How to Watch US TV in Europe (Abroad) in 2024

Watching US TV in Europe is like cracking a tough nut. Despite being the top streaming player, US TV limits its access to certain regions. So, if you live or traveling outside the US, you won’t be able to stream it.

You can still enjoy all the US TV video streaming service content by changing your IP address with the help of a VPN. In this article, we will let you know how to unblock and stream US TV outside the US.

How to access USTV from anywhere – Quick guide

Top VPNs to unblock US TV anywhere – The quick list

What is USTV?

USTV is a video streaming service that features an extensive catalog of TV shows and channels. This platform offers something for everybody. The latest celebrity news, late-night shows, serials, soaps, TV shows, you name it, USTV has it.

However, there’s a catch. As is the case with many other geo-locked services, such as YouTube TV and Oxygen TV, to name a couple, USTV serves only US-based users because the service is blocked elsewhere in the world. So, if you are in Europe, Asia, or even in the Americas, you won’t be able to stream any channel or show.

But if you want to enjoy USTV, your physical location is not a terminal problem, even when dealing with geo-blocked platforms. The trick is to persuade USTV that you are inside the US. You can do that by connecting to its server through a VPN server based in the United States.

This will unlock the service for you, thus enabling you to watch all the platform’s content as if you were a domestic user. And since you will be using a premium VPN service, you will have many additional benefits that will enhance your privacy, security, and anonymity online.

And how do you perform this nifty trick, then? The answer is in the next section.

Why do I need a VPN to see US TV if I’m not in the US?

You need a VPN to watch US TV when you’re away from the US because this is a legal video streaming service. The answer is subtle, so let’s explain.

Legal video streaming services can’t do whatever they want with the content they can distribute. They have to get the rights from the copyright owners and negotiate when they can show it and, more importantly, where they can show it.

The companies behind US TV have the right to stream their content only within the United States and nowhere else. And that’s why they try to ensure that only US-based users can see it. That’s why you need a VPN to use this platform if you’re in any other country.

A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a digital server that performs two tricks on your behalf: First, it encrypts all the traffic going in or out of your device. This is excellent for your privacy and security, but it’s not relevant to video streaming. The second task, however, is critical. A VPN hides your IP address and mediates your interactions with the rest of the internet.

Those interactions show an IP address from their network as yours; the server you choose within the VPN will give you that IP address. Consequently, if you select a VPN located in the US to connect to US TV, the server will provide you with an IP address from the US. So when you are in that context and point your web browser towards US TV, the video platform thinks you’re in the US and serves you accordingly.

If you are worried about the legality of this maneuver, you can stop worrying. VPNs are legal in almost every country in the world. Only the most repressive jurisdictions (China, North Korea, and a handful of others) have legislation against using VPNs. So unless you live there, there’s nothing for you to fear.

So, a VPN is the key thing here. It’s the thing that enables you to be on the internet using an IP address from the US (or any other country, depending on the server you pick, but in this case, what you want is a US address). However, you need to be careful. Almost every VPN on the internet can get you a US IP address, but not every provider will unlock US TV (or other video services), which is what you want.

For that, you need a vendor with reliable servers that provide stable and fast connections. The vendor must also be aware that most video platforms hate VPNs and always try to block them. So, it’s not enough to have a VPN. You will need to have one of the best ones. But don’t worry, we will tell you which ones are the best!

The best VPNs to unblock US TV from anywhere worldwide – Detailed list

1. NordVPN

It’s the best VPN you can use to unblock US TV if you’re not within the US. Our staff was not surprised at all because every time we ask them to figure out the best VPN for any given task, NordVPN is usually the correct answer. Let us tell you why.

The VPN market is overcrowded, and every vendor offers a fantastic experience. Everybody does everything better than anybody if you go by the publicity you’ll find in the industry. The thing with NordVPN is this: it’s one of the handful (or fewer) VPNs that lives up to its advertising, and that’s a remarkable achievement.

This service can unlock US TV for you, regardless of your physical location, and it will do the same with at least 400 other video platforms around the globe. The network includes 6,800 nodes in more than 110 countries. Each server is diskless (everything runs on RAM-only servers); it’s an actual box (no virtual servers in this network), and it has a 10 Gbps connection — The industry standard is 1 Gbps, so this is a lot of additional bandwidth. This is why this is the VPN with the best speeds out there.

NordVPN is second to perfect as a VPN, and it offers many more features. For example, there are several types of specialized servers (onion, BitTorrent, MultiHop, dedicated IP, traffic obfuscation), a kill switch, split tunneling, and browser plugins for Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, and much more.

There is no task that NordVPN can’t perform in style. In this article, we’re primarily concerned with unlocking US TV. But if you also like to play games online, use BitTorrent or other P2P networks, be safe and anonymous online, browse with Tor at increased speeds, unlock almost every video streaming service out there, including Netflix America, and be online safely at WiFi public hotspots. You name it, NordVPN does it better than anybody else.

All this power is available for you for as little as 3.59 USD monthly (if you subscribe to the most extended plan), which means that the best VPN fees are below the industry’s average.

More reasons to join NordVPN are that it keeps no logs, so it’s very privacy-friendly, it can provide you with invisibility within a LAN, and it comes with CyberSec, an ad blocker. Remember that ads are not just annoying; they are potential security threats and can spread malware. So, avoiding ads is a valid security issue, and NordVPN can solve it for you.

Last but not least, NordVPN is among the handful of VPNs that work in China. This is the holy grail for VPN functionality, and this is one of the few services that can pull that trick.

So, as you can see, there are plenty of reasons to join NordVPN to see US TV when you’re abroad. If you choose this vendor, you can’t go wrong.

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2. Private Internet Access (PIA)

Private Internet Access (PIA) has a genuinely colossal network. We’re talking about nearly 30,000 servers in over 90 countries. The sheer size of this VPN is off the charts, which gives you more options when you’re picking the US-based server that will let you see US TV.

PIA’s commitment to user privacy is beyond any doubt. Nevertheless, it faced the ultimate test twice in 2015 and 2017, when the government asked it to surrender some user data that the courts deemed relevant to some criminals’ pursuits. PIA didn’t give away any information or logs because it had no records it could share. That’s what no-log keeping is all about.

The speeds and connection reliability are good, and the website is full of helpful information so that most users will be able to solve almost any problem that could arise.

It is the last entry on our list, but not the least one. This robust VPN service gives you state-of-the-art network settings and excellent apps for all operating systems. In essence, you get everything a VPN must offer.

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3. ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN has been the most prominent name (and reputation) in the VPN arena for years. A few other vendors have caught up, but this one remains the preferred option for many experts.

The network includes more than 3,000 nodes in 107 countries, and it’s capable of bypassing the geolocation blocks of more than 40 video streaming platforms, US TV included.

ExpressVPN’s servers are fast, reliable, and easy to use. The security features are top-notch, and, as happens with the best VPNs, it has plenty to offer besides encryption and IP spoofing.

Every server in ExpressVPN is P2P friendly, keeps no user records, and is RAM-only so that nothing is ever stored on physical hard drives.

Other additional features include a kill switch, split tunneling, tor compatibility, private DNS servers for every user, the proprietary Lightway VPN tunneling protocol (which enhances speed).

This provider has a wide variety of browser plugins, including VPN extensions for Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Bravo, and Vivaldi.

ExpressVPN even has a dedicated router app, a rarity among VPNs that support router installation.

There’s one drawback with this service. It’s more expensive than most other options in the market, which will be a deal-breaker for many users. However, this is a high-quality service, so paying a high price is only fair.

This VPN works in China, which is the ultimate test for VPN services.

ExpressVPN takes user privacy very seriously, as you can see from its policy. The fact that all of its servers are RAM-only (which means that no data is ever recorded physically) and the fact that when you request the company to delete all the information related to you, it will comply with your wishes.

ExpressVPN has a lot of fans, including VPN enthusiasts and reviewers. If you join it, you’ll see why!

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4. Surfshark

Surfshark is a relatively new VPN in the VPN-verse. It’s been around for a few years only, but it’s managed to achieve an excellent reputation and disrupt the market by offering top-notch service at a fraction of the average market price.

This VPN bears many similarities with the previous two options. For example, it can unblock more than 20 video streaming services, one of which is US TV–which is why it’s on our list.

Every server in the VPN network is BitTorrent-friendly and RAM-only, a significant factor in privacy protection. In addition, there is a kill switch available, multi-hop servers, two-factor authentication, and the option to have the VPN render your device invisible to the LAN.

This VPN can even spoof your GPS location on Android devices, block ads, and obfuscate your traffic, and it works well with routers.

Surfshark’s network is smaller than our previous two VPNs, but 3.200 servers are still plenty of nodes for you to find the one you need without any problems.

And you can get all those services for 2.30 USD monthly. So it’s hard to compete with that kind of cost-effectiveness.

And before you ask, yes, Surfshark works if you’re in China, too, which means it works everywhere.

Surfshark is a VPN that can fit into even the tightest budget, so if money is why you haven’t hired a VPN so far, this is the way to go.

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5. CyberGhost

CyberGhost is one of the best-kept secrets in the VPN universe. But, unfortunately, it’s an excellent VPN that doesn’t get the praise it deserves.

The CyberGhost VPN network is present in 90 countries, including 7890 servers. More than 1000 of those servers are in the United States, which is relevant to unblock US TV. That means that you will have plenty of choices to stream your favorite shows and movies from that platform. Within this vast network, about 8% of the nodes are virtual (which means the actual box is not within the jurisdiction in which they operate).

It makes things easier in problematic countries like Egypt, China, Saudi Arabia, or Sri Lanka. In addition, it makes this network more exhaustive and versatile. Moreover, CyberGhost has “No spy servers,” which add a layer of security to your user experience. Notably, the provider does that at the cost of a bit of speed but nothing that you will notice too much.

Good speeds and reliable and stable links will give you a smooth video streaming experience with US TV and a few other video streaming platforms.

And it has a few other extra things to offer. For example, it supports split tunneling, it gives you an ad blocker, and you will get a secret photo vault to keep the family’s pictorial jewels safe and available at all times. Also, the CyberGhost membership gets you a license for PassCamp, a password manager. It’s not the best, but if you don’t have a password manager so far, it will be better than nothing, and it comes with the package.

This VPN is also very cheap, with a fee that’s more or less at the same level as Surfshark’s, so you get plenty of bang for your buck with this vendor.

The privacy at CyberGhost is also excellent, as the servers keep no logs of your activities, and it issues a transparency report every three months. So you can be sure that this is a service that walks the walk when it talks about privacy.

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Can I watch US TV using a free VPN from Europe or elsewhere?

The most probable correct answer is that you can’t. But even if you could, you shouldn’t. 

We never recommend that our readers use free VPNs, and we have several reasons for that, ranging from privacy issues to simple functionality.

Free VPNs typically have small server networks and lots of users. And those servers don’t have a lot of resources, to begin with. This means that you will struggle to get a server connection in most free VPNs, and once you get one, it will not be very stable, so you can lose it at any time.

But, then, these services do not invest a lot in keeping their IP addresses out of the world’s black lists–the video platforms have them blocked. As a result, most free VPNs won’t give you the bandwidth you need to support a decent video stream, so you’ll have to put up with lots of buffering pauses. Also, these types of VPNs place caps on bandwidth and traffic, so even if one of them will unlock US TV for you, those limitations will prevent you from watching for more than 20 minutes at most.

So, one good reason to stay away from free VPNs to see US TV is that most of them will never work. If they do, the experience will be far from smooth and short, even in the best-case scenario. But there’s more.

In our mini VPN reviews, you probably noticed that we consider privacy one of the essential things a VPN must provide for you. And privacy is not a technical matter but a human decision that informs policy. And free VPNs are not your friend in that regard.

How do you think that free VPNs make a buck? Not from our fees. That much is clear. The answer is that the most common business model for those companies is to keep detailed logs of user activity. Then, they sell those logs to advertisers and other commercial partners who know how to mine and monetize that type of data. So, most VPNs out there care about your privacy because–they want to sell it.

The digital economy has this maxim: You are the product whenever you’re not being charged for a product. Keep this in mind. Free VPNs will give you a subpar service that turns your privacy into a commodity. 

Among the five top-notch VPNs we’ve offered you in this article, at least one can fit any budget because the monthly fee can be cheap if you plan your expenses. So, there is no good reason for you to use free VPNs. Take our advice and keep away from them at all costs.

Things you can watch on USTV

There’s plenty of content for you to enjoy on US TV. Let’s see some of the best channels, shows, and movies available.

Best channels

• NBA TV
• E!
• Fox News
• TLC
• ESPN
• USA Network
• CBS
• PBS
• Animal Planet
• BBC America

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Best shows and movies

• The walking dead
• House Flipping 101
• The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
• Law and Order: Special Victims unit
• Criminal Minds
• Modern Family
• Family Guy

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Devices on which you can watch US TV

Fortunately, you can enjoy US TV on a plethora of devices:

• iOS
• Chromecast
• Android
• Apple TV
• Samsung TV
• Kodi
• Smart TVs

Installing USTV on Kodi

Using a VPN on Kodi is a bit tricky. Since you can’t install a VPN app on Kodi directly, you need to do something different so that your Kodi comes online through your VPN service. The answer is to configure your home router (or the router through which your Kodi will connect to the internet) so that your VPN protects it. You can find a detailed guide to performing that task on our website. Having your router join your VPN has many advantages, and it will enable your Kodi to stream US TV content from abroad.

Once your router is inside your VPN, here’s what you do:

1. Turn your Kodi on.
2. Click on “Add-ons,” then “Video Add-ons,” then “Install from repository,” and finally “Video Add-ons.”
3. Search for USTV NOW.
4. Select it, and install it.
5. That’s it. Start watching!

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Installing USTV on a FireStick

If you want to watch US TV on your FireStick, you’ll need to do two things: first, install your VPN on your device, and then install the US TV app.

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Installing your VPN app

1. Navigate to your VPN in the search bar.
2. Click on the VPN app to download it.
3. Open the app.
4. Provide your credentials and log into the VPN network.
5. Connect to a server in the network. Choose a server based in the US to unlock the US TV platform.

Installing the US TV app

1. Press the Home Button on your remote control to get to the home screen.
2. Click on “Settings,” “Device Button,” “Developer options,” and “Apps from unknown sources.”
3. Go back to the home screen.
4. Search and install downloader.
5. Open Downloader.
6. Click on “Allow,” “OK,” “Settings,” and “Enable JavaScript.”
7. Search for USTV on your browser.
8. Download and install the USTV APK file.
9. Go back to the home screen.
10. You’re ready to go!

Installing US TV on Android

If you’re going to install US TV on your Android device, you will need to start with the most recent US TV APK. No, the app is not available on the Google Play Store, so you have to get the .apk file and do everything by hand.

When you open the .apk, you’ll need to click on “Settings” and then “Security” to enable the “Allow unknown sources” option. Then, the installation will proceed, and US TV will enable your Android device.

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FAQs