U.S. TV SHOWS•STATIONS ONLINE - Where to Watch U.S. TV Stations in Costa Rica

CAN I GET U.S. TV STATIONS LIVING IN COSTA RICA?

Unless you have the ULTRA ULTRA basic TV channel

I'm living in Costa Rica and I do NOT have access to many/any LIVE U.S. TV channels - or they're not allowing me to view them from Costa Rica (I've been told that that is because Costa Rica does not have very good Copyright Laws - hence why especially some of the U.S. TV stations are block from viewing in Costa Rica). 
How can I watch my favorite U.S. TV shows from abroad??

LIVE SHOWS!!

Do you have a computer or SmartPhone?


The BEST thing I've found so far is:

USTVNow
USTVNow.com  •  facebook.com/USTVNow



They say they're a station for people Living Abroad and/or Military.
It works pretty good (though it IS based on your internet connection which as we know is not always so great in Costa Rica)!!!




HOW DO I VIEW IT?
USTVNow is mainly for you computer - Just Sign Up!!!!   But they offer other versions



WHO CAN JOIN?
I believe it's SUPPOSED to ONLY be for American's living outside of the U.S. - BUT - I don't remember having to sign my life away that I am an American Citizen - just I THINK (I did it 2 or so years ago and don't have such a good memory) it asked if I was a U.S. Citizen - so . . .


ARE THESE TV SHOWS RECORDED OR LIVE?
It's LIVE - aired from a Pennsylvania station so on EST!!!!
and if you have their full paid plan ($19/$29), you get DVR to record shows!!




MAN THAT SCREEN IS SMALL (my eyes aren't that great!)
You can also enlarge it to your full computer screen by pressing on the little box in the bottom right corner on the bar where the volume is.




HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?

PLAN 1
FREE
No credit card info is required to sign-up for the free plan.
The 6 main channels (ABC, CBS, NBC) plus CW, Fox and PBS - are FREE though in low resolution quality (which has been fine on my computer)
AND
lately they've been Filling Up on their FREE Seats in prime time
(meaning you can NOT watch)

WHEN FIRST JOINING FOR FREE:
For 45 days you will be able to enjoy the free service in hi resolution using your computer or our optimized interfaces for the iPad, iPhone, Android and Roku.


PAID PLANS
28 channels:
ABC, CBS, CW, FOX, NBC, PBS, My9, AETV, Animal Planet, Bravo, Cartoon Network, CNBC, CNN, Comedy Central, Discovery Channel, ESPN,  FX, Fox News, History, Lifetime, National Geographic, Nickelodeon, Spike, Syfy, TBS, TNT, USA


PLAN 2
$19 (the first 3 months - $29 thereafter
 [I've written them a few times and said I'd gladly pay $10/month to be insured getting onto the main free channels & maybe a couple more but nothing's changed])
Get 28 channels
You can also upgrade sooner and get DVR. 



PLAN 3
$29 (the first 3 months - $39 thereafter)
Get 28 channels + DVR (digital video recorder)


CAN I GET A SHORTER PLAN?
You can get All Channel withOUT DVR
support.ustvnow.com/entries/21994156-What-plans-channels-are-available-
    1 Day Pass  -  $2.99
    3 Day Pass  -  $6.99 ($2.33/day)
    1 Week Pass  -  $15 ($2.14/day)
  USTVNowNationPhone.zendesk.com/entries/21994156-What-plans-channels-are-available



GETTING USTVNow TO SHOW ON YOUR TV:
You are able to watch USTVnow on any web enabled TV that supports Internet browsing. TVs with the capability to connect to the Internet are called smart TVs. Although all smart TVs connect to the internet not all support web browsing browsing, and hence USTVnow. All smart TVs, from manufacturers from such as Sony or Samsung allow you to connect to the web through apps but only those that also allow you to freely browse the internet (web enabled) work with USTVnow. Web enabled smart TVs are usually $300 more expensive than smart TVs that don't allow free browsing.






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WHAT ABOUT HBO, SHOWTIME+?
For more channels including HBO and SHOWTIME, see USTVNow's Premium Plans with up to 200 channels and HD which start at $99/Month (65 channels), $199 (200 channels). These plans use a different system.
NationPhone.com/USATVAbroad.html



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OTHER NON-MAJOR U.S. NETWORK TV SHOWS:



OMGoddess!!  I JUST discovered:
FilmOn.com
It has some U.S. tv channels - INCLUDING the "Food Network" (2 versions!!!) and "Home and Green Living" and a BUNCH of other things that evidently are "Live" somewhere or recorded!!!  The Wikipedia on it says - FilmOn free and pay subscription packages include access to over 500 live streaming TV channels and video on demand channels, which includes programming in multiple languages. Channel lineup varies in each country where it can be received.  BUT - they do NOT have the basics - CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox.  BUT - they have SOOOOO MUCH MORE!!!!
I JUST discovered this channel, so more coming!!  It seems REALLY COOL!!!
AND - it looks like it's FREE (with ads of course) - OR - you can get it AD FREE where you can watch in HD and record for $20/month for the U.S. channels (unsure what that means as it shows British TV
For more on FilmOn check out:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FilmOn





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MANY people are subscribing to some sort of service called  a
VPN
VPN = Virtual Private Network
and I THINK what it does is hides the IP address from where you are so you can see things on U.S. tv (and anywhere else including Canadian and British tv stations as well as YouTube and LOTS of other programs just on the internet) that normally would give you some sort of message that you can not view whatever from your Country.
Costa Rica is blocked a LOT since they do NOT have the Copyright protection many are wanting.

Here's a more technical description of it (I'm clueless as I'm a MEGA Technophobe!!)
 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_private_network


Many of the people I know use
HideMyAss.com
I looked into it but didn't do it I think because there was a bit of technical finesse involved in setting it up and I'm a MEGA Technophobe!!!



Some people use:
ExpatShield.com
which gives you a UK IP address - but it looks like it's JUST for PC•Windows - specifically XP/Vista/7 people (I'm a Mac baby!).  They have a free version - but it has ads (which many people seem to complain about) - or their Elite Access which has no ads but will cost you (it's not letting this Mac go further with it to get the price).





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I hear there's a new gizmo thingie that's hit Costa Rica - called
SurfEasy
 I'm looking into it and will report back when/if I have some sort of experience on it.



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NETFLIX
FYI - I signed up for their free membership when they first came to Costa Rica around September 2011 but soon cancelled it as I found out that the Costa Rica version of Netflix had
HARDLY ANYTHING that the U.S. version did and I didn't watch it much.
If I'm on Pet•House Sitting gigs in areas with no tv•not much to do, I on occasion sign up for a month
BUT
MANY people have figured out how to the get FULL NetFlix and other things that are blocked from being watched in CR by using one of these VPN's (mentioned above.  I haven't done it yet as I'm not exactly "technically savvy!!")


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PLEASE SHARE THIS WITH EVERYONE you know that can use this information
LivingLifeInCostaRica.blogspot.com/2012/11/watch-us-tv-stations-costa-rica.html

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