What is this? Where am I? You've arrived at a sort of respite care home for frustrated iPlayer users.

This site provides, amongst other things, the streaming links for BBC Listen Again programs that you may prefer to listen (or Listen Again) to from here rather than using the BBC iPlayer. It will let you listen to BBC radio broadcasts on smartphones, Pocket PCs, PDAs, and other mobile devices. It also works on PCs, Macs and pretty much anything else that supports WMA.

The site also includes some other bits and bobs. Take a load off, set a spell, wander around and try 'em out!

If you want to know more about this site then please go to the Beebotron Bulletin Board. It's kinda quirky, and if you haven't been there before then you should start with the Announcements page, or possibly the Beeboblog one. Start by clicking The Beebotron Bulletin Board (below, in the What's Here section).

We don't bite, it's a safe site and we look forward to seeing you there!

UPDATE Septemberish 2010: We're on the new server!.
If you can read this then you're using the New Improved Server! Welcome!

UPDATE Juneish 2010: The Beeb have now binned RealAudio in favour of WMA.
All the Listen Again WMA links are now in Beebotron Lite (see below) rather than being duplicated in this site.

What's Here?

The Beebotron Bulletin Board
Beebotron Lite
BBC Listen Again - What Was On
BBC Listen Again - Compendia
BBC Listen Again - Selected Synopses
The Beebobodge
BBC Live Radio Links
What do I need to use the links?
What's the reason for this site?
Comments or requests
Other resources for Internet radio
Credits
and finally the site history... was here but is no more. It's now in the Beebotron Bulletin Board (just below).

The Beebotron Bulletin Board

The Beebotron Bulletin Board is where you can find out the site history and latest happenings, if you'll excuse that sixties expression...

The link is here:The Beebotron Bulletin Board.

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Beebotron Lite

This is the most useful page on the Beebotron - it's where you'll find all the links. Go there and just click 'n' listen...

The link is here: Beebotron Lite.

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BBC Listen Again - What Was On

This link gives you the listings for the last seven days or so. The 'or so' is because it covers today and goes backwards for seven days - totalling eight days of listings. You can only listen to something which has been broadcast over the last seven days, so you won't be able to Listen Again to something from today's listing which hasn't yet been broadcast. Neither will you be able to Listen Again to something from the oldest listing that's over seven days old - you get the idea...

Unlike the Beebotron's Listen Again pages, this one provides manufactured links to programmes so, if the BBC feeds glitch, there's still a chance you could listen to the programme from this page. The links here are all tested (i.e. they link to a BBC stream).

The link is here:  What Was On

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BBC Listen Again - Compendia

Compendia is where I intend to put programmes which are grouped together, but with rather more information than just the title and the clickable link.

It's starting with Radio Highlights - programmes taken from recommendations from the Radio Times. It gives you the listings for the last seven days or so. The 'or so' is defined in the What Was On section.. There's one difference - if the link is grayed out then it's definitely not available. If it's clickable it's usually playable, but on the odd occasion when it doesn't work it's likely to be the Beeb's site which has a problem!

Compendia Links: (NOT CURRENTLY AVAILABLE)

Radio Times - Radio Highlights

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BBC Listen Again - Selected Synopses

This page gives you some of the synopses for the programmes - typically those where the links show something MON TUE WED THU FRI, and you don't know what's in the link unless you follow it. It's built on entirely different technology from the rest of the site, and is independent from it. It uses BBC Backstage API feeds, and adheres to their terms and conditions. That's why you won't be able to follow a link from that page, so you will have to bounce backwards and forwards between the Listen Again links and the Synopses page if you want to use this feature! The BBC Backstage features I am using are still prototype (i.e. can be a bit ropey) .

The link is here:  Synopses

The Beebobodge

Without wishing to knock the Beeb too much, there are times when their schedules for some programmes are erratic, or even missing. Some of you, by now, will know that you can manufacture most of the BBC links for most of their stations. That means that if you can't find the correct link for your favourite programme on the Beebotron or elsewhere that there is a chance you may be able to make a link and use it.

All you need to know are the programme's station and the day and time it's usually broadcast - then you can bodge the link. And to help you in this task, I offer you the Beebobodge.

BBC Live Radio Links

Does what it says on the box!

These groups of links are in differing orders of audio quality. These are ~128k AAC streams for UK users, and ~48k aacPlus streams for international listeners. I'm told (but I can't confirm this) that if your Flash isn't up to scratch, you get a Real/Windows stream. Nice! Well done Auntie!

iPlayer Console - These should be 128 kbps AAC

UK/Worldwide - Console - 1Xtra
UK/Worldwide - Console - 6 Music
UK/Worldwide - Console - Radio 4 Extra (BBC 7)
UK/Worldwide - Console - Radio 1
UK/Worldwide - Console - Radio 2
UK/Worldwide - Console - Radio 3
UK/Worldwide - Console - Radio 4 FM
UK/Worldwide - Console - Five Live
UK/Worldwide - Console - Asian Network

WMA Links - all links are .asx playlist format. These should be 128kbps for the UK (and regrettably less for international listeners)... A Good One: International listeners used to be unable to access Radio , Radio 2, Radio 3, or Radio 4. Now they can!

WMA - Radio 1
WMA - 1Xtra
WMA - Radio 2
WMA - Radio 3
WMA - Radio 4 FM
WMA - Radio 4 LW
WMA - Radio 4 Extra
WMA - Five Live
WMA - Five Live Sports Extra
WMA - 6 Music
WMA - Asian Network
WMA - World Service
WMA - World Service Alternate 1
WMA - World Service Alternate 2
WMA - World Service - English News
WMA - World Service - English News Alternate 1
WMA - World Service - English News Alternate 2

User Supplied Links - With absolutely no warranty!

SRD - Cricket
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What do I need to use the links?

Pretty much anything that'll play Windows Media Audio!

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What's the reason for this site?

The original purpose of the site was to make content available for mobiles.

However, the Beeb's iPlayer site is, to my mind, somewhat bloated. So it's expanded considerably from the early days, and now has now become a necessity for me on a PC, let alone a mobile, because of the over-engineering.

Moan over, I also appreciate that zillions of people like the iPlayer, so each to his own I say! .I still believe that that Beeb are the best content provider in the Universe (or at least in the unfashionable end of the Western spiral arc of the Milky Way galaxy and, to quote James Cridland from his superb BBC Radio Labs blog here
BBC RadioLabs
'we don't care how people listen to the radio, as long as they listen'. James is a decent bloke and is doing a fine job - I wish him well!

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Comments, criticisms or requests?

Please email me at:

kronalias AT beebotron.org (just replace ' AT ' with '@').

I'd be delighted to hear from you, whether it's a brickbat or a bouquet!

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Other resources for accessing radio on the Internet

There are more radio stations than you can shake a stick at here: http://www.radiofeeds.co.uk/pda/rp.asp

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Credits

Thank you very much Rick, of http://www.timeforabrew.com, for the hosting, all the help, the humour, the mutual help and fun in server bugfixing, and just for generally being a Really Decent Bloke. One day I hope to meet you... And I'll buy you a pint. Or two.

The inspiration came from Dave's site, http://dave.org.uk/streams/ - Nice one Dave, another RDB!

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Thanks for visiting from Kronalias!

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