ITV has a great selection of UK content, but it can only be viewed from inside the UK. If you go on holiday or live in another country, you won’t be able to watch Love Island, Downton Abbey, and other popular shows. Unless, of course, you know some of our trade secrets.
I can’t watch my shows
You’ve logged in to your account and you’re ready to watch ITV live abroad, only to find you can’t play the videos. Every time you try, you get the message ‘We’re sorry. ITV Hub is only available to viewers in the UK’. No matter how hard you try, this message will continue to pop up if you aren’t trying to connect from inside the UK. This is because ITV uses geo-blocking to prevent unwanted access to their content.
All ITV have to do is check your IP address before allowing you to access the content. By looking at your IP address they can tell which country you’re from, and if you’re not from the UK you will simply be blocked. This is to prevent unlicensed viewing of their content and is a necessary part of the online content market.
Can I get around it
Don’t worry, now that you know how bad it can be, we’re going to show you how to get around it using a Virtual Private Network. VPNs are applications that can help you connect to content that would normally be blocked. You will just need to know which country to connect to, but when it comes to ITV it’s the UK. Just connect to a UK server and ITV will now allow you to stream the content online.
This is possible because VPNs can change what information is visible to ITV. The IP address that would normally show which country you’re in has been changed to the UK. Now all they see is another UK user trying to access their content – a perfectly normal thing to happen.
What VPN should I choose
The number of VPNs available can make finding the right one quite daunting. There are plenty of lists which summarize the pros and cons of the different options and it’s important to consider what you’re using the VPN for. Since you want to stream content from ITV, it’s obviously important that you consider the connection speeds.
You should also look for one that has plenty of UK servers since these are the ones you’ll be using the most when ITV streaming outside UK. The servers should also be maintained by a dedicated development team to stay ahead of changes in technology. Sometimes websites like ITV update their security to prevent unwanted access. VPNs are often targeted, so if the VPN you choose isn’t regularly maintained they could fall behind – once again blocking your access to the content.
Even though these VPNs cost money, some offer trial periods and all of them offer a money back guarantee. You will easily have enough time to try out the VPN before making any long-term financial commitments.
