It makes little sense to drop it unannounced and then put the alternatives in place later. I'm with you John, this shows a lack of concern and respect for listeners. Even if this is nothing more than incompetence and lack of internal coordination, it shows me that among some BBC management, the "internet" streams still aren't seen as very valuable.
I'm sure that there were sound reasons for stopping RealMedia support, possibly financial or the number of listeners, but someone needs to tell radio executives that "Flash", as good as it is, is not the solution to all internet radio issues. Memo to any internet radio programmers who read this now or later: maintaining a way for Internet radio users to get your feed is important. -- -Rob de Santos -----Original Message----- From: John Figliozzi [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, September 21, 2009 7:38 PM To: Internet radio discussion Subject: [Internetradio] BBC Drops RealMedia for Local Radio, Others Without prior announcement (which seems to be the BBC's preferred way to doing things), as of today the BBC has dropped the use of RealMedia streaming for all its BBC Local Radio stations, BBC Radio Scotland, BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Radio Wales. When one tunes in to any of these stations, he or she is greeted by a voice telling the listener to go to the BBC iPlayer web page and download the Flash (sic) and/or WindowsMedia link "for internet and wifi radio devices". Except, as far as I know, there isn't a player made right now that can play Flash streams... And upon going to the iPlayer web page, one is informed that the WindowsMedia package has not yet arrived and that they hope to have it available by the end of September. (Warning! Rant coming.) To me, this is total cock-up by the BBC. No prior warning, then a total lack of coordination involving the switchover leaving listeners in the lurch for an indefinite time. To add to the problems, there have been issues with the Listen Again feature that have gone unresolved for weeks now. And we thought they just treated shortwave listeners with disdain. John Figliozzi Halfmoon, NY _______________________________________________ Internetradio mailing list [email protected] http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/internetradio To unsubscribe: Send an E-mail to [email protected]?subject=unsubscribe, or visit the URL shown above. _______________________________________________ Internetradio mailing list [email protected] http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/internetradio To unsubscribe: Send an E-mail to [email protected]?subject=unsubscribe, or visit the URL shown above.
