| Live TV Streaming |
| BBC TV |
The BBC broadcasts all of its television channels (with the exception of BBC HD), on live Internet streams.
These broadcasts are only a few seconds behind the terrestrial and satellite broadcasts.
The quality is not perfect, though it is quite watchable either on your computer screen, or through you television via a HDMI, SCART or other A/V cables.
Most computers have some option to connect to external devices, see you computers and TV's user manuals for more information. |
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| There are two ways to view BBC television channel online, either through the BBC iPlayer, which has a TV Channels section, click on the channel you would like to watch and then click on the 'ON NOW' link in the top right hand corner. |
| Alternatively, go directly to the channels homepage at the BBC website, click on the 'Watch Live' link on the top menu. |
The BBC uses the Embedded Media Player (EMP), which allows you to watch streaming video clips on demand and simulcast television programmes.
Live TV streams are available to UK residents only, and you are required to have a TV licence to use this service. |
| NOTE: All live BBC streams are restricted to UK only IP addresses (Geoblocked). |
| System Requirements |
| BBC iPlayer is available on a host of platforms including: Freesat, PC, Mac, Linux, Virgin Media, Apple iPhone and touch, Nintendo Wii and the Nokia N96. |
| Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 and above, Firefox 2 and above, Netscape 5 and above, or Opera 7 and above. (Other browsers may work, you will need version 8 or above of Flash to play the clips. The latest version can be installed from www.adobe.com. |
| BBC iPlayer |
| Channels |
| BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Three, BBC Four, CBBC, CBeebies, BBC News Channel, BBC Parliament |
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| ITV Channels |
All of ITV's channels are available as live streams, all the channels are restricted to UK IP addresses only. Picture quality is quite good even on a large screen.
The ITV website uses Microsoft Silverlight as opposed to Flash (used by BBC iPlayer) and Windows Media.
Despite Silverlight being used some users, particularly Linux users have experienced difficulties with the service.
The service works best in Internet Explorer and Firefox, it does not currently work on the Safari browser.
You can watch ITV's channel on Windows, Mac and Linux.
To install Silverlight click HERE. |
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| NOTE: All live ITV streams, with the exception of CITV are restricted to UK only IP addresses (Geoblocked). |
| ITV Player |
| Channels |
| ITV1, ITV2, ITV3, ITV4, CITV |
| Channel TV (Channel Islands) No live stream is currently available, the ITV Player is available through the website. |
STV (Scotland) There is no live stream at the STV website, however, it is available on Zattoo, a UK IP address and Scottish postalcode are required.
STV does offer a catchup service (STV Player), offering much of ITV's programming. |
| UTV (Northern Ireland) There is no live stream at the UTV website, however, it is available on Zattoo, a UK IP address and Northern Irish postalcode are required. UTV does offer a catchup service (uPlayer), offering much of ITV's programming. |
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| Channel 4 |
| Channel 4 does not currently stream any of its channels online, they do however offer a catchup service. Please see the Vidio On Demand page for further information on the options available. |
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| Five |
| Five does not currently stream any of its channels online, they do however offer a catchup service. Please see the Vidio On Demand page for further information on the options available. |
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| Sky Anytime |
Sky offers their “Sky Anytime” feature, which uses Kontiki, similar to Channel 4’s 4oD. To use Sky Anytime you need to register on Sky’s website, and then download the Sky Player application (one again, PC-only).
After installation, you log in as expected and the first thing that hits you is how slick the application is. It’s responsive, looks good and has a large amount of content.
None Sky customer are limited to what programmes they can download.
Watch TV channels live on your computer, with a TV Guide like the one on your Sky box.
Sky Player offers programmes and movies from 32 top channels to view live or on demand. With Sky Player you can watch Sky TV channels without a dish, set top box or long term contract. Sky customers can use the service for free within their subscription package.
This service is available in the UK and Republic of Ireland only. |
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| NOTE: All live streams and content is restricted to UK only IP addresses (Geoblocked). |
| Visit the Sky Player site. |
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| Live Radio Streaming |
| BBC Radio |
All of the BBC's national, local and regional stations along with the BBC World Service, are available to listen to live on the internet (rights permitting), with appropriate media player software.
It is also possible to listen to BBC Radio services via the internet without having to log on to a computer. The easiest way to do this is via a WiFi or Internet Radio. These radios pick up radio stations streamed on the internet via a broadband connection to the radio.
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| There are no UK only IP restrictions on BBC radio, for more information and direct links to the various BBC stations see BBC National Radio. |
| The easiest way to listen is through the BBC iPlayer. |
| Audiences in the UK can listen to BBC radio at a higher bitrate of 192 kbps, while overseas listners can listen at 128 kbps. |
| Visit the BBC Radio Website for information on reception and programming. |
| Commercial Radio |
Most of the UK's national, regional and local commercial stations offer live streans on their websites. Since 2006, many of the UK's commercial radio stations have been restricting live stream access to users from the United Kingdom only. This came as a response to PPL's announcement that they would only grant radio stations the webcasting rights to stream to audiences within the UK only, or to face additional costs.
Some of the larger stations do not restrict their services to the UK, please check the Commercial Radio page for more information. |
| Community Radio |
Community radio stations broadcast to a small area, normally within a 3 mile (5 km) radius, and are mostly not-for-profit organisations, owned by local people, on which the broadcasters are volunteers. They are recognised under the Communications Act 2003 as a distinct third tier of radio in the UK.
Online streaming has to a large degree solved the restrictions of limited coverage and allowed community stations to broadcast far outside the range of thier terrestrial transmitters, giving them a much wider appeal.
Most community stations offer online streams, most in good quality, unlike many commercial broadcasters, there are no UK only IP restrictions imposed on listeners, giving these community statios a potential worldwide audience. See Community Radio for more information. |
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| Geoblocking |
Geoblocking is a technology that is used to prevent access to web sites from visitors in particular countries or regions.
At the moment it is mainly used by traditional broadcast companies who are moving their television, radio and music content online. Because of distribution contracts with the producers of these programmes many broadcast web sites limit access to people with in their own country.
Whenever a person connects to the internet, their computer or mobile device is assigned what is called an IP address. This is a sequence of numbers in the form 255.255.255.255.
The IP address is assigned to you by the internet service provider (ISP) that you are connecting through and these in turn are assigned to the ISP in blocks.
It is therefore possible to say that a particular IP address is from a particular country or even city.
Site owners that want to use geoblocking simply choose to only allow access to a particular range of IP addresses or to block certain ranges.
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| UK VPN (Virtual Private Network) |
A UK VPN account is an account that would allow you to connect to a server located in the United Kingdom. Once connected you will be assigned a UK IP address and all traffic will be encrypted using PPTP or L2TP IPsec encryption. You will still need an internet connection, though you will bypass internet filtering and log keeping (if your ISP keeps logs).
Using a VPN is legal, as no re-broadcasting, copying or pirating is taking place. Once connected to a VPN network in the UK, you will be able to access most sites that restricts access to user outside the UK. |
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