Downloading BBC radio programs now Radio Downloader is gone?

[WorriedNoodle]

Anyone got any tips on downloading BBC radio programs that are not available as podcast now Radio Downloader is gone?

[mrjohn]

Yes Radio Downloader was a wonderful piece of software that did just what it said on the tin.

It's unwelcome demise has been causing me a headache as well for the last two days or so.

However, bear in mind that you can still use Radio Downloader for BBC Podcasts, just subscribe to them using the RSS feed.

For other programmes (that are not available as podcasts) you can either record them live on the iPlayer (which of course means recording them in real time) and then save them as an MP3.

But much better is to use some software called Net transport (which, if you search around can be had for free)

You will need to find the link to the stream as an WMA file which will look something like this:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/4/asx/b0366knf/iplayer_intl_stream_wma_lo_concrete

Copy and paste this into Net transport and it will download a 1 hour programme in about 15-20 minutes

The WMA links can be obtained from this website:

http://beebotron.org/public3/radio4fm.html

Which has been around for a very long time for people who hate the "new improved" iPlayer

Anyway, feel free to PM me if this does not make sense.

Apparently the BBC is going to make downloads of all radio programmes available in 2014… It's fairly typical of them to pull the plugs on radio downloader a year before.

[KittenKong]

RadioDownloader was a handy little programme which I will miss.

Thankfully get-iplayer does just about everything that RadioDownloader did, and more, though the interface is somewhat more complex. Windows version available.

http://www.infradead.org/get_iplayer/html/get_iplayer.html

[joncl]

or just use Tune-in that is available for most devices and has every Radio station in the UK live ..

[Digitalbanana]

or just use Tune-in that is available for most devices and has every Radio station in the UK live ..

Great app but unfortunately missing the point of the o/p entirely.

[joncl]

I do apologise as I thought the point is the ability to download the radio stream right? Tune-in under XBMC for instance allow me to just that or a podcast if one is listed.

Edited July 4, 2013 by joncl

[Digitalbanana]

Not sure, but my Tune In (for Android) only allows streaming and live listening. I am unable to save the filewith TuneIn to playback anytime in future without a connection, which Radio Downloader did. Radio Downloader ripped a stream to mp3 or whatever in a fraction of the stream time that allowed one to listen to at ones own schedule. I will check out the other suggestions in this thread to try to replace Radio Downloader.

RadioDownloader was a handy little programme which I will miss.

Thankfully get-iplayer does just about everything that RadioDownloader did, and more, though the interface is somewhat more complex. Windows version available.

http://www.infradead.org/get_iplayer/html/get_iplayer.html

Does this require a UK IP address to work? I keep getting an error trying to download a radio program. Maybe me, as the program is certainly clunky = command line driven?

Edited July 4, 2013 by Digitalbanana

[Mobi]

Sorry guys, I'm totally mystified.

What is wrong with:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/#stations

It has every BBC radio station plus links to daily schedules and all pod casts and programmes.

Every station can be streamed live and many can be streamed up to a week or so after the live broadcast.

What more do you need?

[KittenKong]

RadioDownloader was a handy little programme which I will miss.

Thankfully get-iplayer does just about everything that RadioDownloader did, and more, though the interface is somewhat more complex. Windows version available.

http://www.infradead.org/get_iplayer/html/get_iplayer.html

Does this require a UK IP address to work? I keep getting an error trying to download a radio program. Maybe me, as the program is certainly clunky = command line driven?

BBC iplayer feeds work fine outside the UK except for some rare things like live sport etc. (though the international radio bitrate is often lower than that supplied in the UK)

So get-iplayer also works fine outside the UK for radio, though for TV you would need a VPN. Both work fine for me.

It isnt really clunky; it's a Linux programme that has been ported to Windows. It does open some cmd boxes but you can ignore these completely. Everything is driven from the web interface which works rather well. Due to it being highly configurable the interface does have a lot going on in it, most of which you can ignore.

When you start it, do it via the "Web PVR manager" link in the start menu. This will open the correct boxes and browser windows for you. Then refresh the cache using the refresh cache link in the webpage. Then search for your programme. What error message are you getting?

For me it works really well. One nice thing is that it extracts the AAC directly from the flv stream thus providing the best possible audio quality. RadioDownloader did this also.

[KittenKong]

Sorry guys, I'm totally mystified.

What is wrong with:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/#stations

It has every BBC radio station plus links to daily schedules and all pod casts and programmes.

Every station can be streamed live and many can be streamed up to a week or so after the live broadcast.

What more do you need?

I dont know about anyone else but I need a programme on my PC that automatically downloads all the available new episodes of particular radio programmes every day and stores them on my NAS in a format that my various devices can play back at some later time. Also in a format that I can use on devices with no internet connection (car stereo, tablet on aeroplanes, at the beach etc).

The only thing that I listen to live is the news.

RadioDownloader did this and so does get-iplayer. I certainly wouldnt want to be messing about with the BBC iplayer site and having to remember to listen to things before the seven days are up and they disappear forever, and be obliged to listen to them on one device in one place.

Tune-in is OK, when it works, but it doesnt work 100% and it doesnt carry all the available iplayer programmes either. And again, I dont necessarily have an internet connection where/when I want to listen to particular programmes so that rules Tune-in out.

[CHANGOVER]

Sorry guys, I'm totally mystified.

What is wrong with:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/#stations

It has every BBC radio station plus links to daily schedules and all pod casts and programmes.

Every station can be streamed live and many can be streamed up to a week or so after the live broadcast.

What more do you need?

When I tried to listen to Wimbledon coverage on Radio 5 live it says

''due to rights restrictions we are unable blah, blah, blah''

so one cannot listen to BBC 'live'. AFAIK, if anyone can tell me how I'd appreciate it.

[KittenKong]

When I tried to listen to Wimbledon coverage on Radio 5 live it says

''due to rights restrictions we are unable blah, blah, blah''

so one cannot listen to BBC 'live'. AFAIK, if anyone can tell me how I'd appreciate it.

I explained that some live sport is geo-restricted on iplayer a couple of posts up.

The answer is to use a VPN.

[Mobi]

Sorry guys, I'm totally mystified.

What is wrong with:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/#stations

It has every BBC radio station plus links to daily schedules and all pod casts and programmes.

Every station can be streamed live and many can be streamed up to a week or so after the live broadcast.

What more do you need?

When I tried to listen to Wimbledon coverage on Radio 5 live it says

''due to rights restrictions we are unable blah, blah, blah''

so one cannot listen to BBC 'live'. AFAIK, if anyone can tell me how I'd appreciate it.

Use a VPN.

I also use my VPN for watching or downloading BBC TV progs via iplayer. Works fine.

[Mobi]

Sorry guys, I'm totally mystified.

What is wrong with:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/#stations

It has every BBC radio station plus links to daily schedules and all pod casts and programmes.

Every station can be streamed live and many can be streamed up to a week or so after the live broadcast.

What more do you need?

I dont know about anyone else but I need a programme on my PC that automatically downloads all the available new episodes of particular radio programmes every day and stores them on my NAS in a format that my various devices can play back at some later time. Also in a format that I can use on devices with no internet connection (car stereo, tablet on aeroplanes, at the beach etc).

The only thing that I listen to live is the news.

RadioDownloader did this and so does get-iplayer. I certainly wouldnt want to be messing about with the BBC iplayer site and having to remember to listen to things before the seven days are up and they disappear forever, and be obliged to listen to them on one device in one place.

Tune-in is OK, when it works, but it doesnt work 100% and it doesnt carry all the available iplayer programmes either. And again, I dont necessarily have an internet connection where/when I want to listen to particular programmes so that rules Tune-in out.

Well I can't suggest any alternative that will satisfy your demanding requirements.

However, a wide variety of podcasts are available that do not expire within a week (some stay there indefinitely) and other progs can be downloaded for later listening via a piece of software that I used to use, but no longer bother with. I think it was called Freecorder or something like that... just click and it will record any audio being streamed and store in a file for later listening. You can mute the sound while it is streaming , and I think there may have even been a programme timer but wouldn't swear to that.

Clearly not as good as what you have been used to, but it would do the trick.

[KittenKong]

Well I can't suggest any alternative that will satisfy your demanding requirements.

I dont think my requirements are at all demanding. I've been doing exactly the same thing for about 15 years in various parts of the world, first with a digital satellite PCI card in my PC, then with a UK Tivo (networked), and more recently with RadioDownloader. I dont think I'm alone either, in fact I'm sure I'm not.

Luckily get_iplayer does the same good job as RadioDownloader as far as I'm concerned so I am not looking for anything else.

[Digitalbanana]

Well I can't suggest any alternative that will satisfy your demanding requirements.

I dont think my requirements are at all demanding. I've been doing exactly the same thing for about 15 years in various parts of the world, first with a digital satellite PCI card in my PC, then with a UK Tivo (networked), and more recently with RadioDownloader. I dont think I'm alone either, in fact I'm sure I'm not.

Luckily get_iplayer does the same good job as RadioDownloader as far as I'm concerned so I am not looking for anything else.

Great replies and help there, and just what I was looking for as well asking on another thread. Thanks for the heads up on the web based get_iplayer. Will need some getting used to after the ease of Radio Downloader but I will try it out. Podcasts and streaming radio dont fit my needs, but this does.

[mrjohn]

Well it's good to know there's more than one way to skin a cat.

Thanks for the reminder about "get iPlayer." I came across this some years ago but failed to install it on a Windows-based system, now thankfully it is much easier.

Fortunately, about 80% of what I want to listen to is podcasted, and radio downloader can still be scheduled to download podcasts.

I still find Net Transport suits my own needs better for the few programmes I need to download manually.

I use Expat Shield (which is a free VPN) for streaming radio when there is a "rights restriction" and 99% of the time it works fine.

Without wishing to extend the topic too far, I would welcome any up-to-date info or recommendations regarding UK VPNs which are fast enough to record or play streaming video.

Having said that, I find that nearly everything I want to watch is available online as a torrent within 24 hours of the broadcast date.

Incidentally, a useful website for radio addicts is http://radioarchive.cc/index.php which has a vast bank of torrents for BBC radio programmes old and new.

It is very handy for catching up on stuff that you may otherwise have missed.

[Mobi]

Well I can't suggest any alternative that will satisfy your demanding requirements.

I dont think my requirements are at all demanding. I've been doing exactly the same thing for about 15 years in various parts of the world, first with a digital satellite PCI card in my PC, then with a UK Tivo (networked), and more recently with RadioDownloader. I dont think I'm alone either, in fact I'm sure I'm not.

Luckily get_iplayer does the same good job as RadioDownloader as far as I'm concerned so I am not looking for anything else.

My my, you are a sensitive soul aren't you?

If I substitute 'demanding' with 'particular', does that make you happy?

I was only trying to help.....

[Mobi]

Well it's good to know there's more than one way to skin a cat.

Thanks for the reminder about "get iPlayer." I came across this some years ago but failed to install it on a Windows-based system, now thankfully it is much easier.

Fortunately, about 80% of what I want to listen to is podcasted, and radio downloader can still be scheduled to download podcasts.

I still find Net Transport suits my own needs better for the few programmes I need to download manually.

I use Expat Shield (which is a free VPN) for streaming radio when there is a "rights restriction" and 99% of the time it works fine.

Without wishing to extend the topic too far, I would welcome any up-to-date info or recommendations regarding UK VPNs which are fast enough to record or play streaming video.

Having said that, I find that nearly everything I want to watch is available online as a torrent within 24 hours of the broadcast date.

Incidentally, a useful website for radio addicts is http://radioarchive.cc/index.php which has a vast bank of torrents for BBC radio programmes old and new.

It is very handy for catching up on stuff that you may otherwise have missed.

I'm totally with you on torrents and radio podcasts. It also satisfies 99% of my needs, along with streaming live radio, which I listen to daily as I while away the hours doing other computer related activities etc.

Evening sees me in front of my wide screen HD TV, watching downloaded torrents (mainly TV progs and the odd movie) via an HDMI cable from my laptop. The picture quality and sound are excellent.

My only problem is live sports events, which I can listen to or watch live using a VPN. Sometimes the TV quality is better than others. I will try watching the Wimbledon Finals this weekend via BBC i player and see how I get on. I watched a semi the other night and it was fine.

To honest, many of the live sports events are on late evening, early morning or in the middle of the night, due to time differences, so I don't bother too much any way.

The Murray semi final didn't start till after midnight and that's past my bed time! But that's just me....fair weather and fair time watcher....

[CHANGOVER]

Sorry guys, I'm totally mystified.

What is wrong with:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/#stations

It has every BBC radio station plus links to daily schedules and all pod casts and programmes.

Every station can be streamed live and many can be streamed up to a week or so after the live broadcast.

What more do you need?

When I tried to listen to Wimbledon coverage on Radio 5 live it says

''due to rights restrictions we are unable blah, blah, blah''

so one cannot listen to BBC 'live'. AFAIK, if anyone can tell me how I'd appreciate it.

Use a VPN.

I also use my VPN for watching or downloading BBC TV progs via iplayer. Works fine.

Well I have taken everyone's valuable advice and subscribed to Strong VPN for $55/per year

and it works perfectly!

Also being computer illiterate they even set it up for me remotely, which was like watching a magic show happening on my computer with my mouse moving across the screen at the speed of light!

Just in time to watch the Wimbledon finals and Lions win their series (hopefully)!

Thanks for everyone's advice.

[KittenKong]

My my, you are a sensitive soul aren't you?

Not at all. I just dont see why I should be labelled as "demanding" for no reason by someone who is in no position to judge me.

In the same way I would have no business calling you over-critical or patronising, and so I don't do it.

[KittenKong]

Incidentally, a useful website for radio addicts is http://radioarchive.cc/index.php which has a vast bank of torrents for BBC radio programmes old and new.

It is very handy for catching up on stuff that you may otherwise have missed.

RadioArchive is indeed very good.

TheBox also has some radio but they do have some particularly daft rules about radio torrents being in mp3 rather than the broadcast AAC, so nearly all the radio torrents there are much larger files than they need be and have lower than broadcast quality to boot. Very stupid indeed, but sadly that isn't the only stupid thing that TheBox does.

[RandomSand]

...

The WMA links can be obtained from this website:

http://beebotron.org/public3/radio4

Thanks for the tip.

I'm trying to listen to the Late Junction show on Radio 3... I can't do anything with the *.wma files.. anyone ?

http://beebotron.org/public3/public_wwo3/wwo3_index.html?reload

Edited July 6, 2013 by RandomSand

[RandomSand]

Oh, I have it working now for playback only -not record.

How to:

1. Download a WMA file from the beebotron site.

2. Open the file with notepad.

3. Copy one of the http addresses. Omit the preceding "Ref1="

4. Install Media Player Classic, "Open File" in this application & paste your link in. Takes a few seconds to buffer but works for me in the UK. Might have to use a proxy in TH ?

Edited July 6, 2013 by RandomSand

[WorriedNoodle]

Well I can't suggest any alternative that will satisfy your demanding requirements.

I dont think my requirements are at all demanding. I've been doing exactly the same thing for about 15 years in various parts of the world, first with a digital satellite PCI card in my PC, then with a UK Tivo (networked), and more recently with RadioDownloader. I dont think I'm alone either, in fact I'm sure I'm not.

Luckily get_iplayer does the same good job as RadioDownloader as far as I'm concerned so I am not looking for anything else.

Many thanks for your helpful replies and suggestion for getiplayer which I was not aware of existed.

I've been away from the good internet access for several days, which is the main reason I need this kind of downloadable content to play later. Often I have no suitable internet access for several weeks and in the past used Radio Downloader than (even the wife could use) whereby all we had to do was switch on a computer (within the 7 day window that BBC allows access for on its site that had internet access) and the program downloaded the missing content for me too catch up on a few weeks later. Everything formatted into 128kbps mp3 files.

Can getiplayer run behind the scenes like this or does it need user input each week to initiate a download from BBC?

[KittenKong]

Can getiplayer run behind the scenes like this or does it need user input each week to initiate a download from BBC?

get-iplayer works via a web-page interface generated locally on your computer. If you leave the webpage open (it can be minimized if you like) the PVR function will run every 4 hours (configurable). Or you could put a link into the "start-up" menu of Windows which would then start it automatically with your PC, or you could set it as a daily/weekly task in Windows task scheduler.

Personally I find it easiest to just click on the menu item once a day or so.

So I would say the interface and automation are a little more clunky than with RadioDownloader, but you do get additional configuration options to make up for it. It is much easier to search for programmes in get-iplayer than it was in RadioDownloader. In fact the RadioDownloader seach function never actually worked for me.

[KittenKong]

Oh, I have it working now for playback only -not record.

How to:

1. Download a WMA file from the beebotron site.

2. Open the file with notepad.

3. Copy one of the http addresses. Omit the preceding "Ref1="

4. Install Media Player Classic, "Open File" in this application & paste your link in. Takes a few seconds to buffer but works for me in the UK. Might have to use a proxy in TH ?

This seems hugely complex, especially if it doesn't even give you a recording. Would get-iplayer not be simpler?

[mrjohn]

Oh, I have it working now for playback only -not record.

How to:

1. Download a WMA file from the beebotron site.

2. Open the file with notepad.

3. Copy one of the http addresses. Omit the preceding "Ref1="

4. Install Media Player Classic, "Open File" in this application & paste your link in. Takes a few seconds to buffer but works for me in the UK. Might have to use a proxy in TH ?

You're making life unnecessarily complicated.

The link on the Beebotron site will open in foobar 2000 which IMH0 is by far the best audio player out there.

Foobar 2000 will also convert files to a more manageable MP3 format as well as adding any tags that you might require for an MP3 player. And best of all it's free!

Unlike other self-styled media players it will not wipe your arse or make your toast in the morning, in short, it will not take over your computer!

It just does as it is told. Like good software should.

Anyway the original subject matter of this discussion was how to download BBC Radio programmes to listen wherever or whenever you please, which is why I mentioned beebotron.org in the first place.

Also, to clear something up, whatever the BBC Radio makes available on its "listen again" facility is available worldwide, you do not need a proxy to listen to BBC Radio programmes.

The only occasion when the BBC's radio broadcasts are unavailable outside the UK is when they cover live sports events, assuming the BBC does not have the international rights.

Test Match Special, for example is available for all England's home matches but not for games played abroad and, recently, not for the ICC champions Trophy.......... this can easily be circumvented by a free VPN.

During last year's Olympics, the BBC, in their infinite stupidity, stopped all live news programmes from being available online because they seemed to think that the mere mention of the Olympics would contravene their agreement with the IOC!

Fortunately there was a storm of protest and normal services were (eventually) resumed.

[KittenKong]

It still seems a hugely complex procedure to me, wading through pages of Beebotron data every week just to download and save a programme when get-iplayer will do it all automatically for you, including following series links.

[katana]

RadioDownloader was a handy little programme which I will miss.

Thankfully get-iplayer does just about everything that RadioDownloader did, and more, though the interface is somewhat more complex. Windows version available.

http://www.infradead.org/get_iplayer/html/get_iplayer.html

Thanks for the info on get_iplayer. Hadn't heard of it before but just tried it out on Win XP and it works great. Had been looking for something like that for a while. A nice piece of software!