Radio on BBC iPlayer

BBC Radio Streams

All of the BBC’s national, local and regional stations along with the BBC World Service are available to listen to live on the internet (rights permitting), with appropriate media player software.
It is also possible to listen to BBC Radio services via the internet without having to log on to a computer. The easiest way to do this is via Wi-Fi or Internet Radio. These radios pick up radio stations streamed on the internet via an Internet connection to the radio.
There are no UK only IP restrictions on BBC radio, though some sporting coverage is blocked and overseas listeners will receive.
Visit the BBC Radio Website for information on reception and programming.

Radio Bitrates on BBC iPlayer

Since 2015, all of BBC Radio’s online content has been produced by the Audio Factory platform that provides the same quality and device support for all BBC radio stations.

Website www.audiofactory.co.uk

Audio Factory encodes BBC Radio content using the following codecs and bitrates:

1. AAC-LC 320kbs Stereo
2. AAC-LC 128kbs Stereo
3. HE-AACv1 96kbs Stereo
4. HE-AACv1 48kbs Stereo
5. MP3 128kbs Stereo

HTTP streams are available in both UK  (320 kbp/s HLS AAC) and international variants (96 kbp/s HLS AAC), which allows those in the UK to continue to enjoy BBC Sports coverage.

HLS
HLS – HTTP Live Streaming and is a protocol developed by Apple for their iOS devices and QuickTime player. Support was added to Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) which has made HLS the ideal candidate for streaming to the widest range of mobile devices.

HDS
HDS – HTTP Dynamic Streaming was developed by Adobe as an alternative to their RTMP protocol. HDS allows for adaptive streaming over HTTP to any device that’s compatible with Adobe Flash or Air.