Last Updated on November 29, 2023
If I was only allowed to visit one website on the internet, there’s no doubt whatsoever which one I would pick – http://www.bbc.co.uk/. Not only is it packed full of the latest news, science, politics and current affairs but it comes with 12 live streaming TV channels too. These channels include BBC1, BBC2, plus lots of specialist channels – a 24 hour news one, BBC Parliament and even two great kids channels too. My children even revise off the BBC Bitesize educational pages, without me asking them too!
All that would probably be enough to push it into number one slot for me. However there’s even more – the BBC iPlayer is crammed full of archive material from documentaries, dramas, comedy shows, investigative reports and loads of other stuff. What’s more these are all top quality programmes, not cheap, generic shows made on a tiny budget !t
However there is a slight issue, and one which makes potentially my worry of losing access to the BBC’s website a reality. It’s called geo-blocking, the practice of blocking or filtering access based on your physical location. So when a person visits a website, their location is checked and then access either granted or denied based on that information.
Watch BBC Outside UK Online
For the BBC, they block access to all the online media content if you’re not based in the United Kingdom. More specifically, you’re blocked if you don’t have a UK registered IP address. This is a crucial distinction because it gives everyone the option of accessing the BBC through something called a VPN like this video demonstrates.
It’s actually very easy, although using a Virtual Private Network sounds like you’ll need a degree in computer science you really don’t. In fact it’s little more that clicking on a button to select the country you need. For the BBC you will obviously need to pick UK, for other services it’s generally their home country. So any US site that is blocked will be unblocked by using a US VPN connection. Sometimes it’s a little more confusing, for example many videos on YouTube have specific licenses which prevent playback in certain countries.