Restriction of BBC Radio HLS/DASH to authorised third parties

[tommyrot]

(27-10-2023 11:22)captainkev Wrote:  Only just stumbled on this thread today when my beloved 6Music stopped working through Minimstreamer.

I'll be submitting a complaint to the BBC and to Ofcom. First the BBC withdrew its stations from TuneIn and the like, and now they've cut off the feed to Minimserver. So I now have 6 Yamaha Musiccast devices that (as far as I know) can't play BBC radio streams at all. If I use BBC Sounds app, I can only cast to a Chromecast - the BBC promised to enable other devices in addition to Chromecast, but has failed to do so and has since removed any mention of doing this.

Not only have they left a whole bunch of people unable to listen and with obsolete equipment, they're also trying to quash one of the very few true independent (UK-based) innovators in the area (Simon). They should be supporting people like Simon so they can be included in any changes, not locking them out.

I wholeheartedly agree. Though I think even more could be achieved through united efforts. The BBC just won't listen without some level of coordinated effort on the part of audio industry leaders and consumers who're affected by this. If Simon and his counterparts, for instance, formed a collective to represent the industry and userbase, contacted the BBC's Media Show, Feedback show and News team, the topic might achieve the sort of press coverage and oxygen that might make the BBC Sounds team reflect.

We're reasonable people who understand the BBC's objectives. The central aim seems to be for (approved) stream providers to distribute audio feeds that do not reveal the underlying URLs. This can be achieved in media servers like MinimStreamer by having fixed playlists/channels where the users don't even have to create .m3u files at all. They could just browse the MinimServer tree and save/bookmark/pin them as radio stations. Naim has become an approved stream provider and do exactly this. (I happen to be a Naim user, too.) You browse iRadio on the controller app, scroll through preset/available stations and save them / play them.