Radio and iPlayer

[Dave2002]

http://iplayerhelp.external.bbc.co.uk/radio/games_console_radio_iplayer

This is because we've noticed that radio and TV content are accessed differently, so they should(??) be treated differently.

This seems a lame excuse for not providing radio in iPlayer. Actually it's not that which is the only problem, as of course there is the iPlayer Radio app - but many TVs and add-on devices, such as Roku's otherwise very good kit, do not support that. The diversity of different apps - many of which are both device dependent and programme/channel dependent - is leading to unwanted and unneeded complications.

[LMcD]

Confused of Suffolk writes:
What is meant by 'not providing radio in iPlayer'? I just click on 'Radio' and up pops a wide choice of channels.
EDIT: Sorry, I should have clicked on the link before replying. At least there's presumably still a good number of radio channels available via your TV.

[Dave2002]

Confused of Suffolk writes:
What is meant by 'not providing radio in iPlayer'? I just click on 'Radio' and up pops a wide choice of channels.
EDIT: Sorry, I should have clicked on the link before replying. At least there's presumably still a good number of radio channels available via your TV.

It depends what device and which version of iPlayer and underlying system one uses. On my MBP laptop, if I get iPlayer up using Firefox, it behaves as you suggest, with links to the radio channels. On my iPad the only radio channel which appears is Radio 1, as that has video content. However, I can access the Radio Player App on the iPad which provides radio, as well as other apps such as TuneIn. On the Roku Stick+ I think there isn't even a glimmer of a radio channel.

Re the channels available via our TV, at present there aren't any for specific technical reasons, and we are forced to get all our viewing via the internet. We can still get radio using portables - including DAB. This does not bode particularly well for an internet only future - though that might be inevitable if UHD and 4k become the norm, as I don't expect it will be possible to do very high resolution video via conventional broadcast channels, either satellite or terrestrial. I would be glad to be proved wrong, but I doubt that it'll happen even if technically feasible, for financial reasons.