Some questions on PVR

[Budge]

Hi Kevin,
I am top posting and very much appreciate your erudite and helpful reply although I find the information you provide very depressing.

My personal needs have changed. On podcast if deprecated so be it provided I can get the programmes I want.

I had mentioned flac but in all honesty I am of an age when the "best" sound is probably better than I need and fine.  If it is using AAC & OPUS and put in an m4a wrapper that is fine for me. I have not looked at the difference in disk space yet.

As a listener who remembers "The Third Programme" on the "wireless" and the BBC World Service, which I used to listen to using short wave dedicated receiver while abroad, I am finding the content on Radio 3 hard work these days, so I much prefer to check the schedules and set up pvr so I can time shift what I want.

OTOH I do appreciate the quality of modern sound recordings which I now purchase as downloads rather than disks.  I have also recently started using YouTube downloads of music such as that from the Netherlands Bach Society and Bachstiftung.  Also the many good opera productions available from this source.  I find the video significantly enhances not only opera but all of the works.

On TV I now prefer France 24 and Al Jajeera for the news since there is no international news or channel differentiation between tabloid folksy  tales and thoughtful and incisive reporting of more weighty matters.

Thanks again for your information and please forgive my rant.
Alastair.



On 13/05/2023 20:18, Kevin Lynch wrote:
> This explanation is really off-topic but maybe it's helpful to
> understand the strategic goals of iPlayer which affect the delivery of
> content we access through get_iplayer.
>
> The iPlayer and BBC sounds are very much a product of the current
> licence fee arrangement and the BBC's response to streaming media.
>
> BBC Radio 4's "In Our Time",and BBC Radio 5 live's "Fighting Talk"
> were one of the first radio programmes to be 'podcast'. I think this
> would have been around 2013. Since then the BBC had an "audio product"
> whose name escapes me that then was rewritten to be "BBC Sounds". If
> you look carefully the BBC doesn't promote "BBC Radio" anymore. It's
> all "BBC Sounds". The BBC now deprecates podcasts, driving users to
> BBC Sounds, It's kind of weird as I still have IOT in my podcast app
> and it turns up 4 weeks after broadcast. The Fri Night comedy spot on
> BBC Radio 4 turns up 4 weeks late. I don't care which is a bit
> pointless for "The News Quiz" and "The Now Show". "Fighting Talk"
> being a topical sports comedy show, turns up straight after broadcast.
> because there's a different remit at 5 live and the team made their
> case.
>
> Local Radio doesn't fit into the vision of streaming based content.
> BBC Local radio in England is being decimated at the moment as well
> loved presenters are applying to do their jobs in regions that used to
> span one county becoming regions like Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Kent
> a listener in Hunstanton talking about seals on the beach is not going
> to be relatable to the listener in New Romney. My Nephew is a choral
> scholar and he's appalled at the changes at Radio 3 and the proposed
> axing of BBC Singers. This group is actually one of our cultural crown
> jewels. They are extremely talented singers and are known for their
> ability to quickly sight read and pick up new music. This is one of
> the reasons that many of the classical composers write for the BBC
> Singers as they are so good at delivering what the composer intended.
>
> This is a strategy because it means BBC Sounds has a place on
> smartphones beside Spotify, Amazon, Netflix, Apple Music etc.
> Additionally BBC executives who "created" BBC Sounds are well
> positioned for lucrative positions in streaming media companies..
>
> There is an ITU conference in 2028? where they are looking into the
> question "Do Broadcasters Need Dedicated Radio Frequency Spectrum?"
> Around the world mobile phone networks say "No", most Broadcasters say
> "Yes". In the UK the Radio and TV networks are owned and operated by
> Arqiva so the BBC is inclined to say they want to ditch Digital
> Terrestrial Television as a transmission medium.
> https://cleanfeed.thetvroom.com/15797/news/campaign-to-save-terrestrial-tv-hits-a-snag/
>
> In this context you can see the way the BBC are going and how that
> influences their media store (iPlayer and Sounds)
>
>
> One last thing someone was looking for "flac" streams. I think they
> are now deprecated. Youtube delivers high-quality audio through 256
> kbps AAC and OPUS I'd say that the modern codec development means that
> the audio in a flac format is easily accommodated in the smarter
> packing arrangments in the 256k Opus file. I'd say BBC Sounds will
> look to store audio in the 256k Opus format, Possibly streaming it in
> a drm wrapper to the BBC Sounds app.
>
>
> Kevin
>
> On Sat, 13 May 2023 at 09:43, Budge <ajebay at errichel.co.uk> wrote:
>> On 12/05/2023 23:53, MacFH - C E Macfarlane - News wrote:
>>> On 12/05/2023 23:34, Kevin Lynch wrote:
>>>> On Fri, 12 May 2023 at 19:17, MacFH - C E Macfarlane - News
>>>> <news at macfh.co.uk> wrote:
>>>>> Amid a lack of current programmes to test with, that was just a guess on
>>>>> my part; it could well be that your suggestion turns out better than mine.
>>>> C:\Users\kevin>get_iplayer --info --pid b09k1f9h
>>>>
>>>> <Etc>
>>> All that you say is true, but the above is not one of the programmes the OP was asking about, none of which appear to be available ATM, hence my saying that I couldn't verify anything for those programmes.
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>> get_iplayer at lists.infradead.org
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>> Many thanks to Kevin and MacFH,
>> The fact that podcast is deprecated makes sense and I can avoid in future if necessary.
>>
>> I haven't yet looked for or found a podcast but I recall they are used on the iPlayer website.  I shall examine further when I have time but it is not an issue at present.
>>
>> I note Kevin's advice and I recall using --pid-recursive in the past.
>>
>> My history file is a trip down memory lane, as is my .mp4 and .m4a database.  Re-activating my pvr list was fun and amazingly some programmes missing from my library turned up and helped me fill the gaps.
>>
>> Good to be in touch once more and thanks for the help.
>> Regards,
>> Alastair
>>
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