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Alexa now using BBC skill rather than TuneIn

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UKMedia
Userlevel 7
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Hi all

There have been some issues after the 8.6 update when more skills became supported via the Beta Sonos skill. Have you tried Disabling then Enabling the Sonos skill?
Remember: Sometimes Red Wine helps :)
M
Userlevel 2
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Thanks for your suggestions Ken_Griffiths. Unfortunately disabling/removing or linking/unlinking the BBC skill doesn't work: it just comes back automatically the next time you request a BBC station.

I know there are viable workarounds, but my wife has only just got over the fact her beloved radio has been replaced and now faces another change!
J
Cheers, guys. Seems it might then be the BBC skill or Sonos skill that's at fault?

I can get the radio to play by specifying tunein, but it's less natural and having to explain to others which stations they do and don't need to specify Tunein for is a bit daft.

Agree it would be great to get the Sonos view on this now...

Still don't understand why, when I disable the BBC skill, it still 'exists' on the Sonos device.
M
Userlevel 2
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Thanks for all the replies - it isn't just me then.

Specifying either the room (invokes TuneIn) or the source (either TuneIn or the BBC) appears to work. It is just unqualified requests that invoke the BBC skill and no audio stream.

I note your comment about the 8.6 update kbbc. If I had to guess, I would say the problem was introduced when the Sonos skill was updated a day ago. I imagine you were using that even before you updated your system to 8.6.

Over to you Sonos?
Ken_Griffiths
If a user decides to leave the BBC Skill installed on their Amazon Alexa account, the example voice-command in my previous post will work to play a radio station from Tune-In, by including the Sonos Room Name.

However, if a user decides they would prefer to use the BBC Skill instead, then this is their recommended (example) command to play a radio station...

'Alexa, ask the BBC to play Radio One'

Just for info..!
K
I have the same issue as mikey2bags. 'Alexa, play BBC Radio 4' worked fine yesterday morning (playing via TuneIn), but when the same command was used in the evening, it just came back with 'Here's Radio 4 FM (tone) the BBC' and no audio stream. I hadn't updated my Sonos system at that point, therefore the problem was evident prior to the 8.6 update. I then tried the 8.6 update hoping that it would resolve the problem but with no luck. I suspect that the cause of the problem is therefore unlikely to directly be the 8.6 update.
Ken_Griffiths
justaguy,

I would have thought deleting the Skill would have been sufficient, but when I set my BBC skill up there was an account linking/sharing process that I went through to link my BBC Account to my Amazon Account (sharing agreement), so perhaps a user needs to break that sharing agreement online. I will dig around some more to perhaps see if I can glean any further information.

Meanwhile ...
If I say 'Alexa, Play BBC Radio 6 in the Kitchen' ... where Kitchen is my Sonos One Room name ... it plays Radio 6 from Tune-in rather than the BBC Skill.
J
Hi Ken - thanks, I'll try that when I get home later. I only have one Sonos/Alexa device though.

I should have said, it worked perfectly well before the Sonos update. Specifically, saying "Play BBC Radio 6" played it via Tunein.

Any ideas on how to properly remove the BBC skill welcome also,
A
I have the same error, the only way that it currently works is as Ken says to specify the room, don't mention Tunein. That is definitely a change, but doesn't seem to make sense!
Ken_Griffiths
Same issue, having just updated Sonos to 8.6

Saying "Play Radio 6" gets a response "Here's Radio 6... from the BBC". But it then doesn't even play!

I have deactivated the BBC skill and yet it seems to persist?

Really frustrating...

What happens if you say ...

'Alexa, Play BBC Radio 1 in (Sonos Room Name)' ...doesn’t that work for you ?
J
Same issue, having just updated Sonos to 8.6

Saying "Play Radio 6" gets a response "Here's Radio 6... from the BBC". But it then doesn't even play!

I have deactivated the BBC skill and yet it seems to persist?

Really frustrating...
P
Userlevel 2
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Same problem here. Saying the device name or 'from TuneIn' work as a workaround.
A
Yes, just noticed today after 8.6 update. Previously, alexa on sonos one used TuneIn which worked fine. Now, if I say “Alexa, play BBC radio five live”, I get “Here’s Radio 5 live” and then “(tone) the BBC” and no audio stream. I have found that saying the name of the sonos one speaker works and uses the TuneIn feed and not the BBC skill (“Alexa play BBC radio five live on sonos”). I have also confirmed that saying “Alexa, play BBC radio five live from the BBC” also works but this time using the BBC skill.

I can’t permanently disable the BBC skill.

Hopefully, sonos will look into this bug.
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