Echo/Alexa just out when playing Radio 4

[Erku]

Does anyone else have this problem. We play Radio 4 via Alexa but after anything from 10 minutes to a hour it will just cut out and we have to unplug and replug it to reconnect to Radio 4. Have contacted BBC umpteen times, they ask a few technical questions and then ignore me.

We have this with radio 2. No idea why

yes same with radio 2 - Alexa also runs a few seconds behind my Bush digital radio - I hear the Pop Master answers on my Bush Digital Radio before the question has been asked on Alexa. The cutting out is very annoying though. Multiple times in a morning.

No but mine comes on randomly in the middle of the night when no one is awake and really scares me🤣 its only me and my 4 year old so it’s not being done by the app or anything so I unplugged it at night anyway. 🤣

Mine too though I don't unplug it, just re ask.

Listen to Radio 2 on it and ours cuts out sometimes. Could be an hour in, could be 20 mins.

Yep. Recently it's happened a lot. Then says she's playing it when she's clearly not.

It sounds like they're having a problem streaming the audio. It takes a lot of internet bandwidth when you have so many connected devices to feed.

I stream NPR in the US and it's usually 10-15 seconds behind the broadcast but I've never had it cut out on me.

Also happens to me with Radio 2.

It must be a BBC sounds issue as it happens with radio one too. I also get a random clicking sound every so often.

Yes, I have this issue to. I don’t unplug though. I just re ask. Sometimes she plays it again and sometimes she doesn’t.

Happens to me all the time with R2 as well. I like to leave it on for the dogs when they’re home alone but have to change it to LBC or something before I go. It’s so annoying.

Thanks for confirming this is not an individual problem. I am again getting back to BBC who can hopefully liaise with the impossible for me to contact Amazon.

Yes with R4 too

Yes, I have been getting this too. Or it doesn't respond to instructions at all.

@Erku

Thanks for confirming this is not an individual problem. I am again getting back to BBC who can hopefully liaise with the impossible for me to contact Amazon.

It's unlikely to be an Amazon problem since it works fine with other streaming sources. I think the BBC needs to upgrade their internet infrastructure to support more simultaneous streams.

I've never had a problem with streaming National Public Radio or Spotify or local radio stations in the US on any Amazon device.

Good point about it not cutting out with other radio stations. I thought it might be a problem linked to Amazon because I do not have any issues when listening to BBC Sounds on any other device. The cut out only occurs on the Echo/Alexa.

I also have the same problem as in your OP @Erku. There are some big problems with how BBC and Alexa work, for example you can't do "alexa, play radio 1 everywhere" it just doesn't work. The issue is at BBC end not Amazon though, you're right. Apparently almost every single other radio station is available via TuneIn, whereas BBC is via their bespoke BBC sounds app which they have turned into a skill for Amazon and they just haven't given it enough tech support.

www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/aboutthebbc/entries/ba37d6b5-59fd-470d-9da2-dec1b45b8bd5/comments

It's really annoying too that she can't make her bloody mind up about whether I need to say "Alexa, play radio 1" or "Alexa, radio1" - sometimes only one works (it changes which one!) and if she doesn't like it she says "sorry, radio1 Wolverhampton is not available on TuneIn" I KNOW YOU SILLY TWATBOT I HAVE BEEN LISTENING TO IT ON BBC SOUNDS ALL BLOODY MORNING

And breathe. I know its not Alexa's fault. She's a poppet really.

Wow I thought this was just me/my device. Happens all the time on radio 1. So annoying.

Same here, occasionally stops playing R2, husband hates Alexa anyway and she won’t play his preferred station regularly (a local one)

Same problem here. I’ve found turning the Echo off, then rebooting the router and leaving it for a few minutes before turning the Echo back on again fixes it, at least for a while.

We don't have to switch it off and in again, just re-ask, like others.
Also, I hate that I have to always ask for 'BBC' Radio 2, otherwise it plays some other random foreign station. I wish they'd go back to the tie in with Tunein.

Thanks all. Just submitted a complaint to BBC . I contacted them about this issue in August 2020 and March 2021 yet still they advertise that you can access radio stations via speech devices when the service is so poor it does not warrant the description of access. Have very little confidence of a meaningful reply, but have stated my case.

I’ve been getting this too.
Not noticed which stations, but I mostly listen to bbc R2, R4, R5 and Virgin.

It’s always been rubbish trying to listen to the BBC on Alexa. I complained more than once last year that it intermittently wouldn’t play R1 even though Alexa announced it was playing. I also hate that she plays a German station if she miss hears me saying the BBC bit, and also it doesn’t play the most resent episode of a programme and only seems to want to play one from a couple of weeks ago..

Try this. Tell Alexa, "Play news from NPR" and see if it works. If it does, it's a lot like BBC news, but with an American slant of course.

I'm genuinely curious to see if you can access it from the UK. I can play BBC news on my Alexa here.