If you live in Germany, then you’re one of the luckiest people out there for having ARD available to you. But your luck runs out the second you leave as ARD is geo-restricted to the country. Also known asDas Erste, or The First, the channel offers unimaginable content covering the Bundesliga and the Champions League, in addition to TV shows, movies, and programs. So, if you want to tap into that in the US, UK, Canada, or anywhere abroad, then get a VPN and follow this guide.
How to Get ARD Outside Germany with a VPN
Whenever you try to stream any content on ard.de or on the dedicated app, you’ll get this frustrating geo-error message: ” Diese Sendung steht inhnen aus rechtlichen Gründen leider nicht zur Verfügung.” It doesn’t take Google Translate to know that they’re telling you that the stream cannot be accessed from where you are.
To avoid this from happening, you need to make use of a VPN. With servers in Germany and all around the world, you can use the VPN to spoof your online location and access geo-restricted content while outside the channel’s region. For example, when you connect to a German server, you’ll get a German IP address that makes you appear to be browsing from Germany. Simple as that. Now, when “The First” tries to read your IP, it will think that you’re within its area, eventually unlocking all its content to you.
The process is easy, just follow the steps below, unblock Das Erste and you’ll have one of the biggest German libraries in the world:
- Sign up with a VPN provider, ExpressVPN is highly recommended.
- Download and install the VPN application on your Android, iOS, PC, or Mac.
- Sign in with your VPN account and connect to a German server.
- Launch the ard.de website or ARD app.
- Finally, stream the best shows, sports events, and all the German programming you ever wanted outside Germany.
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List of Streamable Content on ARD
ARD has a huge library of TV material to watch whether live or on demand, check out some of its best shows:
- Wetter vor acht
- Tagesschau
- Babylon Berlin
- Vom Dreamduo zum Dreamteam
- Ins kalte Wasser
- Übersicht Fußball
- FIFA WM 2018
- Bundesliga
- Champions League
- Europa League
- Nations League
- Nationalmannschaft
- U21-EM
- Frauenfußball
- UEFA EURO 2016
- Amateurfußball
- Formel 1
How to Watch Get ARD Outside Germany – Summing Up
ARD is considered one of the biggest broadcasters in the world, not just in Germany. With a 6.9 billion dollar budget, well, you can imagine the quality of shows it puts out. Now, if you’re an unfortunate expat, you’ll need to get yourself a VPN right away to be able to watch ARD anywhere in the world.
