g8vju wrote: 
> Regarding the current 404 error, please could you advise what type of
> stream this is as again the BBC seems to provide lots of different
> formats via different vendors, e.g. There are the various phone radio
> iplayer and tunein apps etc
> Where I am confused --- is the squeeze plugin "BBC  iplayer" HD 320kbs?
> e.g.  For all those play again BBC national stationsthat have the 404
> error?- I think they are? ---I know the listen live is 320kbs. 
> Then what are the squeeze plugin for "BBC iplayer Extras"? I believe
> these are lower quality 128kbs?

Live station quality is not the same or directly comparable with "Listen
Again" program quality. Make sure you are not comparing Live with Listen
Again.

The BBC stores the program in digital form in one place.  There are many
ways to find & play these programs but the quality when played is
exactly the same as long as the requesting player asks for the same
quality (e.g. highest, medium, lowest, very lowest).
BBCiPlayer uses a feed (in fact one feed per station for all national,
regional or local stations )  which summarises all the programs for the
last 7 days.  This feed is designed for an "applicance" so it is a small
file which has no formatting or images.
The BBCiPlayer Extra uses a few different feeds: one summarising all
programs for all stations (incl international) for 30 days (i.e. a big
file) - BBC has said this feed will disappear due to maintenance
difficulties.  The BBCiPlayerExtra also uses other feed for the "Latest"
which were intended for Web use and as such has lots of wasted
formatting which is not used by the plugin.  The feeds used by
BBCiPlayerExtra points to the exact same programs as the BBCiPlayer feed
which are the same as BBC Web browser and BBC phone/tablet App.  All BBC
programs have a unique Programme ID (PID) and this identifier is the
same for all and as such the playable quality can be the same for all. 

The quality of program actually played depends on the station, the program
being played, the format used (e.g. DASH, HLS, Flashaac), the plugin
settings and location of LMS server - UK/nonUK.

If you give more details and specific examples, it may be possible to
explain what is happening on your system.

I saw your comments that the service is provided by a third party, and
the possibility that the URL's are protected.
You misunderstand - AFAIK it was developed and maintained by a 3rd party
on request by the BBC and for the BBC.  The URLS are not protected.  I
just speculated that the URLs may have changed as a possible explanation
but that now seems unlikley since "local radio" listen again on BBCiPlayer
is still working.

 Well I am thinking of complaining to Ofcom about this if not resolved
soon, and would encourage others to do similar. After all this is a
public broadcaster, and in this modern age of internet steaming I can't
understand their logic of withholding information. The BBC has been
transmitting On FM for over 60 years ( also via a third party
contractor) and still using same frequencies from my local TX. It would
not make sense to change frequency to a different band and not tell
their listeners, so I don't see the logic of changing or withdrawing 
these streaming URL's without notification!
AFAIK there is no regulation/obligations on what the BBC has to offer to
public on the internet.  The BBC currently offers a full service on Web
and phone/table app to public so I think any complaint to OFCOM would be
ignored.  I expect the feed the BBCIplayer uses was offered to vendors
under a private contract/T&Cs (e.g. via the now defunct IMDA [Internet
Media Device Alliance] organisation). The BBC have developed a new API
Nitro which is used by the phone / table apps - it was intended for
possible use by 3rd parties but BBC have not provided "keys" on open
access I think because of the difficulty with agreeing T&Cs for use.   

The BBC have not legally agreed anything with the many plugin developers
over the years.  It would best not to threaten BBC as I think the
BBCiPlayer community would suffer from permanent exclusion. In the past,
the BBC have moved against abuse of interfaces (e.g. downloading content)
by closing down the interface.


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