Hi Steven,
Thanks for pointing out that the BBC group was your work. Sorry I missed that. Yes, several UK citizens have been in touch with various MPs regarding the issue. Nothing to report yet. There is also a Freedom of Information Act (or the British equivalent) in the works. I agree that the scariest part of this is the precedent it sets. As we’ve seen over the years, the way the BBC goes, others follow. That a government broadcaster can act so callously toward its listeners has definitely upset many UK citizens and worried the rest of us. It may also be our best way out of this mess. -- -Rob de Santos From: Steven Clift [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, March 12, 2015 10:11 PM To: Rob de Santos; Shortwave programming discussion Subject: Re: [Swprograms] Links to info on BBC streaming changes and effort to Restore Internet feeds Have any UK folks asked their MPs for to launch a parliamentary inquiry? Or contacted parliamentary candidates to get their views? http://yournextmp.com FYI - I started the BBC for All Facebook Group: <https://www.facebook.com/groups/bbcradioforall/> https://www.facebook.com/groups/bbcradioforall/ Note the collection of Internet device users forum topics: https://www.facebook.com/groups/bbcradioforall/permalink/797552173631980/ I've been testing the HLS streams with ffmpeg within my http://1radionews.com app. I've put the two global lower bit rate streams to the far right if you swipe over on my free version. They are better in terms of "skipping" on wi-fi, but still pretty tough on 4G/mobile. They swapped over Radio Scotland et al from Windows Media last. The quality between lower bitrate Windows and the former AAC+ streams and the bigger mono and dull sounding 128KB Shoutcast stream is enormous. In general on my app I pick the AAC+ streams at the lowest bitrate I can find because they start almost immediately and sound great. If the BBC as a trendsetter leads us toward essentially needing a separate radio (make that app) for each public broadcaster around the world, the big brands will dominate and very few will scan the virtual dial and discover alternative options. I am OK with commercial stations trying to lock people in and losing listeners, but anything government funded or license fee based should be as fundamentally open and accessible as possible. If my government supported radio stations in Minnesota tried to lock themselves away I'd be at the legislature working on law changes that say you can't do that and accept public funding at the same time. Cheers, Steven Clift
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