Here’s something I heard about on Radio Cymru this morning.
If you’re using the BBC Sounds app to listen to Radio Cymru overseas, it will stop working when the BBC launches its new international BBC.COM app. This will happen “in the spring”, so there’s no definite date yet. Unfortunately, the new app will feature only two radio stations; the English language Radio 4 and the World Service. So no Radio Cymru.
The BBC has said that Radio Cymru will continue to be available on “all other platforms” by which I assume they mean other streaming services and the BBC Sounds web site.
Here’s the story - It’s in Welsh and I doubt if they’ll make an English version available.
Disclaimer - I have an iPhone (not my choice - work mandates it) and didn’t research Android.
TuneIn is an app that I’ve used previously, but the free version doesn’t support ‘local’ (I know, I know) BBC radio. The paid for version costs £9.99, I think.
A free alternative is the snappily-named British FM Radio - Live Player and I was able to download and install this very easily and find Radio Cymru with a simple search. Seemed to work smoothly enough. I haven’t been able to do any kind of long-term test, of course.
Edited to add - If you use a smart speaker, then I fully expect it still to work after BBC Sounds becomes restricted. I only wish Alexa would learn to pronounce the Radio part of Radio Cymru correctly.
Yes, I’m not happy about this! I’ve got “Radio Garden” on my phone, and it brings up a surprising number of little local radio stations in Cymru, but I can’t find Radio Cymru anywhere. Focusing on Carmarthen gives me Cymru FM, which was at least playing Welsh language songs just now, but the majority were English language “golden oldies”
I guess I’ll have to research the “other platforms” you’ve mentioned above, Rob.
EDIT: I found the Live Player and got Radio Cymru on it, so I suppose I’ll have to swap to that once Sounds no longer works for me.
The BBC-Sounds app is the one I use every day for Radio Cymru. It works great here in mainland Europe and of course there are no ads so I’ll be sad if the BBC switches it off. I do have the free version of TuneIn app on my iPhone as well and it’s ok with BBC Radio Cymru. Had it on all this evening and didn’t hear any ads.
I use Android and the free & open-source app “Transistor” works well for Radio Cymru (and Radio 3 as well, incidentally). Whether this will help overseas listeners of Radio Cymru, though, I have no idea.
I did a bit more research on the subject of listening to BBC services abroad. It sounds like the streams from the BBC will be geoblocked in the future so other Apps probably won‘t help either., let‘s see….
I am assuming that the Beeb will be looking into licensing agreements. They’ll bring out a paid service to restore access, once they’ve gauged demand.
Basically they’ll just want money from everyone not already paying the Licence Fee. Which is sort of fair enough. It’s a tax-funded service for UK citizens, who are usually also residents.
Still sucks though.
This has now happened. If you live outside the UK, you get a message saying
“The BBC Sounds App is closed for anyone living outside the UK”
It suggests using a new BBC App, but it has a very limited range of material available. I thought there was going to be some discussion as to how people overseas could continue to access things like Radio Cymru.
@sara-peacock-1 do you happen to have any more information on the situation?
I (USA) have still been able to access Radio Cymru (as well as other local BBC radio stations) through the BBC website instead of the app for live material. There is some archived material (podcasts) that is available for playback. From this article, it sounds like that’s the plan going forward?
The alternate app that the BBC is directing overseas users to is called BBC.com (the app icon is BBC in black letters in white boxes on a black background - and utterly inferior to BBC Sounds). It has advertising, which is one of the reasons the BBC gives for the change. I’ve never used a VPN, but some place where I was reading about the change, I think I read that such add ons won’t allow access either. Someplace else I read that Spotify and another site I have forgotten the name of is being allowed access to BBC Sounds for a while more at least (I might be the only person in the digital world not to have yet used Spotify, but this might change my habits!). Also, just f.y.i that I am sure most people with them will ignore is that the BBC’s terms of use (astonishingly readable) states VPNs are not to be used (para 7a)
There’s only a small selection of programmes on BBC.com, as far as I can see.
I guess this is happening because they want to save money on international rights costs.
All the international corporations or broadcasters instead of acknowledging that now it’s just one big world on the web, and reforming the old way to deal with copyright laws and subscriptions, they pretend nothing has changed since shortwave and medium wave radio time or something!
But now people are used to having more available with a clic, and many of them will find a way to keep on having what they had.
Like I know several British citizens living permanently or working for some time abroad and using VPN to be able to watch what’s on iPlayer (and rightfully so, as they even pay the fee for something they cannot use).
Plus many more who just want to watch or now listen to those same programmes they like, and would rather pay a subscription to the broadcaster for the channel(s) they’re interested in (just like with Netflix and such), to make things right.
But we’re not offered the option, and it’s easy nowadays to just find a workaround and pay a VPN subscription instead. Which, yes, it’s officially not allowed by “terms of use” and technically not exactly legal but well…!
