Whether Kiwi’s like to admit it or not – many still have a big connection to the ‘Mother Country’ of Britain – whether it’s expat Brits making a life for themselves in New Zealand or the descendants of recent British settlers. That said, the easiest way to stay connected to Britain is through it’s excellent television – a global export that people around the world appreciate.
So, how go you get British TV in New Zealand?
First – I should let you know that currently you can’t access the BBC iPlayer in New Zealand or anywhere else for that matter. This may change as the BBC has plans to launch a global version of the iPlayer. But until then, even if you’re British paying the license free, you can’t access the iPlayer outside of the UK unless you cheat and use a UK based British TV Proxy.
Besides that, you have a couple options. The first is that many newer and popular British shows, like Doctor Who, will air on New Zealand’s main TV networks.
If they don’t air there – they’ll end up on a channel called UKTV – which specializes in airing the best of British TV for Kiwi’s.
You can get more information on UKTV at their website here.
You can use a service like The Telly, which will use Slingbox technology to stream your own private British TV stream live from the UK. I’ve used these services myself and they’re great. The only problem is dealing with the time difference between the UK and New Zealand.
Another option is to download British TV in New Zealand using bittorrent on a service like TheBox.bz – which specializes in sharing pretty much everything that airs on all the British TV networks. If you can’t get the show there, you can’t get it anywhere.
So, there you have it – if you’re down under and hungry for British TV, you have many options to watch live British TV in New Zealand.
Good luck!