BBC Sounds

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170 comments

  • Official comment
    Andrew H.
    Brand Manager

    UPDATED OFFICIAL COMMENT

    Hi folks, thought to jump in here and discuss this as it is not straightforward and there is work being done on it.  So the BBC decided about a year ago to add HLS (adaptive bit rate transmission) to their streams and informed their partners about it.  You noticed the message "contact your provider as this will go away". As Tunein is our current source for those streams we were notified and we tested and we play and it's all good.  On March 9, 2023 Tunein transitioned to the HLS streams based on getting a thumbs up from their partners however a week later it seems that many partners could not properly decode the version of HLS being used and Tunein switched back.  So we are not-so-patiently waiting for the folks at Tunein to deliver the HLS streams back to us so initially we get the BBC without annoying messages.  On BBC Sounds this is not a clear cut process, we are in discussion with the BBC, they have interest in us as we do with them, and we are very hopeful we can see a solid long term partnership with them.  Our short term goal is to get the Tunein feeds secure and without messages, and continue building our relationship with the BBC.  Hope this helps.

  • Stephen Brown

    Any update on the BBC Sounds compatibility?

    6
  • DeckardWill

    Tony, can we therefore take your most recent response as an admission that BBC Radio stations won't be supported on Bluesound devices after all, contrary to some of your previous messages?

    "BluOS has been in contact with the BBC and have recently been approved for direct access to the list of playable radio stations."

    The only sensible workaround we currently have is manually adding station URLs via TuneIn. Will that continue to function post June deadline?

    Can you please explain to us the reason for BBC Sounds not being properly integrated? Who is making this an obstacle? What is the reason given?

    As Luke states, the BBC advise to go to the manufacturer. Why is BBC radio fully supported on my Roberts radio, but not on Bluesound? What have Roberts done that Bluesound cannot do?

    A lot of the fragments you are providing on this thread do not add up. I think we are all owed a FULL, DETAILED explanation.

    6
  • James Brownlie

    New to this thread and someone who is still operating Sonos in one room and BluOS in another. Sonos now has integration of BBC Sounds, which works well for me. It would be excellent to have BBC and BlueSound working together. Two other services I'd like to suggest, also available on Sonos, are RadioPlayer and Pocket Casts. The former does what TuneIn used to do before it ran into licensing issues with non-UK broadcasters. The latter is a simpler and easier way of accessing all your favourite podcasts than via Spotify (or Amazon). I'll post this request elsewhere on community.

    5
  • Luke Fletcher

    “ As best in these cases, please also feel free to contact the BBC about your concerns.”
    Interestingly the BBC’s advice is to ask the manufacturer! - so to integrate BBC service into blueOS you first need the BBC to do something for you that presumably they have done for Sonos, smart tvs and alexia smart speakers - what is it specifically that we need to ask for?

    5
  • Colin Brewer

    I am another two year veteran of this post which is repeatedly ignored by Bluesound which is proving itself another NorthAmericanCentric  tech outfit.  Whoever is making these choices inside Bluesound needs a rocket up the proverbial for ignoring a loyal high spending client base. I will be dead by the time they get round to it.

    4
  • Gavin Howard

    Would still love it - used a Sonos system the other day.  The interface, useability and the exisitence of the BBC Sounds App is head and shoulders above this system.  Please integrate it as my wife is fed up!

     

    4
  • ALI NAQVI

    Hi, 

    As Paul says, hopefully Bluesound will also engage with the BBC to resolve this issue, which is significant for those of us living in the UK, but I suspect we will also need to put pressure on the Beeb too. So I emailed them yesterday which on its own will have no impact, but if each of us could do the same then that may galvanise them into action. The address to email is radiofeedback@bbc.co.uk and here is my text which you can copy or adapt and use: 

    Hi,

    There are many of us who listen to BBC sounds via our Bluesound streamers which uses TunedIn for BBC audio services. I gather that this is ending in 2023.

    So can you and Bluesound get together and integrate BBC Sounds into the Bluesound app or come up with another solution. You've done this with Sonos, which is a direct competitor to Bluesound so it would be unfair if we were excluded and penalised. 

    I really don't want to listen to BBC music via Bluetooth on my Powernode. Bluesound have a user forum and many of us are asking for this, given the ending of your agreement with TunedIn.

    Many thanks and I look forward to hearing from you soon. 

    4
  • JoeBed

    Ali you say we should be patient but some of us have been waiting over 3 years for action, in my opinion we have shown plenty of patience and that is now running out for many customers whom like myself have invested multiple thousands in the blue os eco system.

    4
  • Simon Parsons

    Like requests for Audible support, access to BBC Sounds within BlueOS is something people have been asking about repeatedly for many years. It's surprising there's been no action.

    3
  • JoeBed

    @TONY W. - PRODUCT SUPPORT MANAGER

    You told me over 2 years ago services take time ... don't you think this is enough time now

    From a services / application perspective there is very little noticeable improvements to the app in the time I have owned my units and that's over 3 years, are we actually going to see anything.

    3
  • Gregory Roberts

    Is BBC Sounds functionality being investigated? I am a long term Bluesound user and desperate to have catch up functionality, as achieved by BBC Sounds.

    Come on team, what's the latest?

    Thanks

     

     

    3
  • Paul M

    Is this the normal level of support provided by the 'Support Team?' ie none

    3
  • Mark Smith

    I'm looking to purchase Bluesound to replace a 15 year old Bang and Olufsen multi-room system. BBC Sounds app is an absolute must for me, it's my most used streaming service by far. I won't be buying into any ecosystem that doesn't have it.

    3
  • Gavin Howard

    Good luck, Mark, this company is not listening nor responding.

    3
  • Russell

    Agree whole heartedly with the majority of the above. I’ve been using TuneIn to play the BBC on a daily basis for years. However, I’m now receiving messages saying that the BBC will stop being available via TuneIn next year (2023) which as things stand at the moment seems like a step back rather than a step forward? If Sonos has managed to resolve the issue with the Sounds App why can’t Bluesound?

    Surely what’s good for the goose is good for the gander . . . ?

    3
  • John Cromby

    Yes, please can BBC Sounds soon be fully integrated into Bluos? Sonos already has it, so its clearly not a technical impossibility. I've been hoping for it to appear with every update for the last two years! Its continued absence is both increasingly inexplicable and damaging to user's confidence.

    3
  • Gregory Roberts

    When will we get intergrated BBC Sounds functionality?

    3
  • Bailo

    I've got two Bluesound devices and I'm considering buying a third but the recent announcements on TuneIn that the BBC streams will be removed in the middle of this year has made me wonder if getting another Bluesound device would be a wise choice. I like the products but I do listen to a lot of BBC radio and the BBC's place on BluOS has been uncertain for quite some time now, as they have previously tried to remove their streams from TuneIn but relented at the last minute after seeing how unpopular it would be.

    I'm sure everyone on this thread would be reassured if you could share a bit more detail about the proposed solution for BBC support, as it seems to me that Bluesound is currently mis-aligned with the BBC on two issues: Firstly, the BBC's strategy is to move as much listening to BBC Sounds as possible, and to have people log in with their BBC ID in order to listen - this was the root of the spat with TuneIn a couple of years ago. Secondly, my own experience is that the BBC is deprecating HLS and moving to DASH as much as possible, but Bluesound doesn't appear to support DASH.

    So are we looking at:

    - An integration between Sounds and the BluOS controller, a bit like the current Spotify integration
    - Support for BBC DASH streams in the BluOS app (DASH did not appear to be supported when I tried them a few weeks ago)
    - A long-term commitment on the BBC's side to support HLS
    - A temporary stay of execution for the HLS streams a bit like the TuneIn climb-down a few years ago

    ?

    3
  • Stephen Brown

    Thank you for responding Tony. I have indeed reached out to the BBC. I am awaiting some kind of response. Can you kindly explain how it has been possible for Sonos to achieve full compatibility? What did they do which BlueSound cannot?

    3
  • Joe Syers

    Around 1 month ago, Kellie in Bluesound support replied to a ticket I created about this issue as follows:

    "While I am not aware of a timeline for integrating the BBC Sounds App specifically into our App -  The BBC has recently approved BluOS for direct access to their live Radio Stations. This Music Service will be available (by default) in the Navigation Drawer. This feature is currently under development and will be released soon."

    All they need to do is to let us know when this "soon" will be!  BBC Sounds is not actually the issue here - it would be great and the BBC should absolutely not support Sonos' attempts to monopolise multiroom audio - but the restoration of live streams with metadata is a basic and surely achievable first, now urgent, aim.

    3
  • LD Williams

    To add the BBC Radio stream as a Custom Station, perform the following steps:

    In the BluOS Controller App, under the left Navigation Drawer select TuneIn > Favorites. The TuneIn Favorites screen is displayed.
    Select Add Custom Station. The Add Custom Station modal window is displayed.
    Enter the Name and URL1) of the station.
    Select OK. The Custom station is now added under TuneIn Favorite.

    The links below are all high quality 320kbps streams 

    BBC Radio 1
    http://a.files.bbci.co.uk/media/live/manifesto/audio/simulcast/hls/uk/sbr_high/ak/bbc_radio_one.m3u8

    BBC Radio 1Xtra
    http://a.files.bbci.co.uk/media/live/manifesto/audio/simulcast/hls/uk/sbr_high/ak/bbc_1xtra.m3u8

    BBC Radio 2
    http://a.files.bbci.co.uk/media/live/manifesto/audio/simulcast/hls/uk/sbr_high/ak/bbc_radio_two.m3u8

    BBC Radio 3
    http://a.files.bbci.co.uk/media/live/manifesto/audio/simulcast/hls/uk/sbr_high/ak/bbc_radio_three.m3u8

    BBC Radio 4
    http://a.files.bbci.co.uk/media/live/manifesto/audio/simulcast/hls/uk/sbr_high/ak/bbc_radio_fourfm.m3u8

    BBC Radio 4LW
    http://a.files.bbci.co.uk/media/live/manifesto/audio/simulcast/hls/uk/sbr_high/ak/bbc_radio_fourlw.m3u8

    BBC Radio 4 Extra
    http://a.files.bbci.co.uk/media/live/manifesto/audio/simulcast/hls/uk/sbr_high/ak/bbc_radio_four_extra.m3u8

    BBC Radio 5 Live
    http://a.files.bbci.co.uk/media/live/manifesto/audio/simulcast/hls/uk/sbr_high/ak/bbc_radio_five_live.m3u8

    BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra
    http://a.files.bbci.co.uk/media/live/manifesto/audio/simulcast/hls/uk/sbr_high/ak/bbc_radio_five_live_sports_extra.m3u8

    BBC Radio 6 Music
    http://a.files.bbci.co.uk/media/live/manifesto/audio/simulcast/hls/uk/sbr_high/ak/bbc_6music.m3u8

    BBC Asian Network
    http://a.files.bbci.co.uk/media/live/manifesto/audio/simulcast/hls/uk/sbr_high/ak/bbc_asian_network.m3u8

    3
  • Phil 3100

    @LD Williams the link to BBC HLS stream URLs was posted some time ago. Although I'm still using some of them as custom stations, I believe from the post above yours that the HLS streams were added as defaults by TuneIn around 3 months ago. What people are asking for now is proper BBC Sounds integration to listen to podcasts, stream previously broadcast shows etc. without having to resort to Bluetooth. +1 for that please!

    3
  • James Brownlie

    Message sent to BBC to request Sounds is made available for use on BluOS. I recommend that others do the same.

    3
  • Andrew H.
    Brand Manager

    It all helps, each time we talk to them any additional pressure helps

    3
  • Andrew H.
    Brand Manager

    I'm honestly more tired of the thread than you are since the BBC, their deep levels of bureaucracy and the multitudes of people that we have been working through for years to partner with them seems endless.  We intend of course to keep pushing for a direct integration. 

    3
  • Mark

    I'm afraid I just don't understand this response. As a British company with a strong British following, surely it is obvious that we would want Bluesound to integrate with the music service provided by the leading British broadcasting service, BBC Sounds? The issue was the same with the forerunner to BBC Sounds, iplayer radio, which I seem to recall also had numerous users asking why it had not been integrated with Bluesounds (happy to be corrected, but I remember looking how to do it on various occasions to no avail).

    I have no idea about the technical complexity of integration of BBC Sounds vs. the other Music services which have been integrated, nor how stable/ unstable the BBC Sounds app is from a technical integration perspective, but for me it would be an amazing 'killer app' if Bluesound bit the bullet and did it.

    As context, I'm probably showing my age/ demographic, but I have no idea what many of the integrated music services are: Bugs, Calm Radio, Custom Channels, DMH, IDAGIO, KKBOX, nugs.net, etc. Nor how much overlap there is between subscribers of these services and Bluesounds' core customer segments (i.e. in terms of geography, demography, age etc.)?

    My point is not to seek answers to these questions, but rather, to understand the logic of why so many services I have never heard of HAVE been integrated, while the flagship BBC service (including access to all World Service content) has not?

    Moreover, I'd just like to wake up one day and discover that it works seamlessly with my Bluesound systems in my study, kitchen and living area, so my whole family can enjoy the experience.

    Is there any hope of this ever happening or should I just forget the silly idea.

     

     

    2
  • Will Rowan

    Any update on this? 

    BBC Sounds does now have APIs

    2
  • Gavin Howard

    Just turned away from Sonos as so annoyed with having so much obsolete, fairly recent kit, in favour of Bluos. Annoyingly, they have BBC Sounds now and the Bluos still has no sign. Why not?

    2
  • Anthony Doyle

    I'm a bit baffled. It seems some like Gavin are thankful for small mercies and allowing themselves to be fobbed off by Bluetooth, chrome cast or Airplay connectivity to a smartphone which was recognised of course as an option at the outset. All of these methods add am extra potentially unstable with fi link to the proceedings. With Bluetooth one must remember to set " do not disturb" and undo thereafter to prevent notification and call sounds contaminating the soundfield, at higher volumes than ever before.
    Bbc sounds was available via reciva donkey's years ago, live and catch up.
    I don't know whether Airplay is any better than chromecast, ( which at least avoids the cross contamination of phone noises), but I get plenty of instability with buffering and dropouts . I would be interested to know if anyone has compared the two in view of the TOTAL lack of progress since this thread was initiated by Colin years ago.

    2

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