Radio 4 Help

How do I listen to a Radio 4 programme on my computer?

You can listen to Radio 4 programmes on the Radio 4 website and on BBC iPlayer.

Programmes on BBC iPlayer are available for seven days after broadcast. However many broadcasts - such as Woman's Hour, Today and some science programmes - are archived on the Radio 4 website.

To listen to archive broadcasts you may be prompted to download Realplayer (see Realplayer help) which is free of charge.

I'm having problems listening to a Radio 4 programme on my computer

For technical questions, please visit the BBC iPlayer Help site or, for archived older programmes (that were broadcast before 2009) try Webwise Help.

Problems receiving Radio 4 overseas

We are aware of an intermittent problem affecting our streams internationally and our engineers are investigating the problem.

In order to help us solve the problem would you be able to do a simple diagnostic test which will give us an 'Edge Node IP address'. We need to send this address back to the engineers can to use it in their investigations.

So here are the instructions for doing this:

Depending on which Radio 4 stream you're listening to, you will need to copy and paste one of the urls below into a browser.

Radio 4 (FM): http://cp60697.live.edgefcs.net/fcs/ident/

Radio 4 (LW): http://cp61421.live.edgefcs.net/fcs/ident/

When you arrive at the site, you will be presented with an edge node IP address (it will look something like this: 86.153.175.119). You will need to copy and paste this address into an email and send it back to us.

Thanks for your co-operation, we apologise for the inconvenience.

Problems with javascript

There seems to be a spate of reports lately where people have been getting a message telling them to 'enable javascript' when it is already on their machine.

In the first instance we suggest that you try clearing your cache.

And here's the FAQ about how to enable javascript should there be the slim chance that they don't have it turned on.

Can't find the answer to your question?

Please try to find your answer in the Further Help section on the left.

Alternatively you can Contact Radio 4 or make a complaint about a programme.