How to Watch BBC iPlayer in India: Great Entertainment and Perfect for Learning English
There’s lot of online streaming services available online in 2024 most of them with fairly low premiums. However if you speak English (or are learning) then there’s one site that’s hard to beat and it’s completely free of charge – it’s called the BBC iPlayer. The only problem is that it’s normally blocked outside the UK. However the following video shows how anyone can watch the BBC iPlayer from India or any other country using a simple VPN program called NordVPN. Which you can actually use to unlock hundreds of other sites normally blocked in India too !
BBC iPlayer India – is not currently available but you can access the site by using a VPN. A virtual private network (VPN) is when you connect your computer or device to a service that provides a privatized, encrypted connection over the internet.
Here’s a video demonstrating one in action, for more information read on.
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Can you get BBC iPlayer in India?
The BBC iPlayer is a streaming service that allows users to watch live and on-demand content from the BBC. However, it is not available in India. This is because the BBC has a strict licensing agreement with the British government that prohibits them from broadcasting their content in other countries. If you try to access the BBC iPlayer from India, you will be blocked.
It’s not just India of course, if your IP address is registered outside the UK, you’ll get blocked from accessing the BBC iPlayer. However you’re probably aware that there are workarounds which work in India to watch BBC iPlayer. If you read on you’ll discover that it’s not that difficult and you can access BBC iPlayer free of charge in India and all other countries across the world. Indeed millions of people use the BBC iPlayer to watch content from all across the planet using the exact same methods.
How does BBC iPlayer know my location?
When you try to watch BBC content on iPlayer, the site will use your IP address to determine your location. This is how it can tell whether you are in the UK or not and show you the corresponding content. This is called geolocation and is used by many websites to identify the location of your device. BBC iPlayer uses your IP address, which is a unique identifier for every device on the internet, to determine your approximate location.
It’s not possible to directly change this IP address as it’s normally assigned by your ISP or the internet gateway you’re using. Although it is possible to hide your real IP address and use on in another country by using a VPN or proxy server. However, it’s important to remember that BBC iPlayer has started detecting and blocking VPN and proxy users.
When you try to watch BBC Live Streaming from India, the website will also prompt you for a UK postal code. This is simply to verify that you are in the UK and are able to access the service. However the postal code you enter is not verified; it will accept any genuine UK postal code. So just pick your favorite place in the United Kingdom and find out it’s full postal address online, that post code will work just fine ! There’s no location check linked to this stage.
Is BBC iPlayer Region locked?
Region locking is a technique used by content providers to restrict access to their content based on the geographic location of the user. This was more common in the past when physical media, such as DVDs, were used to distribute content. You would think that with the rise of the internet and online streaming services, region locking would become less common. Unfortunately that is no the case !
From the outside it appears that BBC website is fully accessible online from anywhere in the world. BBC iPlayer is a streaming service that offers live and on-demand content from the BBC network. However this is not available outside the United Kingdom except for a few basic features. Certainly all the streaming services are pretty much completely restricted based on location.
Nearly every major entertainment platform online is region locked to some extent and the BBC iPlayer is certainly no exception. Don’t worry though, you don’t have to be subject to these ridiculous restrictions online. Just read on and see how you can bypass region locking on virtually any site.
How do you watch BBC iPlayer shows In India and Other Countries Outside the UK?
Firstly let’s just clarify what happens when you access the BBC iPlayer site. For everyone connecting it will do some checks –
BBC iPlayer checks where your IP address is located
It’s nothing very clever really. Every valid IP address is registered centrally including the location it’s being used. It’s very simple for any website to look up your location based on where your IP address is registered to. Indeed the vast majority of website will know of your geographical location almost automatically. Even if they don’t do anything restrictive with the data, most websites want to see where there visitors are from.
You’ll Need a Postal Code ?
When you try and stream a program or watch live (usually the first time in a session) then the BBC iPlayer will often ask you for your Post code. A UK postal code is a series of letters and numbers used to uniquely identify an address in the United Kingdom. The format for a UK postal code is two letters followed by four numbers, for example “SW1A 1AA”.
Don’t worry about this question though as there is no check or verification involved. As long as it’s a valid UK Post code then everything will work fin. So make sure you have a valid post code before you watch, anyone will do as long as it’s valid. Pick a hotel, football ground or famous building and grab the post code. You can also visit this page and pick one of the post codes here.
Check Whether you have a UK TV license
As many people know, in order to watch BBC iPlayer shows in India and other countries outside of the UK, you also need a valid UK TV license. The good news is that although it’s not possible to get a TV license without being physically present in the UK. There are no actual checks to ensure you have a British TV license beyond asking if you have one!
This is the current UK TV license check. If you say you have one every thing works fine, there’s no requirement to input a number or an matching address or anything like that. The only thing stopping you here is if you say ‘I don’t have a TV license’ as you’ll be redirected to the free ‘international version’ of the BBC which has none of the streaming content or channels.
So it’s basically down to telling a little fib to a website. Tell them you’ve got a UK TV licence and you can watch anything you like ( as long as you’ve got a VPN with a UK IP address)
How do I get BBC iPlayer app outside UK?
If you’re in the UK and you want to watch BBC iPlayer on your phone, tablet or desktop computer. You’ll either need to download the app from the iTunes or Google Play app stores or you can watch straight from the browser on most devices too. Unfortunately you probably won’t be able to download it from many app stores outside the UK. It’s not currently on the US app store for example. In How do I download the BBC iPlayer app outside UK?
How to get BBC iPlayer on the US app store:
- Login with current Apple ID and sign out.
- Create a new UK Apple ID
- Make sure you have a spare email address you can use because you’ll have to verify your email.
- Make sure to change your country/region to UK
- You must have a UK address and postcode when selecting your region
- Change back to original account and use app
You only want to do this once, and if you’ve already got the BBC iPlayer application then just ignore this step. The process is virtually the same on the Google/Android store – just change your location temporarily to install the application then change back. You can watch it the BBC on TV in several ways depending on your TV
Is BBC iPlayer available internationally?
BBC iPlayer is a streaming service offered by the BBC that allows users to watch live and on-demand content. The service is available in the UK, however, it is blocked for users located outside of the country. If you try to access BBC iPlayer from outside of the UK, you will be presented with one of two messages: Live content: “This content is unavailable due to technical or rights reasons.” On-demand content: “Sorry, this content can only be played in the UK.” In some cases, you may be able to bypass these blocks by using a VPN.
You should be able to listen to the majority of radio content from BBC Sounds although there are some exceptions.
BBC iPlayer is available in many international locations, but there are some exceptions. For example, certain sports or music content may not be accessible without a Virtual Private Network (VPN). In other cases, a VPN may be needed to access the full range of BBC Sounds content.
How to Get Around Geoblocking?
Geoblocking is the process of censoring video and audio content based on geographical locations. This is usually done by streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and BBC iPlayer to ensure they don’t have to deal with licensing issues. However, there are ways to get around geoblocking. You can use a VPN or a proxy server to change your IP address and make it look like you’re in another country.
There are multiple options you can rely on to get around the problem of geoblocking, however it can vary depending on the site you’re trying to access.
- Switch to a different UK server offered by your VPN provider
- Opt for a dedicated IP feature
- Clear your browser’s cache and cookies
Try to launch the streaming service in incognito mode. As mentioned previously, BBC iPlayer is a UK exclusive streaming service . However, if you want to enjoy British content, the easiest way to get around is through a premium VPN service.
Don’t forget that the BBC is one of the most highly regarded broadcasting companies in the world and they regularly block free and low-quality VPNs to ensure people from outside cannot watch BBC iPlayer. Free VPNs either won’t work at all or will be banned eventually
What are the VPNs that work with BBC iPlayer?
A few years ago pretty much every single VPN worked with BBC iPlayer without issues. Unfortunately that is no longer the case and the BBC now like most other entertainment companies makes a lot of effort to block access with VPN services.
The situation now is that the majority of VPN services no longer work with BBC iPlayer. Mostly this is because the IP addresses of their servers have been automatically blocked.
NordVPN
NordVPN is a leading VPN provider that offers optimized BBC iPlayer streaming outside of the UK. It is one of the best providers for unblocking streaming services, with fast, reliable, and employing the best feature of both VPN and Smart DNS technology.
From the security perspective it also offers many features including an effective kill switch, DNS leak protection and 2048-bit encryption. NordVPN offers 24/7 customer support, should you need it.
What English television shows are there on BBC iPlayer?
The BBC iPlayer is the official catch-up TV service of the BBC. It allows users to watch shows that have previously been broadcast on BBC channels.
There are hundreds of English television shows are available on BBC iPlayer and many more you can watch on other UK TV abroad. There are a variety of shows to watch, including English football, cricket, and Formula 1. You can enjoy world beating documentaries and dramas like The Green Planet, Eastenders and the incredible Line of Duty. As mentioned, it is difficult to stream UK TV series when living overseas, however there’s an incredible amount of wonderful BBC programmes available so it’s worth the effort. “A Suitable Boy” is an all-Indian BBC period drama that will be available to watch on iPlayer. This show is a groundbreaking step for the BBC, as it features an all-Indian cast. The show was released on July 12th, 2020.
How to Watch BBC News Live in India?
Simple just use a VPN or proxy to change your IP address to a UK one and watch the BBC iPlayer. The BBC News is on several times a day on BBC 1 at 1:00pm, 6:00pm or 10:00 pm (times are GMT). There is also a dedicated BBC News channel which you can watch at any time of the day as it broadcasts 24/7.
Do I Need a UK Postcode for BBC iPlayer in India?
Yes, you need to enter a UK postcode when creating a BBC iPlayer account which is now mandatory if you want stream programmes from the site. However don’t worry, you don’t need to live or have any connection whatsoever with the address. As long as it’s valid you can use any UK postcode – try CH1 1TB, CH1 1AB, CH1 1AF or literally pick the address of any UK location you find online.