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James Cridland

Listed below are comments made by James Cridland between Monday, 16th February 2009 and Wednesday, 8th July 2009.

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Another exciting new sound for BBC Radio 12:26pm on 08 Jul 2009 @RichardEvans67 - you might have spotted the good news that we yesterday began upgrading our Windows Media streams to 128kbps, the same bitrate as the AAC streams. AAC support in wifi radios is not as widespread; we're working with manufacturers to look into how we achieve this.

@JJCarter - we're using Flash Media Server for the best reliability and for new features which rely on FMS. That's why it's not a vanilla stream. The vast majority of people listen via the BBC iPlayer, and I want to ensure that they get the best possible featureset. And no, 'monetising' is categorically not our plan. You've already paid for it.

@KenJ_in_Michigan - I'll go and listen to the Radio 2 and Radio 3 international streams to see whether your claim of distortion is happening; but you're welcome to comment in the iPlayer messageboard.

@grandAndy212: we currently have no low-bitrate stream in Flash format, so that's why we're offering no adaptive streaming. Yes, we are actively considering this for the future.

@Mark600 - not my area. Sorry.
Another exciting new sound for BBC Radio 4:08pm on 22 Jun 2009 @jsteinhu - currently, the aacPlus streams we use are Flash-wrapped and thus can't be played on other devices. I'd recommend the WMA streams for international use.

In terms of the mobile iPlayer (in its many guises): this is currently supported for the UK only.

@tienshan - thanks for pointing out the error on BBC Radio 4's website. Apologies if you think the audio on your aacPlus stream sounds worse than RealPlayer - I don't understand why that should be.
Another exciting new sound for BBC Radio 11:57am on 20 Jun 2009 @ian_heys - we're working to increase the amount of streams we produce. I can't really comment about future plans, however: but supporting wifi radios is important to us. We're bitrate-limited outside the UK, though.

@digitalradiotech - I agree: it would have been much better if we'd have done these audio streams earlier. I moved as quickly as I could.
Another exciting new sound for BBC Radio 5:49pm on 19 Jun 2009 @trevorjharris: "I wondered what has happened to the use of unicast for internet streams at the BBC." - that's what we're using, of course! I suspect you mean "what happened to multicast"; I'm probably not the right man to answer that question, but we've been looking into multicast for a long time. Try http://www.bbc.co.uk/multicast/radio/index.shtml for supported services.

@shades846: we're looking at what we can do on further mobile devices: but don't worry, the advent of Flash streaming on the iPlayer doesn't mean we're any further away from supporting the iPhone. Live BBC radio is available on more and more mobile phones - the Nokia N95 just added it last week, in fact; and iPhone v3.0 adds a ton of useful opportunities.
BBC iPlayer gets a little more radio 10:06am on 11 Jun 2009 Cheers for your comments, Neil. Steve's wrong: we have no such bias.
BBC iPlayer gets a little more radio 2:39pm on 10 Jun 2009 Neil (rangersman) - I know exactly when BBC Local Radio will move away from RealPlayer; but I also know that you'll spare no time in kicking me if it doesn't deliver exactly on that date, so therefore, I plan to keep quiet.

However, I think it might be safe to say that the answer to nodmonkey's question is "yes".
Better audio for BBC Radio online 3:19pm on 02 Apr 2009 @RichardEvans67 - thanks for your comments. Radio 1 has moved to 128k from Monday; so take another listen. (The dynamic compression is outside my control, it should be said).

@SyliaBristol - this sounds like a RealPlayer error message, and one I don't really understand. Assuming you're in the UK, could you ensure that "modem version" is off, and that you've checked into iPlayer Labs?
Better audio for BBC Radio online 1:12pm on 21 Feb 2009 @tsunami2: missed a question from you earlier - "Why do BBC streams have different servers each time I choose a feed?" - for load-balancing reasons.

And to answer your later point: Radio 3 has a wider dynamic range than other services, hence why it subjectively appears to be quieter - we use less dynamic processing (which is possibly the 'painful dynamics' that you refer to for other services). We're using the least processed audio feed available to us for the Coyopa feeds - it's the version also available on Freeview if you're interested. FM is more processed, since it's also intended for mobile use. This is a rough précis, and my colleagues in Radio Resources (who actually know about these things) are welcome to add more detail. As a former radio presenter, I'd comment that some dynamic range compression is required for all radio output: otherwise it's very difficult to listen to.

@Greatest_Valentines_Day_Ever_2009: We certainly aim to publish direct streams for those that really want to use Windows/Real/etc. These won't be in the iPlayer, though. (And a "mass-market consumer product" isn't incompatible from "public service".)

@adancy - We're making Windows Media files now; the work to publish those is now ongoing, and apologies for the delay. Use of Akamai (or Level 3) doesn't preclude you from using these streams outside of iPlayer, but they're currently optimised for Flash delivery, which is why you can't play them in anything else. We are looking at what we're calling 'vanilla' AAC family streams for other devices.

@mrsean2k - thank you for the kind review. The initial buffering isn't good, and I'd like to ensure we manage to reduce this; and I'll ensure our team get to see your comments.

Finally, @2Bdecided - as noted above, we're simply using the feed with the least dynamic range compression. We apply no further compression specifically for online use. I'll ensure that your comments are seen by the appropriate people though.
Better audio for BBC Radio online 12:29pm on 17 Feb 2009 @dogsbodyorg - you're welcome to use these links to listen using a suitable player on your Nokia N800.

@rangersman - I note your impassioned views on this subject. I am trying to do the best for our audience.
Removing Press Red Icons 11:23pm on 16 Feb 2009 You can also, incidentally, tell Sky to stop showing it after a period of time.

Hit "Services", choose "System Setup", "Picture Settings", and make "On-screen Icon Timeout"to be "ON". Then save your settings.

It's there on my Sky HD box - messages exhorting me to "Press Red And Miss The End Of This Programme By Watching Something Else" last for 30 seconds or so, and just disappear.

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James Cridland