You complain about Google limiting choice yet your action of taking podcasts from their service removes my capability of listening my device or service of choice. The BBC obsession with the Sounds app is becoming tiresome, and worrying, given how they are now trying to dictate how you access public broadcasting.
Opening up BBC Sounds to others’ podcasts and commercial radio
21–30 of 54 posts
Re: Opening up BBC Sounds to others’ podcasts and commercial radio
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
Correct. TV licenses apply to TV content. We don't have radio licenses any more. You don't need a TV license to listen to radio. > I guess they just extended the system to all content for simplicity. The 'iPlayer' app (web and native) is entirely different to the 'iPlayer Radio' and 'Sounds' apps. It's not simple to add auth to apps totally unrelated to TV.
I meant maybe the backend is the same? They probably have one content delivery system.
Technology serves policy. You don't build anything without a reason.
If they said "our technology platform is cheaper if we track every user's activity and prevent anyone from accessing it without authentication" then at least that would be honest. I think it would raise some very legitimate questions, though.
FWIW I don't think this is the case. You can access BBC Sounds fine from other parts of the world, just with ads inserted. If they can geolocate non-UK listeners to substitute auth for ads, they can geolocate UK listeners without auth or ads.
Re: Opening up BBC Sounds to others’ podcasts and commercial radio
#23I love the Radioplayer and to date I can’t get my head round Sounds. It just hasn’t got the same functionality unless one wants to listen to music. Radio plays, comedies et al are my listening menu. It seems that things are gradually being removed from the iPlayer. I’m old so not important to the new BBC.
They made me sign into iPlayer radio the other day. That’s not what I want from iPlayer. Why don’t they do what users actually want?
This is a legitimate question. They are a special class of organization and have all kinds of policies to work to. A private company can do what they want.
The problem is the policies.
Re: Opening up BBC Sounds to others’ podcasts and commercial radio
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
Correct. TV licenses apply to TV content. We don't have radio licenses any more. You don't need a TV license to listen to radio. > I guess they just extended the system to all content for simplicity. The 'iPlayer' app (web and native) is entirely different to the 'iPlayer Radio' and 'Sounds' apps. It's not simple to add auth to apps totally unrelated to TV.
I meant maybe the backend is the same? They probably have one content delivery system.
For the avoidance of doubt, they do not automatically match up TV licences to your BBC iPlayer account. When you go to the website to watch a video, you are redirected to the login page. From there, you are asked whether you have a TV licence, and only then does the video start. I can only assume the forced login is to enable user tracking?
I don't mind paying the TV license fee as the content is excellent, but I browse the website and download what I want to watch with youdube-dl, because I categorically reject their creepy tracking, which they refuse to properly explain. If youtube-dl stops working, I'll keep paying the licence to support the programming, but will look for torrents of the shows to download instead.
Re: Opening up BBC Sounds to others’ podcasts and commercial radio
#25I commented on the BBC website but I might as well post it here too: As a proud listener, viewer and supporter of the BBC, this is one part that seems really unfortunate. Why should I need an account to listen to BBC content? All the pages on the BBC website that pretend to answer this question are evasive and dodge the question. What do you have to hide? Please re-consider. Allow your content to be made available vi…
I agree. I use RSS to listen to the BBC Global News podcast every morning over breakfast (and NPR, and CBC news updates). As much as I love that part of my morning routine, I wouldn't create an account to listen to it, so I don't see a reason to change from RSS.
Re: Opening up BBC Sounds to others’ podcasts and commercial radio
#26I commented on the BBC website but I might as well post it here too: As a proud listener, viewer and supporter of the BBC, this is one part that seems really unfortunate. Why should I need an account to listen to BBC content? All the pages on the BBC website that pretend to answer this question are evasive and dodge the question. What do you have to hide? Please re-consider. Allow your content to be made available vi…
> Why should I need an account to listen to BBC content? It doesn't apply to audio of course, but watching BBC video content now requires you to be a licence payer doesn't it? So they need to know who you are. I guess they just extended the system to all content for simplicity.
> It doesn't apply to audio of course, but watching BBC video content now requires you to be a licence payer doesn't it? So they need to know who you are. I guess they just extended the system to all content for simplicity.
The database for the BBC website logins and the database for people who have a license fee aren't connected, and couldn't be under the Data Protection Act.
The BBC login doesn't check if the information is valid, or if you have a license, it's literally just for user tracking for data.
Re: Opening up BBC Sounds to others’ podcasts and commercial radio
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
>As a proud listener, viewer and supporter of the BBC Jesus christ
What? There are tonnes of critics and conspiracy theorists. Look up 'TV licensing' on YouTube. I am not one of those. I am very grateful that we have Radio 3, 4 and various podcasts. The news is generally balanced and generally of high quality. I think that's reasonable contextualization for the comment.
All media/news organisations have an agenda, but state sponsored ones are especially dangerous.
BBC News is a government mouthpiece, I would rather the UK government didn't have a means to distribute their propaganda directly to my TV or phone or computer under the guise of a "friendly national broadcaster".
Re: Opening up BBC Sounds to others’ podcasts and commercial radio
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
What? There are tonnes of critics and conspiracy theorists. Look up 'TV licensing' on YouTube. I am not one of those. I am very grateful that we have Radio 3, 4 and various podcasts. The news is generally balanced and generally of high quality. I think that's reasonable contextualization for the comment.
All media/news organisations have an agenda, but state sponsored ones are especially dangerous. BBC News is a government mouthpiece, I would rather the UK government didn't have a means to distribute their propaganda directly to my TV or phone or computer under the guise of a "friendly national broadcaster".
> There are tonnes of critics and conspiracy theorists.
Re: Opening up BBC Sounds to others’ podcasts and commercial radio
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
What? There are tonnes of critics and conspiracy theorists. Look up 'TV licensing' on YouTube. I am not one of those. I am very grateful that we have Radio 3, 4 and various podcasts. The news is generally balanced and generally of high quality. I think that's reasonable contextualization for the comment.
All media/news organisations have an agenda, but state sponsored ones are especially dangerous. BBC News is a government mouthpiece, I would rather the UK government didn't have a means to distribute their propaganda directly to my TV or phone or computer under the guise of a "friendly national broadcaster".
I consume tonnes of BBC content (TV shows, films, radio) while barely touching anything from BBC News.
Re: Opening up BBC Sounds to others’ podcasts and commercial radio
#30I commented on the BBC website but I might as well post it here too: As a proud listener, viewer and supporter of the BBC, this is one part that seems really unfortunate. Why should I need an account to listen to BBC content? All the pages on the BBC website that pretend to answer this question are evasive and dodge the question. What do you have to hide? Please re-consider. Allow your content to be made available vi…
> Why should I need an account to listen to BBC content? It doesn't apply to audio of course, but watching BBC video content now requires you to be a licence payer doesn't it? So they need to know who you are. I guess they just extended the system to all content for simplicity.
They claim the account requirement is not about licensing:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/aboutthebbc/entries/77bdafd0-20b...