Listeners who are set to lose access to the BBC Sounds app and website in France this spring as it is blocked to people abroad will still be able to listen to BBC content using third-party platforms.
Access to the BBC Sounds app is ending due to new international rights restrictions that will see many programmes move to subscription services on Apple and Spotify.
The change will also affect people who use the app on their phones or connect to the BBC Sounds website from abroad.
Unfortunately for many listeners, the replacement service, bbc.com/audio, will provide access to only two radio stations, BBC World Service and Radio 4, along with a limited selection of podcasts.
This means that listeners outside the UK will lose access to Radio 1, 2, 3, 5 Live – known especially for sport – and 6, as well as to the many local radio stations that are currently available through BBC Sounds.
However, many favourite programmes, including The Archers and Woman’s Hour, remain available to international listeners on Radio 4 via bbc.com/audio.
The BBC says that if you had previously subscribed to shows or ‘bookmarked’ them on BBC Sounds, you need to add them again to ‘follow’ or ‘saved’ lists, which are now only available if you also have a free bbc.com account.
The BBC says revamps to bbc.com and the app will make the services more tailored to those abroad and “offer better value” to UK listeners, who fund BBC Sounds through the licence fee.
The broadcaster has not confirmed a precise date when international access is to be restricted, but it says listeners should be able to find their content.
“If you are not using a BBC platform outside the UK, nothing will change. “That means that unless you are using BBC Sounds on a smart speaker outside the UK, it won’t affect you,” the BBC told The Connexion.
These systems, which include Amazon Echo (‘Alexa’) and Google Home devices, can instead access BBC programmes and podcasts on Apple and Spotify or via free internet radio hosting sites such as TuneIn.com.
James Cridland, who writes a radio newsletter at james.cridland.net, said: “Your smart
speaker will continue to work, and anywhere you currently listen – TuneIn, or similar radio apps – will continue to work.
"If you have a satellite dish on your gîte for BBC television, the radio on there will continue to work too. If you use Google speakers, ask to ‘Listen to BBC Radio 2 on TuneIn’ rather than ‘Listen to BBC Radio 2’, which may still [attempt to] go via BBC Sounds,” he said.
Another potential solution would be to access content through a Virtual Private Network, or VPN.
'A cynical move from the BBC'
Many readers have contacted us to express anger and disappointment about the change.
Several asked why the BBC could not bring in a fee for people living overseas, as they would be prepared to pay.
One said that, living alone in France, retaining access to her native culture was “a crucial part of my life and keeps me sane in hard times”.
Reader Francis Reinbold, notes that people living abroad would no longer be able to listen to the Proms or to cricket, including the popular Test Match Special cricket broadcasts.
“What chance will there now be for the much-vaunted Radio 3 New Generation artists to be heard outside the UK? What chance for fledgling British composers and musicians of all genres to gain an international following? Will the BBC orchestras now stop touring abroad because, increasingly, no one will ever have heard of them?” he said.
“It seems a rather cynical move by the BBC ‘suits’ who have clearly failed to come up with a funding model which works to allow the non-domestic audience to continue listening.”
“What a sad day for the BBC – indeed, what a sad day for music, in all its genres.”
Other listeners based abroad, from Portugal to the US, appeared on the BBC’s Feedback programme in March to express their opposition to the move. Many said listening to the BBC on the Sounds app allowed them to maintain important links with home.
The BBC has not commented on the reaction from listeners living in France, but says that UK residents may be able to use BBC Sounds if they are abroad for a “short” period.
International listeners will instead be able to use the new service at BBC.com and on the BBC app, which will be tailored especially to them.
The BBC app is already running and can be downloaded now.
BBC.com and the BBC app are run by BBC Studios, a commercial subsidiary of the BBC.
Will you miss the BBC Sounds app and the BBC’s music stations? Send your feedback to feedback@connexionfrance.com
