If you're a fan of PBS and use a Virtual Private Network (VPN), you may be wondering if you can use the VPN to also access PBS content. PBS does not support the use of VPNs to bypass georestrictions and access content that would otherwise be unavailable in your area.
Many parts of our streaming need to verify your location in order to work properly. This includes the local livestream from your PBS station - which can only be streamed in that station's coverage area - and our on-demand content - which is typically only available for streaming in the US and Canada. If you use a VPN to mask your location, we won't be able to verify you're in an area we can offer this content, so you may encounter an error message that the video is unavailable.
PBS's distribution of programs is also limited to the United States and Canada. You may not access the majority of PBS content outside of the United States and Canada via the PBS website or app, since our rights only extend to these two regions for most of our programs. If you live outside of this region, we cannot support the use of a VPN to stream content with PBS. There are also some differences in available programs between the US and Canada, and we cannot support using a VPN to access content that is unavailable in Canada.
If you're using a VPN and have an issue accessing content on the PBS website or app, you may need to disable it while streaming with PBS. Please disable the VPN and restart your device to ensure that it's not interfering with your access to PBS content. If the issue continues, you may need to double-check your VPN's settings to ensure that it's completely disabled when used alongside PBS.
If you have any further questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact our support team.