If you live in the UK, then you're familiar with Channel 5. The station hosts some of the best and most popular shows on British television. If you're nuts for television shows, then you should watch Channel 5 online regardless of your location.

However, watching Channel 5 is not as easy as it seems. There are geo-restrictions that prevent you from viewing shows hosted by the TV station. Nonetheless, this is where Smart DNS Proxy comes in. We make your viewing experience better and more complete by giving your access to all shows from all station all over the world.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves for now. How about we take this one step at a time by explaining to you why you must watch Channel 5 online by listing down some of its best show. Next, we will discuss why you can't just register for an account at My5, Channel 5's online streaming service, due to geo-restrictions. Finally, we will explain how you can leapfrog over these restrictions so you can watch your favorite shows on Channel 5 even if you're not in the UK.

Why watch Channel 5 online?

As mentioned already, Channel 5 is a British television broadcaster launched in 1997. The channel has gone through rebranding and debranding over the years. Channel 5 started out hot as it hosted football qualifier matches in the late '90s and early 2000s. At one point, Channel 5 became UK's one-stop shop for all things NCIS, an American criminal investigations television show franchise. Nowadays, however, Channel 5 has carved out a niche for people looking for cheap thrills and excitement on the telly.

Shows to watch out for on Channel 5

One of the most popular British shows exclusively available on Channel 5 is Big Brother. Among the reality shows that came out of the woodwork during the height of its popularity, Big Brother seems to have struck a nerve in more ways than others. Originally available at Channel 4 for a decade, Channel 5 picked up the rights to Big Brother in 2011 and have aired new seasons since then. The station also carries Celebrity Big Brother which started alongside the original Big Brother. If you're into bringing in together people from different walks of life with contrasting values and attitude in a single house, then you're in for a treat. It is what made Big Brother popular in the first place. It's essentially the equivalent of junk food on television - too much of it won't be good for your health, but you can't stop munching anyway.

Another popular show available on Channel 5 is Can't Pay? We'll Take It Away! It's a reality/documentary series that follow High Court enforcement officers confronting people who weren't able to make debt payments on time or don't want to vacate a property they're not supposed to be in. It's a very controversial show that strikes fear into earnest people who can't pay on time due to financial problems and not because of any other reason. At the same time, it's also what makes it compelling due to its "exploitative" nature.

Hotel Inspector is another popular show exclusive on Channel 5. Hosted by businesswoman and hotelier Alex Polizzi, the show visits struggling hotel and documents why they are in the position they're in. She then makes suggestions and advice to the owner in the hopes of turning their fortune around. The show's format was replicated on other shows like The Business Inspector and The Restaurant Inspector, both of which are also aired on Channel 5.

Lastly, Channel 5 features TV magazine series for motoring fans in Fifth Gear and geared towards consumer technology in The Gadget Show. The former features news about the best consumer and luxury automobiles and putting these mechanical beasts to the test. The latter covers reviews about the newest gadgets ranging from mobile devices to wristwatches and the latest news about their manufacturers and other products.

Why can't you watch Channel 5 online?

If you're interested in any of the shows mentioned above, it, unfortunately, is not up to you if you can watch it or not. Geo-blocking is a technology that restricts certain content from an online site based on the user's geographic location. The site detects the IP address of the user, which then shares the exact location of the person in the globe. If that person is outside the location where people can watch the show, then he or she won't be able to load them even if they're paying subscribers of the streaming service.

Therefore, if you successfully signed up for an account at My5, you won't be able to watch most of its shows, if not all of it, if you're not in the UK.

The reason why there are geo-restriction on some of the content available on streaming services is due to copyright and licensing reasons. Some shows strike deals with streaming services to only make their shows available on certain locations and not for all. It is what it is and there's nothing for you as a subscriber to do but bear it and grin.

However, it is fair? If you're going to pay for a streaming service like My5, it is only right that you get all the shows available from the site. It is not righteous for a streaming service to cherrypick shows on your location because you're paying the full price of the admission.

So what can you do to watch Channel 5 online?

If you want to push through with subscribing to Channel 5 and getting your hands on the latest episodes of Big Brother and Hotel Inspector, then there is a way for you to undermine geo-blocking and view the exclusive content regardless of your location.

All you need is a virtual private network (VPN) provider to help you unblock the error message that appears on the site if you're not in the correct location. What a VPN does is to mask your IP address and use one that's nearby the location where the servers of the streaming service are. As a result, you won't receive an error message on the site or you will be able to find the shows you're looking for on My5.

Great! So what VPN provider should I use?

There are lots of VPN services to choose from that will unblock geo-restricted content for you. Not to toot our horn, but Smart DNS Proxy is a very good, if not the best, choice for you. You will be able to unlock all the shows on Channel 5 so you can get the full TV experience with the channel even if you're not in the UK.

Upon subscribing to Smart DNS Proxy, you will enjoy the other benefits of VPN such as encrypting and securing your internet activity. You keep yourself away from online threats and attackers who want to disrupt my online experience. You can also connect your account using as many devices and computers as you want so you can enjoy security and have the confidence to go online.

Unlike VPN, however, Smart DNS Proxy is built for speed. Your typical VPN is known for being bulky and slow at times. With us, you can stream shows and movies without worrying about interruptions and endless buffering.

Best of all, you can also unlock over 400+ video and audio streaming services such as BBC, Sky, and EuroSports Player UK, among other shows in the UK. Geo-blocked content from other popular sites like Netflix, HBO NOW, Amazon Prime will be unlocked as well. If you have existing subscriptions to the aforementioned sites, then your viewing experience will be enhanced even further thanks to Smart DNS Proxy!

Another great thing with Smart DNS Proxy is that you can use the service to its full extent for 14 days at no costs to you. That's two weeks’ worth of unbridled online content for hundreds of channels at your fingertips that you don't have to pay for! If two weeks have passed then you don't have to do anything. Restore back the configurations to their previous settings on your device as if nothing happened.

However, it would be hard to walk away from Smart DNS Proxy given the features you can get from it. If you have issues during your trial period, you can hit up the site with your question on the chatbox and they'll get back to you shortly with a solution. More importantly, Smart DNS Proxy is light on the budget. For $4.9/month, you can watch Channel 5 online and enjoy all the shows you never thought you'd see from other streaming sites. You can save up to 58% if you subscribe for a 2-year plan ($49/month or $2.08/month for the next 24 months).