The CW is home to some of the most popular American programs on television. With titles like The Winchesters, Walker, Riverdale, Whose Line is it Anyway? and of course some of the best DC Universe programming including Superman & Lois, The Flash and the new Gotham Knights series, you’re spoiled for choice.
Unfortunately, The CW is exclusive to the US, which makes it difficult if you’re not based there and still want to follow your favorite TV show (and avoid those nasty spoilers floating around Twitter). While some of these shows are available in the UK on services like Netflix, not all of them are.
Luckily, there’s a way to access all of the UK’s CW content – you can also use this method to watch ABC, Netflix US and Starz.
How to watch The CW in the UK
All content produced by The CW can be found on its homepage. You can browse all of their current shows with the latest episodes, as well as those that have already aired if you’re looking to binge on something early on.
Unlike watching HBO, the CW on-demand service is free and doesn’t require you to enter your personal information and sign up. So all you need to know is how to bypass the site’s geo-targeting blockers, which prevent people from outside the United States from accessing the site all together.
To do this, you will need the help of a VPN. Using a VPN redirects your IP address, allowing you to browse the web as if you were in another country. To watch The CW, you’ll need to connect to a US server, and once you’ve done that you should be able to access the site, even if you’re in the UK.
We’ve used NordVPN to successfully stream The CW, which offers thousands of servers and a very reasonable price, especially if you sign up for a long-term plan. If you want to see other VPN providers, check out our ranking of the different VPNs.
Once you’ve activated your VPN, here’s what you need to do:
- Time to complete: 5 minutes
- Tools required: PC/Laptop, VPN
Connect to a US server on your VPN
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There are many different US servers, but NordVPN will connect you to the fastest.
You can always connect to another if you find the website is buffering/not loading.
Go to the CW website
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CWTV is free to watch and also includes a range of shows to stream.
Choose your show and start streaming
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New episodes of series are available for streaming the day after they air on television.
Keep in mind that The CW website includes advertisements on its content.
If you’re looking to access content on the go from your smartphone, The CW also has an app you can download to stream all of your shows. Of course, you’ll still need a VPN on your mobile device, so to get started, here’s our guide to using a VPN on Android.
You can also download the app to your TV if you have the right device – you can find the list on The CW website. If you’re looking to do that, here’s how to install a VPN on your Amazon Fire Stick and router.
Please note that this is against The CW’s Terms of Service, as it violates the platform’s content license agreements, so proceed at your own risk.
Other ways to find The CW shows
There are other ways to get what you’re looking for than just looking on The CW site. The Flash, for example, is available on Now, while Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and Riverdale are both available on Netflix UK. So we suggest you check out these sites for your show if you haven’t already. The same goes for Amazon Prime Video, which offers all 15 seasons of Supernatural.
Alternatively, most shows should offer a DVD box set for previous seasons which you can get from a UK distributor – Amazon UK would be our recommendation.
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