TuneIn Radio [Pro] and the BBC

[iBozz]

I am UK based and have used TuneIn Radio Pro extensively to listen to radio from around the world including waking up most days, via the alarm feature, to the UK’s BBC Radio 4.

This morning, I was greeted by the audio message that “This station is not available in your country” or words to that effect, and launching the station manually returs the message “This station is not currently avaiable on TuneIn”.

It’s a UK station and I’m in the UK!

Is it just me or is anyone else thus affected? What has happened? How can I get this station back again?

I’m on an iPad Pro 10.5” running under iOS 13.1.1 and using the latest version of TuneIn Radio Pro, I can’t find the number.

Thanks in advance.

 

[scifan57]

If you have the app on another device have you tried it on that device to see if the same station is blocked?

 

[Aerofly]

I’m in the UK, and I also have Tune-in Radio Pro. I’ve just tried the official BBC radio stations, and I’m getting the same result as you.

I can only think that it’s a licensing issue that’s probably been introduced by the BBC, but I have no idea why this should be the case.

I did find a workaround for this though. If you search Tune-in for “BBC Radio 4” it does find a ‘live’ link to the station which appears to be from an independent source.
This would appear to be a solution to the problem you have, although doesn’t provide an answer to the reason why the official stations have been pulled.

 

[mapster1701]

You need to add the app BBC Sounds to your iPad. You will need to create a username and password. The same login works with iPlayer.

 

[iBozz]

If you have the app on another device have you tried it on that device to see if the same station is blocked?

Thanks, one and all.

The problem exists across all devices and I have managed to get an explanation from TuneIn Support which I copy, italicised, at the end of this thread.

It is indeed a form of licencing problem and, based upon TuneIn’s reply, I have a work round: use a VPN and jump to another country. I tried this last night by switching to servers in Dublin, Ireland, and going to sleep listening to a US on-line station and this morning waking to BBC Radio 4 news. It worked just fine!

The problem with the BBC Sounds app, which I also use, is that it has no alarm or clock function, both of which I use overnight. Yes, there are other alarm clocks available but TuneIn is the only one I can still read without the need to don my spectacles when waking in the early hours. Even were there to be an alarm function (there is a sleep one so it seems odd that they haven’t included an alarm) I tend to go to sleep listening to old time radio crime stations and awake to the BBC Radio 4 news and BBC Sounds does not allow listening to non-BBC stations. If I am wrong on any of those assertions then I’m happy to be corrected.


TuneIn email:

Effective September 30th, 2019, BBC streams domestically in the United Kingdom are no longer available on TuneIn with the exception of select third-party devices and platforms. BBC podcasts are not however affected by this change. When the BBC makes its stations available on platforms such as ours, it asks that we have the listener sign into a BBC account to listen or for us to share data directly with them about what you listen to. Unfortunately, we are unable to accommodate these requests at this time. Despite these changes in the UK, we remain committed to providing our listeners around the world the best listening experience possible and continue to value our partnership with the BBC.

We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your support of TuneIn.

So, use a VPN and this pointless and irritating problem is solved!