BBC radio on TuneIn going away March 22nd 2021


I listen to BBC Radio 4 every morning on my Sonos system. It's my alarm clock.

This morning there is a short audio insert just before each hour telling me that the service will be stopping on March 22nd 2021 and that I should contact my service provider to ask them how I can continue to access the BBC content.

I'm not in the UK, so the TuneIn service is still available (until now). What are the options for me to still receive my daily dose of British content over my Sonos system?

iPhone related options are not applicable in this house.


92 replies

Badge +17

Hi everyone,

Thanks for bringing this to our attention. We’re aware of the BBC’s messaging and are investigating how this will affect BBC streams on Sonos going forward. We don’t have anything else to share at this time, but we’ll update this thread with any further information going forward.

 

I’ve also merged a few similar topics into this one to make things a bit easier to follow.

 
 
 
 
 
Badge +17

Hey everyone,

 

Just a quick update on this subject. We’re still working with TuneIn to resolve any changes that the BBC are putting in place and hope to have a resolution soon.

In the meantime, we can suggest a work-around so that you no longer hear the hourly reminder.

If you’re in the following regions, you can add the RadioPlayer service on Sonos to play BBC Live Radio. RadioPlayer is a free service partly owned by the BBC and so far doesn’t appear to have the hourly reminder present.

  • Austria
  • Belgium
  • Canada
  • Denmark
  • Germany
  • Gibraltar
  • Guernsey
  • Isle of Man
  • Italy
  • Ireland
  • Jersey
  • Norway
  • Switzerland
  • United Kingdom

Also, if you have Airplay compatible devices, you can Airplay from the BBC Sounds app on your iOS device to Sonos.

As some users have pointed out, the BBC has posted a blog outlining some information about the upcoming changes, you can find that here: Changes to access of BBC live radio streams on selected TuneIn platforms in the UK

 
 
 
 
 
Badge +17

Hi again everyone,

 

TuneIn have informed us that the BBC have been in touch to help them make the changes required to maintain BBC live stations on their service. They’ve made the requested changes to their streams this morning, so listeners shouldn’t hear the hourly message any more.

 

I’d like to know if anyone streaming live BBC Radio through TuneIn has heard this message since 9AM GMT this morning (9th March 2021). Please double-check that your radio streams are coming through TuneIn and not RadioPlayer or MyTunerRadio for the purposes of this test. You should see a little TuneIn icon on your Now Playing screen to verify this.

 
 
 
 
 
Badge +17

Hey everyone, one (hopefully final) update for you all.

 

Through our internal testing as well as feedback from community members I can confirm that after the 22nd of March 2021 you will still be able to listen to BBC live stations through the following services:

  • Sonos Radio
  • TuneIn
  • RadioPlayer

We’re not yet 100% certain as to how other services, such as MyTunerRadio, will handle the change or if they will continue to provide live BBC Radio after the cut-off date. Therefore, I recommend switching over to one of the services I’ve confirmed above before 22nd March to avoid any interruptions to your listening experience. 

We are aware of the issues with BBC stations repeating segments and skipping backwards on some services, but this is separate from the issue discussed in this thread. I encourage you to follow the other topic for this issue for any updates on that. 

 

If anyone has any questions related to the topic in this thread feel free to ask :slight_smile:

 
 
 
 
 
Userlevel 2
Badge +1

Thank you James, that has been very helpful:thumbsup:

Although it goes beyond the scope of this thread, it has been pointed out a couple of times here that iOS users can Airplay the BBC Sounds app to compatible Sonos speakers.  This allows live streams to be played, as well as all the on demand stuff in BBC Sounds.

There are some other options available to some users for getting the full range of BBC Sounds content, depending on which Sonos products they have.  There may be other methods I have missed.  They include:

  1. Bluetooth to the Move
  2. Connecting your phone / tablet by cable to any Sonos device that has a line in
  3. As point 2, except plug in a Bluetooth receiver and use Bluetooth rather than a physical cable connection.
  4. Use the built-in BBC Sounds app on your TV (if available) to play through a Sonos HT speaker (and group to other speakers if wished)
  5. As point 4, but using the BBC Sounds app on your media streamer.

The BBC Sounds app is now becoming more common on TVs (although not universal).  The app is available on some media streamers too, including at least some Amazon Fire Sticks and the Now TV stick.

Edit: add Chromecast 4K HDMI dongles to the list.  I have also been able to play BBC Sounds to my nVidea Shield Pro (and hence to my Sonos Arc), as that has built-in Chromecast.

I’d double check your Sonos account settings, and make sure you have the country and post/zip code listed. Sonos uses that data as a filter to determine what choices are shown to you. If for any reason that data is blank, you don’t always see all your normal choices. 

Badge

I am based in the UK and have the same issue...Sonos? 

 

I can’t believe Sonos was unaware of this issue before being informed by Sonos users.

Hi everyone,

Thanks for bringing this to our attention. We’re aware of the BBC’s messaging and are investigating how this will affect BBC streams on Sonos going forward. We don’t have anything else to share at this time, but we’ll update this thread with any further information going forward.

 

Surprised and disappointed that Sonos were unaware of this

Unaware of what? We don't know what the implications for Sonos are yet (if any). The entire Internet seemed to be unaware of it a couple of hours ago when I looked.

Please folks wait for clarification.  Tbe BBC withdrew its Internet radio streams from tbe TuneIn service 18 months ago. BBC Sounds has never been integrated into the Sonos system. Let's just see what is actually going to happen on 22 March and then panic if need be.

Hey everyone,

Just a quick update on this subject. We’re still working with TuneIn to resolve any changes that the BBC are putting in place and hope to have a resolution soon.

In the meantime, we can suggest a work-around so that you no longer hear the hourly reminder.

If you’re in the following regions, you can add the RadioPlayer service on Sonos to play BBC Live Radio. RadioPlayer is a free service partly owned by the BBC and so far doesn’t appear to have the hourly reminder present.

  • Austria
  • Belgium
  • Denmark
  • Germany
  • Gibraltar
  • Guernsey
  • Isle of Man
  • Italy
  • Ireland
  • Jersey
  • Norway
  • Switzerland
  • United Kingdom
 
 
Thanks James but I’m in Belgium and no BBC stations are on the Radioplayer list, only local ones. Is Radioplayer being adapted to include the BBC, or is there a workaround to access BBC stations on Radioplayer? 
 
 

 

Try using the RadioPlayer Service, so far no annoying messages on BBC Radio 2

Badge +17

Hi,

Really not happy. We lost Radio 4 as of 18th March 2021. No warning, nothing. It worked on the 17th.

It seems there is nothing I can do to restore this stream as my Play 1 does not support AirPlay. My wife is furious and got out the old analogue radio just to be able to listen to her favourite programmes.

I am in UK and pay the BBC a licence fee. What makes them think this is acceptable?

Hi @MisterFixit, I’m slightly confused by your post as BBC Radio 4 is definitely still available on Sonos on at least 3 different radio services. Have you spoken to our customer care team yet? They should be able to help you with whatever issue you’re facing.

What will happen to my listening experience after March 21st?

BBC Radio is changing. I want to continue listening to live BBC radio.

Announcements on BBC Radio say things will change. BBC Sounds is not available in Switzerland. I don’t have/want Alexa.

 

Userlevel 2
Badge +1

Just heard the same thing this morning and equally worried so would really appreciate some help.

Ditto about iPhone options not being applicable.

Badge

I’m getting the same message, really annoying, is there a work around to dismiss the message?.

Userlevel 2
Badge +3

Yep, getting the same (based in the UK)

I contacted support this morning and they suggested using MytunerRadio - but still getting the messages

From reading the various posts over the last year, I’m extremely worried - The suggestions of using the BBC Sounds app are no good for me as I have a whole suite of products, non of which are airplay compatible.  I’m not blaming Sonos -  I think it is crazy and the BBC will lose loads of listeners

But, are there any thoughts to adding BBC Sounds as a music services directly

Userlevel 7
Badge +23

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/help/questions/supported-devices/sonos-airplay says the BBC are “looking into ways of making it possible to use the BBC Sounds app through Sonos from Android devices. “

Note that since this appears to be occurring across multiple sources, the control is in the BBC’s hands. Sonos only uses TuneIn’s or MyTunerRadio’s services, they have no control themselves. You may be best served by registering your concerns directly with the BBC. 

Userlevel 2
Badge +3

Note that since this appears to be occurring across multiple sources, the control is in the BBC’s hands. Sonos only uses TuneIn’s or MyTunerRadio’s services, they have no control themselves. You may be best served by registering your concerns directly with the BBC. 

I’ve logged it, but currently just getting the “your feedback is important to us” reply.

 

Userlevel 7
Badge +20

Whist I agree with @John B about waiting for confirmation of the scope of the change, here is a possible solution! 🤣🤣🤣

I haven't tested this yet as I have a broadband outage at present. 🤬🤬🤬

Assuming that BBC internet radio stations will still be available,  then you can manually add the station to Sonos via this article: https://support.sonos.com/s/article/260?language=en_US

I've also found this useful list of BBC radio station URL's

http://www.suppertime.co.uk/blogmywiki/2015/04/updated-list-of-bbc-network-radio-urls/

 

 

Userlevel 7
Badge +23

I can’t believe Sonos was unaware of this issue before being informed by Sonos users.


Why not? Every prior change the BBC has made to their streaming support has been a surprise to everyone outside the BBC.

Userlevel 5
Badge +11

Re-reading the blog it looks like they are only making changes including the URLs, not withdrawing the service. However this will mean that provider of the stream needs to make changes

The BBC also have a long running issue with wanting, as a public service provider, to understand who is listening to their service and does a particular service provide ‘value for money’. There was an issue a year or so back where they talked about pulling services to certain integrators unless the integrator could provide the BBC with usage information - not sure what has happened to that issue but I do recall some discussion that Sonos would not have access withdrawn.

There is this article on the BBC website, but it's not giving us good news.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/aboutthebbc/entries/45fa0731-189c-43eb-8e4f-3071b8384895

I think this is the issue I was thinking about. I am not a direct tunein user but have a feeling that BBC is not available as a live stream in the UK but it is still available via Sonos. However the new announcement may require Tunein to make changes if the stream is to continue

 

@Ralpfocus   I think you correctly identified the relevant issue when you provided this link:

The BBC technology blog signposted this back in December BBC Blogs - Technology & Creativity Blog - Update on ICY streams for manufacturers

But the BBC stations have not been on TuneIn for 18 months.  Sonos doesn’t access URLs through TuneIn.  TuneIn just acts as a URL lookup service.  Sonos itself gets the streams direct.  The question at hand is how this arrangement will be affected.

The only reason that Sonos might be aware of this before the rest of us is if there was a BBC plugin for Sonos. There isn’t, all access for BBC content is through other providers, i.e. TuneIn or MyRadio.com, or direct links to web streams. Those companies might have been aware of the issue, we don’t know, but there would be no reason for the BBC to inform Sonos.

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