy's location by country.

Can you please tell me why we cannot use BBC I Player outside the UK when we live most of the year in the UK we pay for TV licence by direct debit every year we are O.A.P.s and we spend about 4/5 months of the year in Greece we have computers we also have a sling box so we can get UK TV but we can only watch one program at a time when I am watching ITV there is sometimes a program my husband would like to watch on BBC if we could get the I Player he could watch his program and I could watch mine seems unfair as we are not using it in the UK and yet we are paying for it. I agree that people who do not live in the UK and do not pay TV licence should not get it but I still use my UK I.S.P. although I have to go through the local I.S.P to access it your comments please.
Bessie Bannister

Has everyone overlooked the fact that the bbc can charge other foreign commercial networks a fortune for shows such as Top Gear... As for the Premier league... Give free highlights out online i dont think so!! Australian TV gets maybe 5 goals on a Sunday afternoon extensive highlights?? im sure Fox would have something to say if Match of the day was available to everyone at the end of the day people it all yet again boils down to money...Fantastic eh... and remember just to back up my point, licence fee pays for radio as well, you can get radio one alright but come match day try to get 5 live hmm........

The underlying issue is that the BBC does not have the right to show certain material outside of the UK. For example, with football highlights the EPL may have sold the right to show them in Greece to another broadcaster. To maximise what they can charge they cannot allow the BBC, or anyone else, to make the programme available.

All broadcasters have the same constraint on anything they buy in (football, US dramas, etc). It's why you need a UK address for a Sky contract and why they want you to connect your digibox to a phone line.

Get a UK VPN (if you have a Mac you will need to join beta program) or another Slingbox.

Without trying to steer this too far off-topic, let's not lose sight of the fact that the TV Licence is a broadcast tax borne by UK citizens, as clearly outlined in TVL's FAQ":

"You will not need a TV Licence to view video clips on the internet, as long as what you are viewing is not being shown on TV at the same time as you are viewing it."

And:

"If you use the BBC iPlayer to watch TV programmes at the same time as they are being shown on TV (live) then you will need to be covered by a valid TV Licence."

I speculate what this boils down to is that as soon as the monopoly holder of licence fee contributions (the BBC) choose to stream iPlayer in real-time for all programs, anyone in the UK with a broadband connection will be required by law to have a TV licence.

This (admittedly bizarre) viewpoint follows from the fact that you currently don't have to own a TV to require a TV licence. The act of owning any device with the capability of receiving a signal (e.g. VCR / DVD recorder) dictates you must have a licence, whether or not you have a means of viewing the content.

Thus the fact you have a device (a computer) with the capability of visiting bbc.co.uk/iplayer means you are automatically a criminal if you do not have a TV licence, regardless of whether you use the device to watch BBC programming.

Similarly with a broadband-enabled mobile phone; if you own such a device, TVL will probably come knocking for their broadcast tax when the time comes.

[ By inference, this means the fact I own a set of kitchen knives with the capability of killing someone, I am a murderer! ]

Whether the next gen TV licence will be the same one-fee system as now, or whether they decide to charge a base tax + a "top-up" per device (phone, computer, whatever) remains to be seen. Either way, it won't affect anyone's ability to watch content abroad because of the aformentioned rights holders.

I have a TV. I have a DVD player. I love film. I go to the movies and if I like a film, I buy it on DVD to watch again.

Yet I despise TV. It's mind-numbing claptrap. I do not have an antenna, I have no dish, no set top box, and no desire to watch any television signal that is currently washing over the top of my house. So I don't pay TV licence.

I tried to buy a TV without a built-in tuner but the guy at the TV shop said they don't stock them and if they did it would be two or three times the price of a tunable set. When I went to buy a regular set he asked for my address so he could inform TVL; I paid cash and gave a false address because I don't want the hassle.

Yet TVL have still visited my house and left semi-threatening letters. They plain don't believe me, and I have to continually reaffirm my innocence because they wrongly assume that everybody needs TV.

If they go ahead and try to charge me a BBC broadcast tax for owning a computer and a mobile phone, they can prise the money from my cold, dead hands!

P.S. to get back on topic, the posts above regarding 'territories' are correct: the world has been carved into arbitrary chunks by the people that own/distribute the content for the purposes of revenue generation. Until there's a revolution from consumers, this system will remain because it benefits the corporations. Welcome to the 1950s.

Pretty funny that it originally thought Starbucks was a territory. Mind you, with their global reach... :-)

BBC America there is nothing good on that channel. And British TV is much better than the US. I hope we can watch it soon the the web I live in the US, but I am British I miss all the shows, so come BBC work something out and no one should have to pay but if the price is right I will pay for Eastenders which BBC America took of the air BBC America RUBBISH

we cant get bbc iplayer in ireland yet we do pay the t.v licence!!!! is there any just reason for that

To be honest it appears the BBC went down a cheaper route to prevent overseas viewers from watching BBC content. However an awful lot of people work overseas for up to 6 months and still pay their TV Licence fee.

The BBC really should have a system where an access code can be randomly generated monthly and emailed to your account, as long as you pay the TV licence.

You will always get people trying to view content from all over the world anyway, but at least this will allow those who are paying and happen to be overseas a chance to view what they have paid for!

Tlee si fro idoits

Due to my living in the wilds of rural leicestershire I find not only can I not get digital tv though freview, my terrestrial reception is of so low quality as to be unwatchable. So not only do I pay a licence fee I also have to pay for Satellite to receive a decent picture. In addition as I'm 500 yds from the nearest house that gets broadband I'm unable to get that too. (Long story, don't even start me on BT). No such thing as 3G out in the sticks so my only option is Satellite broadband and heres the rub. The downstation is in Germany.

So despite my licence fee I can not get access to BBC content via terrestrial, digital or broadband.

Well, if the people keeping us from watching the BBC because of a tax they HATE, then maybe they shoud do what we did. We became rebels fought the great UK empire kicked it out of our country and our TV is free. Think about it, who really needs a king or queen anyway? Sell off those castles, boot the royal family and use all that cash to pay for your TV.

James, how you miss the point, the BBC is publicly funded to stop politicians and other powers that be interfering with the way news is delivered. This ideology is something typically American. This is why it was set up this way, so that the people deliver the peoples news.
If you are happy to live in a world governed by (an aussie) Rupert Murdoch as he dictacts all his news, agendas & political views, then good luck.

How I'd fancy seeing the iPlayer available for international visitors as well. Then again, it makes sense it's not. If you make the quality program the BBC does (and has done), you benefit a lot more by selling those programs to foreign TV Channels than allowing international visitors to see it on the BBC. For example, Top Gear. Fortunately, in Holland we have the BBC so not much trouble there, but countries that do not have to buy the rights to broadcast the show, landing the BBC a lot of money (I guess).

@James - your TV isn't free, it's just financed by advertising and even great shows are annoying with so many ads.
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It's a fair point about UK taxation paying for a great TV channel but - bottom line is people will watch by downloading torrents or other methods anyway. You just can't put media up on the internet and expect to restrict access - just doesn't work.

I have never seen anything approaching the quality in an English speaking channel so we should be proud of the BBC and let people watch anywhere IMHO.

Jeez ease up people, it's not like the US don't have any television of their own.

yeh but american tv is poor. very poor. i mean christ its so bad all they do is advertise on the dam thing and wot makes it worse is that they make america seem like its the only country in the world.

I have used a proxy server located in the UK to bypass my geocoded ip,... however I still need a UK TV license. Can these be shared,... I assume so, anyone want to share?

please email me at <snip>
Thank you so much,
Lyle

Well id just use a proxy with a uk address or get a mate in the uk to set up a tor proxy to bounce from him

I for one would proudly pay a licence fee to watch BBC's programing in the US. I know that BBC America is available on a 3rd tier subscription package; I just don't want to pay for channels I will never in my one life time watch. Furthermore, BBC America edits the programs heavily. I have just got done watching Series 4 of Doctor Who on Netflix instant streaming service. I love that it's not edited for time. (Precious advertising $$) I want to pay a licence fee to watch the BBC's programing. I'm not asking to watch for free, I would love to pay my share to see BBC 1,2, etc from the US.

Gosh, I dont know why everyone is still whining. I am in thailand and watch all the BBC and ITV I want. The solution is already posted here (with another 50 posts of people saying they wish they could watch BBC.. oh duhhhhh)

thebox.bz and UKnova.tv

you can lead a horse to water but you cant make it drink...

To hear more from thirsty horses, read on...

Someone posted that BBC iPlayer does not work through a VPN - it does, perfectly. I am in the US, and subscribe to a UK-based VPN service, and stream and download through iPlayer almost every day. I also use Channel 4 VOD and ITV.com, but much less frequently.
I use Firefox on Mac OSX Tiger. WARNING - iPlayer and Snow Leopard (latest version of Mac OS/X) don't play well together - this combination repeatedly crashed my iMac.
BBC is great - I would happily pay for it if I could. US TV is rubbish, unless you pay for premium cable chanels like HBO - by donating your time to watch ads, and paying for cable, it is much more expensive than the UK licence fee.

Believe me as a Brit when I say you wouldn't want to watch this BBC crap anyway. Don't believe the "best TV in the world" propaganda - it's a smug, self-serving little quango that has it's armed terrorist wing know as TV-licencing who threaten the poor and old-ladies with their strong-arm scare tactics. Fuck the BBC - close it down

The comment about the iplayer not working with a VPN is a wise warning. This will be because someone subscribed to one of the cheap 5 bucks per month companies. Be careful, they are here one minute, gone the next and invariable don't work.
I live in Spain and watch UK TV including iplayer with no problems. There are two VPN suppliers which are very popular https://www.pc-streaming.com/store and http://digitalworldplus.com/store/
Littlt bit more expensive than some other suppliers but customer service is excellent with both suppliers being very popular within our local community.