How to download iPlayer radio shows on Vista
A friend's son was on Radio 3 recently, and she asked if I knew how to download from the iPlayer. I didn't, but it turned out to be easier than I thought:
- Download and install mplayer for Windows
- While this is happening, go to www.iplayerconverter.co.uk and look up the relevant show
- Click the show link to download a .ram file
- Open the .ram file in Notepad, and you'll get a link beginning with rtsp:// - copy everything up to the .ra
- Once mplayer is installed, open a command window in the mplayer directory
- Enter:
mplayer -cache 2048 -bandwidth 9999999 "rtsp://blah.bbc.net.uk:554/something/something.ra" -vc null -vo null -ao pcm:fast:waveheader:file=monkeys.wav
Replacing monkeys.wav with whatever filename you like, and the rstp link with the previously copied link from the .ram file.
- This will - surprisingly quickly - download the show and convert it to a .wav.
- I'm on Vista, and the Program Files(x86) directory is protected from new files, so I found monkeys.wav in Users\me\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files(x86)\MPlayer for Windows\ - your mileage may vary.
- Convert the wav to an mp3 with Lame, and you're done.
I can't take credit for much - most of this was lifted directly from a Linux guide, and turned out to be directly applicable.
Obviously BBC radio is copyright the BBC, and I don't endorse stealing content, but I don't have any problem with archiving family appearances, or downloading a show to listen to later on your iPod.
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July 15th, 2009 - 00:16
It's also worth checking if the show's available as a podcast.
I say this because the other day I got a sketch on Newsjack and wondered if I could record it from iPlayer before I remembered I was already subscribed to the podcast. Not a good sign. (I mean, Newsjack? Really?)
September 20th, 2009 - 14:38
Very useful instructions, thanks
February 23rd, 2010 - 20:00
I tried this but I don’t know how to “open a command window in the mplayer directory”
February 25th, 2010 - 23:07
When installing mplayer, make a note of the installation directory. I can’t remember it exactly, but it’ll be something like c:\Program Files\mplayer or c:\Program Files\mplayerclassic.
Click the Start button, then if you’re on Vista / Win7 type ‘cmd’ into the search box and hit enter – on XP click ‘Run’ and do the same. You’ll get a black command window with a flashing prompt. Type:
cd\[the directory path minus the initial c:\]
so, for example:
cd\Program Files\mplayer
and hit enter. The prompt will change to reflect your new location, and you can continue with step 6 above.
March 14th, 2010 - 15:51
Thanks for this, I recently got an Email read out on 6 Music and had to cut it out. The BBC servers are super-fast!
March 19th, 2010 - 06:20
Where is the file saved once it is downloaded? I cant find it…..
March 19th, 2010 - 17:40
It’s probably somewhere in your Users\[Username]\AppData directory. Mine was in AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files(x86)\MPlayer for Windows\.
June 20th, 2010 - 10:07
Hi,
Do you know of a way to download now that the BBC have moved away from realaudio to wma?
July 26th, 2010 - 15:58
BBC Radio Ripper works directly even with WMA streams. Having said that it now only works in real time – or longer since the WMA stream comes down in real time then there is a convert to mp3 overhead.
June 21st, 2010 - 11:42
I haven’t investigated it since the update, sorry. If I do I’ll update the post.
April 12th, 2012 - 04:34
I know another streaming downloader, it is Hidownload (http://www.hidownload.com)
Hidownload can work as good as this one in downloading BBC iplayer radio I think.
But it’s method of application is a little different from you recommended.