Skip to main content
Steve Gray
Contributor I
December 31, 2021

BBC Sounds on Play 1 via Alexa Echo

  • December 31, 2021
  • 4 replies
  • 1362 views

I have looked through the community postings and can see this issue has been reported. I have tried the suggested fix - deregister devices, disable Sonos etc in Alexa.  I can play BBC radio in Sounds using the Sonos App on my iPhone. However when I ask Alexa to play “ Alexa Play BBC Radio 2 in Living Room” or “Alexa Play Radio 2 in Living Room” it constantly goes back to TuneIn and attempts to play S4-Radio Two which no longer exists. I can specify other music to play “Alexa Play Adele in the Family Room”  without any issues.

This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

4 replies

UKMedia
UKMedia
December 31, 2021

Can you confirm that you are following the steps in this article: What can I say to Alexa in the BBC Sounds skill? | BBC Sounds

Remember: Sometimes Red Wine helps :)
    John B
    December 31, 2021

    I suspect that an instruction to play in a particular room is going to confuse it.  In my set up I use Alexa Groups such that a group contains an Echo Dot as the Alexa device and the corresponding (non-Alexa) Sonos speaker as the speaker.  So if I am in the Living Room I can just say ‘Alexa, play BBC Radio 4’, for example, and it plays on the Living Room Sonos.

    There may be a way to specify another Sonos room as the target when giving the command, but i don’t know what it is if using BBC Sounds.  I’d be happy if anyone could enlighten me. 

    I suspect this behaviour arises because you are using the Alexa-BBC Sounds integration to launch the station, rather than the Alexa-Sonos integration.  And BBC Sounds knows nothing about multiroom.

    And I don’t imagine that BBC Sounds can be chosen as the default radio player in Alexa?

    Edit - it may be worth my pointing out that this is how I have been been playing live BBC radio for ages.  This has not changed with the addition of BBC Sounds to the Sonos app.

      Steve GrayAuthor
      Contributor I
      January 7, 2022

      Apologies for my latish reply..New Year got in the way!

      I think I’ll resign myself to Alexa and Sonos not working together as expected(?)

      I can still play live BBC radio on my Sonos using the Sonos app on my phone which is an improvement on a year or so ago when it didn’t work at all

      Thanks both

      John B
      January 7, 2022

      It is how I would expect it to work (or not work), given how things fit together.  I am happy with how it works for me.  I can use Alexa to play BBC radio on the default Sonos speaker in every room.  I just can’t be in the Bedroom and launch the play in the Dining Room (for example).  But I never want to.  Of course, everyone uses their system differently.

      Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement