Since we launched we’ve had a number of podcasts either available only or first on BBC Sounds, giving listeners easy access to them on the BBC’s own digital platform.
From March we’re also going to make a small number of our radio programmes available for on-demand listening first on BBC Sounds.
We want more people to use BBC Sounds to listen to their favourite BBC audio, and to easily discover more from the BBC. This gives licence fee payers even more value.
Continuing to make BBC Sounds a success and increasingly valued by our audience is a priority for us. We think it’s vital to ensure brilliant UK content continues to thrive now and in the future. With more people listening on their mobiles, TVs and smart speakers, we want to make sure we’re helping create and deliver for the next generation of UK radio and audio fans.
The world of audio listening is constantly changing, and the global tech giants are more routinely publishing content exclusively on their platforms. We want to make sure people can easily find new things from the BBC and can’t rely on other platforms, who have their own exclusive content and a global catalogue to promote, to do this for us.
That’s why in the next month or so when new episodes of some of the BBC’s loved radio programmes broadcast on Radio 4 or 5 Live they will then only be available on-demand on BBC Sounds for a month (28 days to be precise). After that month they will also be available on other audio platforms through the RSS feed.
We’re doing this as a trial to see what the impact is on listening on BBC Sounds and we hope listeners do use this as an opportunity to try out Sounds, and discover and enjoy more brilliant BBC audio.
We know people have established ways of listening to on-demand audio but we also know many people already use multiple apps and platforms to listen to their favourite content.
BBC Sounds is improving all the time and now has lots of features which we know are popular with listeners such as allowing people to continue listening between different devices, to pause and rewind live radio, and improved ways of recommending something new to try.
Over the following weeks listeners will start hearing about new episodes of In Our Time, Desert Island Discs, Inside Science, Friday Night Comedy, Money Box, and 5 Live: All About Sport being on Radio 4 or 5 Live and BBC Sounds first. The archive won’t be affected by these plans.
We hope this gives people plenty of notice to download the BBC Sounds app, if they haven’t yet, and enjoy the next episode of their favourite BBC programmes.
Update on 24 June 2022:
When Radio 4’s Infinite Monkey Cage returns in June it is being added to this trial. Listeners can hear it on-demand first on BBC Sounds for a month after it broadcasts, and then it will also be available on other platforms.