Listen to any BBC Radio live stream using VLC including Radio 1 and 1Xtra

Play Radio 1 in VLCIf you want to listen to BBC Radio 1 Live stream you can do so by going to their website and clicking “Listen Now” but that will load the HTML player and if like me you keep accidentally closing your web browser it will stop the stream.

I much prefer using VLC (free) to listen to my streaming audio and it’s possible to listen to the Radio 1 stream using VLC but it proved tricky to try and locate the URL of the live stream so for those that are struggling:

http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/r1.asx

Depending on the options you selected when you installed VLC, you might be able to simply click the link above which should load in a new page and then auto-launch VLC and start playing Radio 1 live stream. If clicking the link above doesnt work, in VLC’s top toolbar, click Media and then Open Network Steam and simply paste the URL above into the window and hit play. Alternatively if you like keyboard shortcuts, just hit CTRL+N to open the network stream window and paste in the URL above.

The next time you want to listen to the Radio 1 live stream in VLC, open VLC as normal and then hit CTRL+1 to reload the most recently listened to stream.

In case Radio 1 isn’t your cup of tea, below are a variety of other BBC radio streaming URLs, if you come across any more please leave the link in the comments below and I will update this post.

Network URL
Radio 1 http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/r1.asx
Radio 1Xtra http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/r1x.asx
Radio 2 http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/r2.asx
Radio 3 http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/r3.asx
Radio 4 http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/r4.asx
Radio 4Xtra http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/r4x.asx
Radio 5 Live http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/r5l.asx
Radio 5 Live Sports Extra http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/r5lsp.asx
Radio 6 http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/r6.asx
Radio Asian http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/ran.asx
Radio Cymru http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/rc.asx
Radio Foyle http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/rf.asx
Radio nan Gaidheal http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/rng.asx
Radio Scotland http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/rs.asx
Radio Ulster http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/ru.asx
Radio Wales http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/rw.asx
BBC Berkshire http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/bbcberkshire.asx
BBC Bristol http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/bbcbristol.asx
BBC Cambridgeshire http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/bbccambridgeshire.asx
BBC Cornwall http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/bbccornwall.asx
BBC Coventry & Warwickshire http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/bbccoventryandwarwickshire.asx
BBC Cumbria http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/bbccumbria.asx
BBC Derby http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/bbcderby.asx
BBC Devon http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/bbcdevon.asx
BBC Essex http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/bbcessex.asx
BBC Gloucestershire http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/bbcgloucestershire.asx
BBC Guernsey http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/bbcguernsey.asx
BBC Hereford & Worcester http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/bbcherefordandworcester.asx
BBC Humberside http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/bbchumberside.asx
BBC Jersey http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/bbcjersey.asx
BBC Kent http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/bbckent.asx
BBC Lancashire http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/bbclancashire.asx
BBC Leeds http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/bbcleeds.asx
BBC Leicester http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/bbcleicester.asx
BBC Lincolnshire http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/bbclincolnshire.asx
BBC London http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/bbclondon.asx
BBC Manchester http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/bbcmanchester.asx
BBC Merseyside http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/bbcmerseyside.asx
BBC Newcastle http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/bbcnewcastle.asx
BBC Norfolk http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/bbcnorfolk.asx
BBC Northampton http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/bbcnorthampton.asx
BBC Nottingham http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/bbcnottingham.asx
BBC Oxford http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/bbcoxford.asx
BBC Sheffield http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/bbcsheffield.asx
BBC Shropshire http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/bbcshropshire.asx
BBC Solent http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/bbcsolent.asx
BBC Somerset http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/bbcsomerset.asx
BBC Stoke http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/bbcstoke.asx
BBC Suffolk http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/bbcsuffolk.asx
BBC Surrey http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/bbcsurrey.asx
BBC Sussex http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/bbcsussex.asx
BBC Tees http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/bbctees.asx
BBC Three Counties http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/bbcthreecounties.asx
BBC Wiltshire http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/bbcwiltshire.asx
BBC WM http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/bbcwm.asx
BBC York http://bbc.co.uk/radio/listen/live/bbcyork.asx

13 Replies to “Listen to any BBC Radio live stream using VLC including Radio 1 and 1Xtra”

  1. For Europe you’ll find the streams here:

    http://www.listenlive.eu/uk.html

    Example:

    If you’d like to listen to BBC Radio Four,
    right-click on the link 128kbits in the row for BBC Radio 4
    and click Copy Link Location.

    Launch VLC, press Ctrl-N, and paste the link copied above.

    Enjoy !

    Used browser : FireFox
    Player : VLC

  2. All those links above are dead…BBC has the Audio Factory, and it seems not even they are sure what formats they’re going forward with…please let us know if anyone gets any link to use the BBC radios on VLC going into the future!

    1. @Gladius – yup, they all stopped working a few weeks ago. Very frustrating. I’ve explored all the audio factory, new options, etc and not been able to find any working links for VLC streaming yet. It means I’m stuck having a Chrome window open and minimised just to listen to Radio 1. If I find a workaround I’ll update this post.
      Scoopz

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