The CW is home to some of the most popular US programmes on TV. With titles like The Winchesters, Walker, Riverdale, Whose Line is it Anyway? and of course some of the best DC Universe programmes including Superman & Lois, The Flash and the new series Gotham Knights, you’re spoilt for choice.
Annoyingly, The CW is exclusive to the US, which makes it difficult if you’re not based there and still want to keep up with your favourite TV show (and avoid those nasty spoilers floating around on Twitter). Although some of these shows are available to watch in the UK on services like Netflix, not all of them are.
Fortunately, there’s a way to access all CW content from the UK – you can also use this method for watching the likes of ABC, Netflix US and Starz.
How to watch The CW in the UK
All the content that The CW produces can be found on its homepage. You can browse all their current shows with the latest episodes, as well as those that have previously aired if you’re looking to binge something from the start.
Unlike watching HBO, The CW on demand service is free to watch and doesn’t require you to enter your personal details and sign up – so all you need to do is know how to bypass the site’s geo-targeting blockers, which stops people from outside of the US accessing the site all together.
To do that, you’ll need the help of a VPN. Using a VPN reroutes your IP address, which allows you to browse the web as if you’re in another country. To watch The CW, you’ll need to connect to a US server, and once you’ve done that you should be able to access the site, even if you’re in the UK.
We used NordVPN to successfully stream The CW, which offers thousands of servers and is very reasonably priced, especially if you sign up for a long-term plan. If you’d like to see some more VPN providers, then check out our rankings of the different VPNs.
Once you’ve activated your VPN, here is what you need to do:
- Time to complete: 5 minutes
- Tools required: PC/laptop, VPN
Connect to a US server on your VPN
Hannah Cowton / Foundry
There are lots of different US servers to choose from, but NordVPN will connect you to the fastest.
You can always connect to another one if you find the website is buffering/not loading.
Head to the CW website
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CWTV is free to access, and also includes a range of shows to stream.
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Choose your show and start streaming
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New episodes of series are available to stream the day after they air on TV.
Keep in mind that The CW website includes ads on its content.
If you’re looking to access content on the go from your smartphone, The CW also has an app that you can download to stream all of your shows. Of course, you’ll still need a VPN on your handheld device first, so to get started here’s our guide to using a VPN on Android.
You can also download the app on your TV if you have the right device – you can find the list of The CW website. If you’re looking to do that, here’s how to install a VPN on your Amazon Fire Stick and router.
Please note that this is against The CW’s terms of service, as it violates the platform’s content licensing agreements, so proceed at your own risk.
Alternative ways to find The CW shows
There are other ways to get hold of what you’re looking for as opposed to just looking on The CW site. The Flash for example is available on Now, whilst Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and Riverdale are both available on Netflix UK. So we suggest checking on these sites for your show if you haven’t already. The same goes for Amazon Prime Video, which has all 15 seasons of Supernatural.
Alternatively, most shows should offer a DVD boxset for previous seasons that you can get from a UK distributor – Amazon UK would be our recommendation.