How come Channel 4OD works for me here, but not BBC IPlayer etc.?

[Farmageddon]

Does anyone know why the Channel 4 IPlayer works fine in Ireland (currently watching the West Wing for the millionth time 😁) but when I try BBC, ITV or even BritBox they know I'm outside the UK and won't let me watch anything?

It might be something really obvious I haven't thought of...

I'm having the opposite problem. Everything else works for me except 4OD!

Except I'm not in NI so my reply is very unhelpful

Is it because BBC runs under a TV licence?

Ip address.
You need to use a VPN to get round it... but they legally dubious.

Thanks for the replies, I'm wondering if it's because I signed up to 4OD years ago when I lived in the UK, and when I log in it somehow it doesn't check location?

I'm jealous LancashireSquirrel, there's a few things I really wanted to watch on BBC Iplayer recently.

Oh well, at least I still have RTE player🙄

We can watch 4OD and ITVx no problem (Dublin). The lack of access to BBC iplayer is maddening though - I’d have no problem paying a subscription fee for it but that’s not even available.

I was able to sign up to 4OD while living in the west, I just assumed because BBC is funded under a tv licence argeement it was limited to the UK audience

@TheRulerofThings, I paid a subscription for BBCiPlayer a number of years ago. It was an offer, cost about €96 and continued months past the 12 month contract. Downside was it did not show all iplayer programmes.

I may be wrong but Channel 4 is not geoblocked and BBC is.

Oh interesting! We dont have BBC 1 on our FTA anymore since they changed frequencies and i miss BBC dramas etc

That's interesting - how can you get ITVx? Do you have a VPN or something? It keeps blocking me as I'm outside the UK.
Actually it was trying to watch Mr Bates Vs The Post Office that spurred on asking the question...

Living in Dublin I too can get the C4 player but not the BBC Iplayer.
I would be willing to pay a subscription for it.
I even emailed the BBC Director General some years back suggesting it be available to subscribe to.
I thought it was a very good idea considering the BBC is cash strapped and it would boost revenue but sadly my idea was dismissed.

@Farmageddon it works on an app on the eir tv platform but for some reason won’t work when I try it on a browser. Maybe it’s included in the eir package? It’s my parents’ tv so I’m not sure what they signed up to.

Mr Bates vs the post office has been on Virgin this week so you might be able to get it on virgin player.

It’s partly because the rights to broadcast/stream/distribute the content will be with different companies in different countries. It’s not just the access to the platform that can be the issue.

Channel 4 (and associated channels) are commercially funded through ad revenue. When you watch the All4 app, you see ads (in some case specifically tailored to the Irish market) so the channel gets revenue.

BBC doesn’t have paid ads and is funded by the money they get from tv licenses, so if you watch in a country outside of the UK where you’re not paying a license, you’re essentially going to be watching for free so it doesn’t make sense for BBC to make their services available where they can’t charge.

That said, I don’t know why it’s that way for tv and not radio- no problems getting BBC radio stations in Ireland on the BBC Radio app.

Oh brill, thanks for that - I will check it out later.

Thanks everyone, the licence fee thing makes sense actually, never thought of that. I would also love the option to pay for access to BBC Iplayer, maybe someday it will be available.

Though i assumed it was a tv licence thing it never fully made sense to me given the BBC channels are available on the Free to Air service here so we did get the programmes in Ireland without paying anything

Yes we can get BBC1, 2, 3 and 4 on Virgin Media tv but can't get the Iplayer 🙄

My friend in Germany also cannot get any BBC/i player. Is very annoyed.

I pay for a vpn and watch stuff from iPlayer, ITVX etc. on my iPad. It’s easy to set up and I’ve had it for 3 years now.

https://surfshark.club/friend/E2skMcrC

Surfshark or Nord VPN are your friends.

Nord VPN