Accessing Streaming Services Outside of the USA

Subscription streaming services are incredibly popular throughout the world and continue to increase in popularity. From Netflix and Hulu to Disney+ and Spotify, there are services available that allow you to watch any show you want. Many of these services are geographically based and curate their content based on location which makes it difficult to watch certain shows and movies.

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Let’s have a look at some of the more popular subscription-based streaming services.

Netflix

Founded in 1997, Netflix has been on the rise ever since. Original starting as a movie rental service by mail, Netflix swiftly embraced streaming media in 2007 and started producing their own shows in 2013. These days they lay claim to some 208 million paid subscribers. Some of their top shows include House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, Stranger Things, The Crown amongst many others. Many consider Netflix to be an essential subscription. Learn how to setup a Netflix account from outside of the US.

HBO Max

Many find HBO Max a compelling service based on their quality of shows and movies available. Rather late to the scene (May 2020), HBO Max is based on programming on HBO and serves WarnerMedia’s film and TV properties. In a short time they have raced to over 40 million subscribers. Learn how to get an HBO Max account from outside the US.

Disney+

Another newcomer to the streaming scene (November 2019), Disney+ supplies content from Walt Disney Studios, Pixar, Marvel, National Geographic and Star. The service launched to a great deal of fanfare and its first day saw a reported 10 million subscribers. To date, the number of subscribers sits at over 100 million with many of those taking advantage of the bundle with Hulu and ESPN. For many, it was the Star Wars movies and spin-off series. For others, the collection of Marvel helped seal the deal but for most it was the traditional Disney movies like Lady and the Tramp, Peter Pan, Dumbo, The Jungle Book amongst many others. More recently new shows like The Mandalorian and WandaVision as well as movies like Soul have had new fans subscribing. Learn how to setup a Disney+ account from outside the US.

Hulu

Launched in 2007, Hulu was originally established as a service to offer recent episodes of television series from some of the major TV channels. Typically these shows were added well after they were shown on TV until Hulu rolled out their “Plus” service via subscription where TV shows could be viewed shortly after airing and made full seasons available. In 2017 they rolled out Hulu Live which offered many TV shows live and saw many people start to question their cable company services. With Disney owning a 30% stake in Hulu, the service was offered as part of the Disney+ bundle which included ESPN+. They have some 40 million subscribers. Learn more about setting up a Hulu account from outside of the US.

Sling TV

Unveiled in 2015 by the Dish Network, Sling TV initially offers shows from the AMC Network followed shortly by Paramount and has gradually increased its programming and has become a cable TV alternative and is more competitively priced at $35 a month for their live TV streaming. Learn how to setup a Sling TV account from outside the US.

Amazon Prime

Originally offered as an add-on for Amazon users that provided benefits like quick and free shipping for an annual fee, Amazon started offering access to TV shows and movies at no additional cost in 2011. The range of entertainment available on Amazon Prime Video is significant and includes a lot of Amazon original content like The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, The Man in the High Castle and The Boys amongst others. Amazon also has a deal with Viacom which controls Comedy Central, MTV and Nickelodeon. Learn more about accessing Amazon Prime from outside the US.

Apple TV Plus

Making its debut in November 2019, Apple TV Plus is a subscription streaming service that is offered through their own app and available on many devices. On launch it offered unique content but has seen slow growth, many coming as part of product purchases and some bundling with other products. Currently they have around 10 million subscribers, one of the more popular shows Ted Lasso also helping to boost those numbers. Apple has plans for several new shows that may help to boost subscription numbers.

Peacock TV

One of the more recent players in the streaming space is Peacock TV by NBCUniversal which launched in July 2020. They offer an immense amount of content plus the addition of some live sporting events that may be difficult to get in some parts of the world.

Streaming Bundles

For several services, bundling these services together is a far better approach. Not only do you get to access other services but you can save some money than if you were to purchase the subscriptions separately. Here’s a look at some of the top streaming bundles:

Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+

When Disney+ launched, they offered their bundle from the start which certainly helped to boost their signups as well as those for Hulu and ESPN+ and for $12.99 seemed to be a pretty decent bargain. Now at $13.99 is still great value for only $6 more than just Disney+. Even upgrading to Hulu Plus if you want to avoid the ads is only another $5.