6 ms·

Local BBC radio not available online outside UK during Tokyo Olympics

25 points by tkgally 5y ago

tkgally 5y ago
I discovered this blockage when I tried to listen to a favorite program on BBC Radio London and found that the entire station, and other local BBC radio stations, are currently unavailable. I am in Japan. I don’t know what the “rights reasons” are, but a total blackout seems extreme.
- TomK32 5y ago
  Time for Geater London to join the devolved nations, BBC Scotland, Wales, Ulster, and Foyle are still available.
max-ibel 5y ago
I wonder what the rights situation for short wave radio is.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
fiftyacorn 5y ago
This is because the Olympics sold the rights to the pay per view discovery channels in Europe Nice work IOC
phyalow 5y ago
The BBC World Service is still up if you are looking for something decent and similar to fill the gap. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live:bbc_world_service https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live:bbc_world_service
- yreg 5y ago
  This is my favorite radio! Originaly called BBC Empire Service it is targeted toward a global audience. I like that the news are much less US/EU focused than the usual media I consume. I sometimes find out that their top stories are events that our news don't report much on, because they happen - say - in Gabon.
  - BoxOfRain 5y ago
    They used to broadcast it into Europe during the Cold War on 648 kHz MW using an absolutely ridiculous 500 kW transmitter and an aerial system that developed 2 MW directionally. This got shut down in the early '10s then was taken over recently by none other than the famous offshore radio pirates Radio Caroline who use it on a much more modest 1 kW. They still have their pirate radio ship but I think its transmitters got smashed up by the government in the '80s so they relay to the old BBC World Service site over 4G. You can still hear the World Service on 198 kHz longwave after 0100 BST in much of Europe, they even shut down Radio 4 with the national anthem just before like it's the '50s or something. It's a delightful anachronism.
lwhi 5y ago
I've heard that there are a lot of problems with broadcasting events due to the sell off, but I'm confused how this affects local radio. Is this an example of a tit for tat, proxy war?
- zahrc 5y ago
  Long story short: broadcasting rights have been awarded to premium channels across Europe and the globe, therefore local radio stations of the BBC are restricted there, as the BBC is a free television and radio network in the uk.
  - lwhi 5y ago
    Thx! Has the BBC decided to do this in retaliation though?
    - jonp888 5y ago
      I'm not sure what you mean by "retaliation". The BBC does not have the right to broadcast olympic coverage outside of the UK, even short clips, therefore they are not doing so.
      - lwhi 5y ago
        They've stopped broadcasting local radio .. not the Olympics.
  - angrais 5y ago
    In what way is the BBC free? You still need a TV licence to view it live or via iPlayer, which has an annual cost of about £100 if I recall correctly.
    - lwhi 5y ago
      It's funded via a license fee. Operates under a model of public service broadcasting.
    - 5y ago
niffydroid 5y ago
I normally watch some of the Olympics or have it in the background on events that took my interest. This time I've not bothered. Because the media rights were sold the BBC can't do that much coverage. I have a feeling this is probably going to have one of the lowest viewing figures ever for the games
- kace91 5y ago
  Is this why I can't find the opening ceremony on YouTube? I've tried searching for a couple of days and couldn't find anything, just found some 5minute long summaries. I've stopped caring, I'm always curious to see at least some event but this year they seem to have way too much friction in place for something that I'm really not that interested in.
  - manderley 5y ago
    I can find the full opening ceremony on Youtube, uploaded by Eurosport. I assume you're in the UK and that video isn't shown to you because of that?
    - kace91 5y ago
      I can only see a two minute long highlights video by eurosport. Perhaps I’m really bad at searching, could you share a link? I’m not in the uk, but I’m in Spain, and it was mentioned that the sellout was europe-wide.
  - gregoriol 5y ago
    If I remember well, the opening ceremony of London olympics wasn't available on YouTube at that time either, I kind of remember searching for it at the time...
- philjohn 5y ago
  Due to Discovery paying almost $1bn for the rights, the BBC can only show 2 sports at once. This is a far cry from London 2012, or Rio 2016, where they had 15 dedicated olympics channels and is a crying shame, as the coverage was usually top notch. I have Sky TV in the UK and so have Discovery+ free for a year, and the coverage is extensive - but mostly without any commentating.
yread 5y ago
It's quite noticeable also in BBC worldwide coverage. For example newscasters were describing the excitement and shouting of the two coaches of the Tunisian 400m swimmer Ahmed Hafnaoui instead of showing a video of the event. Hilarious
spoonjim 5y ago
The territorial nature of government power and the global nature of information are just fundamentally long term incompatible.
petepete 5y ago
The gulf in coverage quality between BBC and Eurosport is unbelievable. I actually enjoy Eurosport and their continued coverage of fairly-niche sports (mainly cycling for me), but it's clear that they just don't have the infrastructure or depth to cover an event like an Olympics or World Cup. The BBC are experts. Lots of the events aired on Eurosport are just feeds; no commentary it analysis. I think it's a huge error, viewership will decrease and the sports that usually get a boost from TV coverage will struggle.
- username91 5y ago
  Reading this, I would actually tune into Eurosport knowing I can watch with minimal commentary - I know commentary brings some people a lot of structure but I find the events impossible to take in with somebody talking over it.
  - petepete 5y ago
    I'm with you in sports I understand like football, but I definitely benefit from a bit of expert guidance in things I don't like taekwando, skateboarding or shooting.
- toyg 5y ago
  > and the sports that usually get a boost from TV coverage will struggle Like the IOC cared about sports in the slightest. The only thing they care about is cash. Like FIFA in football, these big international organisations have been fundamentally corrupted a long time ago.
jbirer 5y ago
Tokyo Olympics is a disaster overall.
- jeffrallen 5y ago
  The Olympics is usually an economic and ecological disaster. This year, it is also a public health disaster. I dream of a world where the world's governments recognize the IOC for the mobsters they are and it is put out of business. Sports is cool, the Olympics is not.
- toyg 5y ago
  It's such a shame, because I'm sure the Japanese could host a hell of an event. But the combination of negative aspects for this year is massive: covid, weather, greed...
mongol 5y ago
What are the "rights reasons" exactly?
- namdnay 5y ago
  You have to buy the rights to cover the Olympic games (which I've always found strange - how do you stop someone from reporting what happened in the world?), and these rights are sold by country. The BBC isn't going to buy the rights for every country just for people to listen to the BBC outside the UK
yung_steezy 5y ago
As someone from the UK I consume a lot of BBC radio. Mostly BBC4 for news/docs, BBC6 for music and BBC5 for sports when I can't get to a TV. I'm intrigued by the idea that people from other countries might be similarly enthusiastic. I was surprised to find family friends who lived in Philadelphia watched BBC World Service as their primary news source when I visited them.
- devoutsalsa 5y ago
  For one, BBC World Service isn’t full of advertisements.
bsder 5y ago
I have increasingly ignored the Olympics over the years because I'm so tired of the garbage coverage. We have the technology to stream every single event in its entirety yet somehow NBC always manages to never cover anything well.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
dafman 5y ago
My favourite sport is cricket. When I was younger, it was always shown on terrestrial TV (mainly BBC or Channel 4), but after the huge success of the 2005 Ashes, Sky bought the rights and you then had to buy Sky Sports to watch it. As such over the years the interest in cricket in the UK seemed to fade, and hardly anyone was taking an interest in it anymore. I can almost see this happening with the Olympics to some degree, if it continues to be shown only on channels you pay for, people are going to lose interest in watching it more and more over the years. I like watching the Olympics but to be honest not enough to pay an extra £7-10 a month to see it where the coverage isn't nearly as good as the BBC can do.

25 points by tkgally 5y ago

I discovered this blockage when I tried to listen to a favorite program on BBC Radio London and found that the entire station, and other local BBC radio stations, are currently unavailable. I am in Japan. I don’t know what the “rights reasons” are, but a total blackout seems extreme.

TomK32 5y ago
Time for Geater London to join the devolved nations, BBC Scotland, Wales, Ulster, and Foyle are still available.

max-ibel 5y ago

I wonder what the rights situation for short wave radio is.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

fiftyacorn 5y ago

This is because the Olympics sold the rights to the pay per view discovery channels in Europe Nice work IOC

phyalow 5y ago

The BBC World Service is still up if you are looking for something decent and similar to fill the gap. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live:bbc_world_service https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live:bbc_world_service

yreg 5y ago
This is my favorite radio! Originaly called BBC Empire Service it is targeted toward a global audience. I like that the news are much less US/EU focused than the usual media I consume. I sometimes find out that their top stories are events that our news don't report much on, because they happen - say - in Gabon.
- BoxOfRain 5y ago
  They used to broadcast it into Europe during the Cold War on 648 kHz MW using an absolutely ridiculous 500 kW transmitter and an aerial system that developed 2 MW directionally. This got shut down in the early '10s then was taken over recently by none other than the famous offshore radio pirates Radio Caroline who use it on a much more modest 1 kW. They still have their pirate radio ship but I think its transmitters got smashed up by the government in the '80s so they relay to the old BBC World Service site over 4G. You can still hear the World Service on 198 kHz longwave after 0100 BST in much of Europe, they even shut down Radio 4 with the national anthem just before like it's the '50s or something. It's a delightful anachronism.

lwhi 5y ago

I've heard that there are a lot of problems with broadcasting events due to the sell off, but I'm confused how this affects local radio. Is this an example of a tit for tat, proxy war?

zahrc 5y ago
Long story short: broadcasting rights have been awarded to premium channels across Europe and the globe, therefore local radio stations of the BBC are restricted there, as the BBC is a free television and radio network in the uk.
- lwhi 5y ago
  Thx! Has the BBC decided to do this in retaliation though?
  - jonp888 5y ago
    I'm not sure what you mean by "retaliation". The BBC does not have the right to broadcast olympic coverage outside of the UK, even short clips, therefore they are not doing so.
    - lwhi 5y ago
      They've stopped broadcasting local radio .. not the Olympics.
- angrais 5y ago
  In what way is the BBC free? You still need a TV licence to view it live or via iPlayer, which has an annual cost of about £100 if I recall correctly.
  - lwhi 5y ago
    It's funded via a license fee. Operates under a model of public service broadcasting.
  - 5y ago

niffydroid 5y ago

I normally watch some of the Olympics or have it in the background on events that took my interest. This time I've not bothered. Because the media rights were sold the BBC can't do that much coverage. I have a feeling this is probably going to have one of the lowest viewing figures ever for the games

kace91 5y ago
Is this why I can't find the opening ceremony on YouTube? I've tried searching for a couple of days and couldn't find anything, just found some 5minute long summaries. I've stopped caring, I'm always curious to see at least some event but this year they seem to have way too much friction in place for something that I'm really not that interested in.
- manderley 5y ago
  I can find the full opening ceremony on Youtube, uploaded by Eurosport. I assume you're in the UK and that video isn't shown to you because of that?
  - kace91 5y ago
    I can only see a two minute long highlights video by eurosport. Perhaps I’m really bad at searching, could you share a link? I’m not in the uk, but I’m in Spain, and it was mentioned that the sellout was europe-wide.
- gregoriol 5y ago
  If I remember well, the opening ceremony of London olympics wasn't available on YouTube at that time either, I kind of remember searching for it at the time...
philjohn 5y ago
Due to Discovery paying almost $1bn for the rights, the BBC can only show 2 sports at once. This is a far cry from London 2012, or Rio 2016, where they had 15 dedicated olympics channels and is a crying shame, as the coverage was usually top notch. I have Sky TV in the UK and so have Discovery+ free for a year, and the coverage is extensive - but mostly without any commentating.

yread 5y ago

It's quite noticeable also in BBC worldwide coverage. For example newscasters were describing the excitement and shouting of the two coaches of the Tunisian 400m swimmer Ahmed Hafnaoui instead of showing a video of the event. Hilarious

spoonjim 5y ago

The territorial nature of government power and the global nature of information are just fundamentally long term incompatible.

petepete 5y ago

The gulf in coverage quality between BBC and Eurosport is unbelievable. I actually enjoy Eurosport and their continued coverage of fairly-niche sports (mainly cycling for me), but it's clear that they just don't have the infrastructure or depth to cover an event like an Olympics or World Cup. The BBC are experts. Lots of the events aired on Eurosport are just feeds; no commentary it analysis. I think it's a huge error, viewership will decrease and the sports that usually get a boost from TV coverage will struggle.

username91 5y ago
Reading this, I would actually tune into Eurosport knowing I can watch with minimal commentary - I know commentary brings some people a lot of structure but I find the events impossible to take in with somebody talking over it.
- petepete 5y ago
  I'm with you in sports I understand like football, but I definitely benefit from a bit of expert guidance in things I don't like taekwando, skateboarding or shooting.
toyg 5y ago
> and the sports that usually get a boost from TV coverage will struggle Like the IOC cared about sports in the slightest. The only thing they care about is cash. Like FIFA in football, these big international organisations have been fundamentally corrupted a long time ago.

jbirer 5y ago

Tokyo Olympics is a disaster overall.

jeffrallen 5y ago
The Olympics is usually an economic and ecological disaster. This year, it is also a public health disaster. I dream of a world where the world's governments recognize the IOC for the mobsters they are and it is put out of business. Sports is cool, the Olympics is not.
toyg 5y ago
It's such a shame, because I'm sure the Japanese could host a hell of an event. But the combination of negative aspects for this year is massive: covid, weather, greed...

mongol 5y ago

What are the "rights reasons" exactly?

namdnay 5y ago
You have to buy the rights to cover the Olympic games (which I've always found strange - how do you stop someone from reporting what happened in the world?), and these rights are sold by country. The BBC isn't going to buy the rights for every country just for people to listen to the BBC outside the UK

yung_steezy 5y ago

As someone from the UK I consume a lot of BBC radio. Mostly BBC4 for news/docs, BBC6 for music and BBC5 for sports when I can't get to a TV. I'm intrigued by the idea that people from other countries might be similarly enthusiastic. I was surprised to find family friends who lived in Philadelphia watched BBC World Service as their primary news source when I visited them.

devoutsalsa 5y ago
For one, BBC World Service isn’t full of advertisements.

bsder 5y ago

I have increasingly ignored the Olympics over the years because I'm so tired of the garbage coverage. We have the technology to stream every single event in its entirety yet somehow NBC always manages to never cover anything well.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

dafman 5y ago

My favourite sport is cricket. When I was younger, it was always shown on terrestrial TV (mainly BBC or Channel 4), but after the huge success of the 2005 Ashes, Sky bought the rights and you then had to buy Sky Sports to watch it. As such over the years the interest in cricket in the UK seemed to fade, and hardly anyone was taking an interest in it anymore. I can almost see this happening with the Olympics to some degree, if it continues to be shown only on channels you pay for, people are going to lose interest in watching it more and more over the years. I like watching the Olympics but to be honest not enough to pay an extra £7-10 a month to see it where the coverage isn't nearly as good as the BBC can do.