It would certainly be nice if these UK toll systems moved with the times. The Severn Bridge was cash only until just a few years ago, and a few months ago, I tried to pay online for driving over the new Mersey bridge in Runcorn. Their website was down, so I couldn’t pay within their 24 hour deadline, and they are trying to take me to court for non-payment of the £2 fee, for which they are currently trying to fleece me for £250!
…which does, I confess, have absolutely nothing to do with the BBC!!
There are web protectors like duck duck go and others which severly restrict how google can track and bombard you with ads. I’ve started using it and it’s such a welcome relief.
I messaged Bluesound and recieved the following reply:
‘We have spoken with the BBC and continue to work with them for a long term solution. We are told it will continue for third party devices until we are able to implement a future plan.’
Got caught out on that very bridge earlier this year. Genuine oversight on my part, forgot to pay. No reminders, nothing, just a fine. Paid it and vowed I will never use that bridge again. Not bitter, just twisted.
Steve,
This is miserable news for those who do not live in the UK, but nevertheless want to enjoy high quality BBC Radio. Up to now, tune-in gave us an option to use the 320k stream. I would be quite willing to pay a licence fee to be able to continue at 320k, or even at lower quality, but that isn’t an option. (Will I still be able to access the lower quality streams via internet radio on my ND555, living in Ireland?).
It’s particularly nasty to pull it before the end of the Proms!
David
The BBC seem to have gone OTT in blocking their content in my experience. Even as a UK based license fee payer, a lot of their content is blocked from me as soon as I leave the UK, even if I have not yet arrived in another country.
Naim, nor Tune-in have any influence on the broadcast policies of a station on the countries they provide full service to. The BBC’s servers decide if they will supply the stream or not, based on the end customers Ip address.
Using a VPN enabled router (google it…) maybe the workaround solution you are looking for.
Steve,
I am reluctant to go down the VPN path at router level. There is significant potential for domestic civil war if I get it wrong!
However,I may now need to reconsider…
David
I have stopped listening and watching the BBC as
I find the corporation too PC for my liking the presenters are shocking and the DJ’s are full of themselves. Listen to 5 Live breakfast full of self opinionated prat’s that I have no wish to listen too. As for the licence fee well out of date and should be scrapped. I feel better now. Back to the music.
I listen to Radio 3 or Radio 4 a lot and both of them are excellent and can’t be bettered by anything else.
I think it depends what you want out of your radio listening. It’s in pop music, some newsy gossip and travel news then the independents probably do that as well as or better than the BBC, but you have to listen to the adverts of course.
Having travelled all over, sometimes away for some time, the BBC was a joy to come home to & I will forever be a fan. I agree the pop theme station JD’s are all ‘up themselves’, ditto one or two of the R-2 people (avoid Z.Ball ‘Breakfast’ at all costs), but thats when R4 is at its best.
R3 is legendary for the quality of signal & program content, there really is nothing to beat it. Not forgetting the BBC local services
Failing all that Naim’s iRadio is a bit special, Naim Radio, Paradise(s) & a zillion other stations to discover, BBC aside, thank goodness for iRadio
And just in case you want to see how lucky we are with Naim (in UK) with the BBC HLS streams, go have a read on the Linn (WigWam) forum, a lot or angst over Tunein.
Had a reply from BBC to say there are currently no plans to allow sign-in to BBC Sounds via Bluesound so once it’s dropped from Tidal I cannot see that our main ‘radio’ will access BBC radio. I guess I could Bluetooth to the Bluesound device from an Android phone or tablet but it’s an unwieldly approach to say the least.
Commercial radio stations will be licking their lips…
@davidhendon, what I’d like is an option to unsubscribe so I do not have to pay for something I don’t watch or listen to. No problem with those who like it, subscribing, watching, listening and paying. I’m happy to pay for Sky as I watch and enjoy it, but wouldn’t expect those who don’t to pay.
I like waking up to R4 news at 7am. One of the things not really mentioned in this thread is that over the past few years most of us have moved away from dedicated radio alarms to some kind of streaming device whether that’s a Muso QB or an iPhone.
The ending of BBC iPlayer radio removed the ability to wake to an alarm and there’s no plan for BBC Sounds to incorporate an alarm. So, having used Tunein in various specific scenarios back to Tunein I went, until…
Fortunately there remain a number of radio apps which contain both Radio 4 and an alarm. Seems like a matter of time before that ceases to be the case though.
I use firefox to browse and duckduckgo or metager to search, no ads no targetting. Email is on a secure server which cost my 1€ per month for one main address and two aliases.
The demise of iRadio was a loss, but I’m getting used to Sounds. However, I still listen to the BBC radio on all my sources (NAT01, NDS and 4 x UQ). However, tracking it down on Roon is not worth the hassle - roll on proper integration into the system.
I used Tunein a lot when working abroad, but have not bothered since my return to Blighty.
On a side issue and with a nod to MikeHughescq above on the move from broadcast radio to streamed, the lack of live football commentaries on BBC local radio will need to be addressed. It’s frustrating to listen to Radio Leicester and then hear the message ‘this programme is not available online’ when a match is on. What damage is being done if a commentary can be heard outside of the TSA? Live football on tv is blocked under UEFA’s 3:00pm embargo, radio commentaries aren’t so why block it on a stream?
