The CW is home to some of the most popular US programmes on TV. With titles like Walker, Riverdale, Whose Line is it Anyway? and of course some of the best DC Universe programmes including Batwoman, Superman & Lois and The Flash, you’re spoilt for choice.
Annoyingly, The CW is exclusively available in 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 their 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 one of our recommended VPNs. Using a VPN basically means that you’ll be re-routing 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.
Our top VPN pick is NordVPN, which offers thousands of servers and is very reasonably priced. Surfshark is also another strong option. If you’d like to see some more VPN providers, then check out our rankings of the different VPNs.
If you don’t want to pay for this service, then we do have a list of free VPNs available. However, these likely won’t have enough servers to access The CW website successfully. The free versions will come with limited server options, data caps and slower speeds which will make your user experience a lot less friendly – so keep this in mind.
Once you’ve activated your VPN and signed onto a US server, simply visit the site, click on the show of your choice and start watching! You will have to sit through some US advertisements, but that’s a small price to pay for accessing your favourite 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, Xbox One 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.
CWTV vs CW Seed
You may notice on the homepage of The CW that there are two sites – CWTV and CW Seed. That’s because these services offer a selection of different programmes. But rest assured, they’re both under the same umbrella of The CW and are just as easy to watch.
CWTV focuses mainly on programmes currently airing, as well as their traditional ‘flagship’ shows that are mainly drama or fantasy-based. This is the site where you’ll find Riverdale, The 100 and DC Universe shows like The Flash and Supergirl.
CW Seed on the other hand has a focus on animation, game shows, comedy and digital personalities – with a mix of current shows, as well as other older programmes that they’ve acquired over time. For example, you can find all the latest episodes of Whose Line Is It Anyway?, but you can also find all the older episodes that aired on ABC from over fifteen years ago, as The CW have bought them to have all the series in one place.
You’ll also find the likes of Constantine, Schitt’s Creek, The Secret Circle, Everybody Hates Chris and more. Basically, the two sites are just separated into two different themes and will give you two different catalogues to choose from depending on your mood.
Alternative ways to find 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 Netflix US (which you’ll still need a VPN for), 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.