Isn't that because the content is only legal to stream in the USA? (e.g. what you'd find on Hulu) It'd technically be illegal to stream it outside of the USA, so it is blocked. That's how I've always assumed that online streaming contracts with the content providers worked. I'd love to know if it works differently

What could possibly be illegal about it? The TV companies just don't want to let non-US people watch.

That's not correct. You have to license different works for different purposes, and there are many, many stakeholders whose permission you have to get. This varies by country. For example, a network may by the exclusive rights to air a show in the US. They only pay for those rights. Then someone else buys the exclusive rights in the UK. And someone else buys another country. Then, when it comes time for internet streaming, you not only have to get licenses from the original owner, plus perhaps this organization or that organization, and then you have to get licenses from....

You get the point. So with all of that work involved they look at the revenue potential of smaller countries and, frankly, it's just not worth it in many cases. They don't know what the demand is there. They don't have a marketing plan, and they have bigger opportunities available to them by working on yet another show's licensing for the US or other large country, so they just don't go to all of that trouble to make things available in smaller markets.

I did express that poorly. There can certainly be logistic factors at play.

But my point was that it's not illegal. It's a decision, not law.