From now there are new restrictions on BBC radio stations abroad.
BBC Sounds is being replaced by BBC.com and the only LIVE stations are the World Service and BBC Radio 4.
What is more annoying though is that on those stations, playback is being limited so you may not be able listen to something you missed.
BBC Sounds still currently works on desktop and as a mobile app but is no longer available to download as an app. BBC.com is the new mobile app but with the restrictions I mentioned earlier.
What people should not do (for the moment), is replace the BBC Sounds app with the BBC.com app.
Iâm a life-long BBC radio 4 and world service listener and would gladly pay for this service. These arenât music channels so there isnât the problem with Music royalty payments.
The BBC is short of money but having a subscription service would boost their income.
The licence fee used to only cover the TV transmitting part of their service (the radio part was free) - which is why you couldnât use it abroad as the BBC also has a significant income in syndicating its TV output to other countries (and now also some streaming services)
You can not pay a licence fee and listen to UK radio abroad.
The BBC is also loosing licence payers as many are chosing to watch only streaming services like Netflix/Prime.
The World service is now funded partially by government, some of the licence fee and advertising.
The BBC already cut various internet radio services a year ago. I was able to get the Sounds App to replace Radio 4 on my phone and through my Bluetooth speaker.
I guess a VPN will still get all services - I canât survive without Sound of the Sixties every Saturday morning.
Itâs sad how travel and media are becoming more and more restricted. I wouldnât be surprised if BBC TV is restricted before too longâŚ.
There was (is) a nice app to list them all: TuneIn. However since quite a few months it forbids me to listen many European stations in Switzerland. I can still listen them from the web.
I do use TuneIn - especially with Alexa but with the desktop version, you canât go back over the schedules and see what you missed so you can listen to anything of interest.
BBC Radio 4 has some of the best international news coverage - there was an hour long feature on the Romanian Election last week including interviewing people in the street, for example.
Point of order - the radio was not free, it was simply covered by the TV licence. Up until 1971 there was a separate radio licence, but by that time it was assumed that pretty much anyone with a radio would also have a TV. Not everybody was happy about the change, and in practice the requirement, if you didnât have a TV/licence, was dropped, i.e. it was not enforced.
Yes, I donât understand it either. I get all the UK TV channels through my Swisscom subscription, but only BBC world service in the list of Radio stations.
Doesnât bother me so much as Iâve never been a fan of radio except for music, and there I am well enough served, but the one I would like would be the Sport LIve one that has Formula1 commentaries, so I could then watch them live on RTS with the English radio commentary. Not that I canât understand the French commentary, but itâs just not the same somehow.
Use a VPN. You can then continue to use BBC Sounds. A quick search using the search engine of your choice will bring up 3 VPN providers which are recommended for listening to or watching as if you are located in a specific country. Just set the VPN to an IP address in the UK. Works extremely well and means that I can access the radio and TV I want to access when I want.
Depends on the VPN. I am now using my 3rd provider after the first 2 stopped working. They seem to be able to change the available IP addresses regularly, so itâs not been a problem for well over 2 years. The BBC plays whack-a-mole certainly, but some moles are nimble.
For UK TV recordings Zattoo is a good option.
I like Downcast as a podcast app for widely available BBC and other podcasts
Fortunately I can (still) receive BBC4 and 4 Extra on my old IPad which I practically only use for that purpose.
BBC has also shrunk the footprint of the satellite coverage of Astra at 28.2E, and at the moment I canât pick up 4 Extra Radio. BBC News HD (TV) is very weak and breaks up. (I need to get our dish motor reattached so I can perhaps tweak the position). IPTV providers do not offer radio channels.
Itâs silly really - BBC News is known all over the world for its quality and limiting the area in which it can be picked up is defeating the object of BBC policy.
AND I bet a lot of ex-pats would be happy to pay the licence fee.
BBC Radio 4 and BBC World service are still available Live from the new BBC app and from Spotify and other providers so news is still available.
You can also listen to some programming selectively using Spotify.
The app is terrible. BBC sounds was so much better.
I think their plan is to make money from syndication and advertising.
