Retired Community Staff

Important Update to BBC Live Radio Access

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119 replies
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Hi everyone,

The BBC has made some changes to the way you can access BBC live radio in the United Kingdom.

BBC live radio will not be available through Sonos Radio, or TuneIn in the United Kingdom from Today, 13th April 2022.

Find all your favourite BBC radio stations, podcasts and music mixes on BBC Sounds, available on Sonos in the United Kingdom.

To keep listening, you can add BBC Sounds to your Sonos system:

iOS or Android:

Open the Sonos app.
From the Settings tab, tap Services & Voice.
Under Music & Content, tap Add a Service.
Tap on BBC Sounds
Tap Add to Sonos.
Follow the on-screen instructions to add the music service account.

Mac or PC:

Open the Sonos app.
Under the Select a Music Source section, click on Add Music Services.
Click on BBC Sounds
Follow the on-screen instructions to add the music service account.

Users outside of the United Kingdom will still be able to listen to BBC live radio through Sonos Radio.

Cheers,

James L.

BBC Sounds

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D

Derjie

Lyricist III

Anyone else getting Welsh language BBC Radio 2 Cymru (as that’s still available via Tune-in) when they use Alexa voice control to ask play BBC Radio 2? When I ask for it to play it via BBC Sounds I get the “welcome to BBC Sounds” message then nothing. Everything set up correctly. Strangely same happens with Scala Radio even though I have the Planet Radio service. Seems like anything not available on Tune-In just bombs. Doesn’t work using Sonos voice control either. My Google speaker in another room is fine so am presuming this is an Alexa issue?

C

castalla

Local Superstar

A feature which really should be available on Sounds is the Synopsis description for podcasts. Just giving a title is not sufficient information.

It's the courageous bee's knees - all 6 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝. - - - - - Make Sonos Great Again - - - - -

D

Derjie

Lyricist III

Anyone else getting Welsh language BBC Radio 2 Cymru (as that’s still available via Tune-in) when they use Alexa voice control to ask play BBC Radio 2? When I ask for it to play it via BBC Sounds I get the “welcome to BBC Sounds” message then nothing. Everything set up correctly. Strangely same happens with Scala Radio even though I have the Planet Radio service. Seems like anything not available on Tune-In just bombs. Doesn’t work using Sonos voice control either. My Google speaker in another room is fine so am presuming this is an Alexa issue?

UPDATE:

This is not a BBC Sounds issue, it is Sonos - I also own an old Amazon Echo, and a Google Home, various tests below:

On Echo I say “Play BBC Radio 2” and get the BBC Sounds intro and then BBC Radio 2 perfectly
On Sonos (using same Amazon log-in) if I say the same thing I get BBC Sounds intro then nothing
On Sonos if I say “ask BBC Sounds to play Radio 2” I get the BBC Sounds intro and the Welsh BBC Radio 2 Cymru (from Tune-In!)
On Sonos using Sonos voice control if I say “play BBC Radio 2” it says “Fantastic” and plays the Welsh Radio 2 Cymru (from tune-in!)

Furthermore:

If I say “Play Scala radio from Planet Radio” even though I have the Planet Radio Sonos service and the Alexa skill enabled I still get the free to air Scala from Tune-in (and so still get the ads.). On the Echo speaker with the same Alexa credentials it works fine.
Also on my Google Home all BBC Radio stations work fine

Could someone from Sonos comment on this please - for me, everything was fine until the Sonos voice control upgrade was introduced, and after this can’t see how this can be pinned on BBC Sounds/Tune-In licensing issue.

Ken_Griffiths

Anyone else getting Welsh language BBC Radio 2 Cymru (as that’s still available via Tune-in) when they use Alexa voice control to ask play BBC Radio 2? When I ask for it to play it via BBC Sounds I get the “welcome to BBC Sounds” message then nothing. Everything set up correctly. Strangely same happens with Scala Radio even though I have the Planet Radio service. Seems like anything not available on Tune-In just bombs. Doesn’t work using Sonos voice control either. My Google speaker in another room is fine so am presuming this is an Alexa issue?

UPDATE:

This is not a BBC Sounds issue, it is Sonos - I also own an old Amazon Echo, and a Google Home, various tests below:

On Echo I say “Play BBC Radio 2” and get the BBC Sounds intro and then BBC Radio 2 perfectly
On Sonos (using same Amazon log-in) if I say the same thing I get BBC Sounds intro then nothing
On Sonos if I say “ask BBC Sounds to play Radio 2” I get the BBC Sounds intro and the Welsh BBC Radio 2 Cymru (from Tune-In!)
On Sonos using Sonos voice control if I say “play BBC Radio 2” it says “Fantastic” and plays the Welsh Radio 2 Cymru (from tune-in!)

Furthermore:

If I say “Play Scala radio from Planet Radio” even though I have the Planet Radio Sonos service and the Alexa skill enabled I still get the free to air Scala from Tune-in (and so still get the ads.). On the Echo speaker with the same Alexa credentials it works fine.
Also on my Google Home all BBC Radio stations work fine

Could someone from Sonos comment on this please - for me, everything was fine until the Sonos voice control upgrade was introduced, and after this can’t see how this can be pinned on BBC Sounds/Tune-In licensing issue.

It must be a local issue or more-likely an account issue in your case, as I’ve just tried this and in my case both the echo and separate Sonos One devices both play the normal BBC Radio 2 just listening to Jeremy Vine and they’re currently playing a Queen song.. so perhaps check your account settings.

If you cannot resolve it you can contact Sonos Support via this LINK

Vine is now talking to Sam Ryder.

J

John B

UPDATE:

This is not a BBC Sounds issue, it is Sonos - I also own an old Amazon Echo, and a Google Home, various tests below:

On Echo I say “Play BBC Radio 2” and get the BBC Sounds intro and then BBC Radio 2 perfectly

Me too

On Sonos (using same Amazon log-in) if I say the same thing I get BBC Sounds intro then nothing

If you mean on a Sonos voice-enabled speaker using Alexa, then this works fine for me

On Sonos if I say “ask BBC Sounds to play Radio 2” I get the BBC Sounds intro and the Welsh BBC Radio 2 Cymru (from Tune-In!)

If you mean on a Sonos voice-enabled speaker using Alexa, then this works fine for me. However there is a longstanding complaint abut this happening with Google Assistant.

On Sonos using Sonos voice control if I say “play BBC Radio 2” it says “Fantastic” and plays the Welsh Radio 2 Cymru (from tune-in!)

SVC doesn’t work for me here, but then i don’t understand why I have SVC at all, given that it was only promised for the US at launch. This may explain why it doesn’t handle BBC well, given the BBC requirement to use BBC Sounds

D

Derjie

Lyricist III

UPDATE:

This is not a BBC Sounds issue, it is Sonos - I also own an old Amazon Echo, and a Google Home, various tests below:

On Echo I say “Play BBC Radio 2” and get the BBC Sounds intro and then BBC Radio 2 perfectly

Me too

On Sonos (using same Amazon log-in) if I say the same thing I get BBC Sounds intro then nothing

If you mean on a Sonos voice-enabled speaker using Alexa, then this works fine for me

On Sonos if I say “ask BBC Sounds to play Radio 2” I get the BBC Sounds intro and the Welsh BBC Radio 2 Cymru (from Tune-In!)

If you mean on a Sonos voice-enabled speaker using Alexa, then this works fine for me. However there is a longstanding complaint abut this happening with Google Assistant.

On Sonos using Sonos voice control if I say “play BBC Radio 2” it says “Fantastic” and plays the Welsh Radio 2 Cymru (from tune-in!)

SVC doesn’t work for me here, but then i don’t understand why I have SVC at all, given that it was only promised for the US at launch. This may explain why it doesn’t handle BBC well, given the BBC requirement to use BBC Sounds

Thanks, and to Ken_Griffiths for confirming. I’ll get on to the Helpdesk as I’ve reset / reinstalled absolutely everything and no difference. The Welsh issue on Google is confusing, as this has definitely started happening to me on Alexa enabled Sonos smart speaker in the last week (since SVC appeared strangely enough) so perhaps this is also down to specific local configs and/or devices.

D

Derjie

Lyricist III

UPDATE:

This is not a BBC Sounds issue, it is Sonos - I also own an old Amazon Echo, and a Google Home, various tests below:

On Echo I say “Play BBC Radio 2” and get the BBC Sounds intro and then BBC Radio 2 perfectly

Me too

On Sonos (using same Amazon log-in) if I say the same thing I get BBC Sounds intro then nothing

If you mean on a Sonos voice-enabled speaker using Alexa, then this works fine for me

On Sonos if I say “ask BBC Sounds to play Radio 2” I get the BBC Sounds intro and the Welsh BBC Radio 2 Cymru (from Tune-In!)

If you mean on a Sonos voice-enabled speaker using Alexa, then this works fine for me. However there is a longstanding complaint abut this happening with Google Assistant.

On Sonos using Sonos voice control if I say “play BBC Radio 2” it says “Fantastic” and plays the Welsh Radio 2 Cymru (from tune-in!)

SVC doesn’t work for me here, but then i don’t understand why I have SVC at all, given that it was only promised for the US at launch. This may explain why it doesn’t handle BBC well, given the BBC requirement to use BBC Sounds

Thanks, and to Ken_Griffiths for confirming. I’ll get on to the Helpdesk as I’ve reset / reinstalled absolutely everything and no difference. The Welsh issue on Google is confusing, as this has definitely started happening to me on Alexa enabled Sonos smart speaker in the last week (since SVC appeared strangely enough) so perhaps this is also down to specific local configs and/or devices.

UPDATE - FIXED : In case it helps anyone else…. So after all the resetting and restarting, it had nothing to do with Sonos services or BBC Sounds Alexa skills - problem was after reinstalling my Sonos One device the only thing I hadn’t disabled and restarted was the Sonos skill on Alexa, then after that a hard reboot (unplug for 20 seconds) on the speaker. Now works fine - all BBC streams working, and not in Welsh.

S

seemab321

Lyricist I

i am S1, and got BBC Sounds all set up and sorted this morning without a problem

*Moderator Note: Modified in accordance with the Community Code of Conduct. Specifically, removing spam link*

B

Bear Family

Lyricist I

Followed the instructions but there is no BBC sounds service to be selected in the list. Tried searching for BBC or radio 4 etc and they don't come up. Yes sonos controller is latest version and all up to date. Really annoying as BBC radio is our staple. I get plagued by emails and information.ation about meaningless stuff yet a core capability is removed without mention and now the alternative route is not available.

Airgetlam

Not really enough information here to be of much assistance. There are several posts in this thread that might be able to help you get BBC Sounds. The first thing I’d be double checking is to see if your address is set up properly for your account at www.Sonos.com, but if it is, perhaps it might be helpful if you were to submit a system diagnostic , and call Sonos Support to discuss it.

There may be information included in the diagnostic that will help Sonos pinpoint the issue and help you find a solution.

When you speak directly to the phone folks, they have tools at their disposal that will allow them to give you advice specific to your Sonos system and network.

Bruce

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