Still concerned that my S1 system (Sonos V10.3, build 51166240, cannot upgrade as this was the last version my 7off controllers - Nexus 2013 tablets - can run) still is not properly working with BBC Sounds.
There will always be a risk of issues such as interoperability and compatibility when running out-of-date software. I understand your reason for doing so, but the rest of the world is moving on...
Just a suggestion, but I’m still using CR100 controllers s/w 8.4 & S1 Android.
I downloaded .m3u8 files from http://www.radiofeeds.co.uk/ extracted the URLs, (as per sample below) by opening the .m3u8 file in Windows Notepad and then creating my own station in the Windows Sonos Desktop application from “Manage” - “Add Radio Station...” using the URL.
http://as-hls-uk-live.akamaized.net/pool_904/live/uk/bbc_radio_fourfm/bbc_radio_fourfm.isml/bbc_radio_fourfm-audio%3d320000.norewind.m3u8
I did this for all National BBC Radio stations. They now appear under My Radio Stations “Tune-In” list, (without station ident logos unfortunately), but each works perfectly and I’m now able to wake up to Radio 4 once again :-)
By choosing the best quality streams from http://www.radiofeeds.co.uk/ I now have a functional workaround. A bit of effort is required and no doubt the BBC or SONOS will kill this too eventually, but at least I am not going to create more SONOS landfill just yet.
Outrageous that this no longer works with Google assistant (nor Alexa?) and the BBC have emailed me to state it is not their problem. Absolutley stupid that in 2022 we have ‘lost’ voice control over the playing of BBC on SONOS
It does work with Alexa if you have the BBC sounds skill working in the Alexa app
I have looked for the BBC Sounds station on the S1 app as instructed, but it doesn’t appear on the list. I have tried on my phone and desktop but its not there.
Any ideas? We miss Radio 4 and 6Music!
Liable to be that your ‘region’ isn’t properly set on your account at www.Sonos.com. Sonos uses that data to filter what they present to you in the ‘add a service’ area.
I have looked for the BBC Sounds station on the S1 app as instructed, but it doesn’t appear on the list. I have tried on my phone and desktop but its not there.
Any ideas? We miss Radio 4 and 6Music!
i would maybe start with checking your Sonos account online profile settings for the country selected, as mentioned earlier in the thread and shown in the attachment here. Also check your current Sonos devices are all listed on your ‘System’ tab in that profile too.
I have looked for the BBC Sounds station on the S1 app as instructed, but it doesn’t appear on the list. I have tried on my phone and desktop but its not there.
Any ideas? We miss Radio 4 and 6Music!
Where are you looking? It isn’t a station, it’s a music service.
Or just stop developing your software and support chrome cast and all your problems go away.
Hi,
I noticed a while ago that TuneIn was no longer playing BBC radio stations on my Sonos, so removed TuneIn from services and added BBC sounds.
That has fixed my morning alarm which now plays BBC radio again, however when I ask Sonos by voice (via Google Assistant) to play BBC radio, it still defaults to TuneIn and fails.
How can I fix this? It’s not an issue with GA – my Google Home Hub plays via BBC Sounds when I ask it without issue. Only my Sonos speakers have this problem.
Thanks
I downloaded .m3u8 files from http://www.radiofeeds.co.uk/ extracted the URLs, (as per sample below) at least I am not going to create more SONOS landfill just yet.
Many thanks for this helpful suggestion.
I can use you example just fine, so am heartened this is the way forward.
But am failing to grasp how to navigate to the correct link to copy into my Manage/Add radio stations fields.
Can you explain how you did the “download” from the radiofeeds website & got to your example?
>at least I am not going to create more SONOS landfill just yet.
Exactly. It annoys me to get off-the cuff comments about “moving on” when the subtitle is “join us in helping destroying the environment”
I downloaded .m3u8 files from http://www.radiofeeds.co.uk/ extracted the URLs, (as per sample below) at least I am not going to create more SONOS landfill just yet.
Many thanks for this helpful suggestion.
I can use you example just fine, so am heartened this is the way forward.
But am failing to grasp how to navigate to the correct link to copy into my Manage/Add radio stations fields.
Can you explain how you did the “download” from the radiofeeds website & got to your example?
@windbag You don’t really download the streaming UR\Ls you just need to copy them. I gave you a link to the BBC URLs and another to Sonos' instructions for adding radio stations manually a month ago, but you rubbished it because of a reference to TuneIn, even though the instructions remain correct. You may wish to look back?
Was this change communicated more widely than this post and I missed it?
I’ve been assuming something was broken with my installation for a month because my BBC Radio stations stopped working (I only use it once a week or so) and all along it’s been due to this?
Sonos must have an idea of who’s using these stations on TuneIn and could have sent out an email? Or we could be shown a message when trying to play it? Instead I have to come looking for the answer
Heck, I’ve been after bbc sounds on Sonos for ages, just an email to say it’s available would have been lovely! I’d have switched my radio to that anyway and never noticed TuneIn breaking
I am using Google assistant. When I ask it to play radio 2 by any method I get bbc radio 2 wales! When I ask it to play radio 1 it says it cant find what I’ve asked for - so frustrating. I’ve tried everything I think to try and fix. Any help out there?
Something similar happens to me when trying to get the Dutch Radio 2 - I get Radio 2 form United Arab Emirates. This seems to be a misunderstanding between Google an TuneIn on Sonos. As a work around I have set the right Radio 2 as a favorite radio station in Google Home. Now telling GA to "play my favorite radiostation” on Sonos gives me Dutch Radio 2, the station I want to hear..
For people that can understand Dutch:
https://nl.community.sonos.com/google-assistent-en-sonos-229111/sonos-speelt-geen-npo-radio2-maar-een-andere-radio2-uitzending-6774498
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?
A feature which really should be available on Sounds is the Synopsis description for podcasts. Just giving a title is not sufficient information.
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.
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.
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
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:
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.
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*
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.
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.
