Why does Click to Play keep stopping with a spinning circle, or not play smoothly?

If your network connection is not consistent, you may experience problems connecting – the video will pause and a circle will spin on your screen.

You can check your connection speed at the BBC iPlayer Diagnostics page.

Decreasing the quality 

BBC iPlayer should detect your connection speed and give you the optimal rate. However, if the playback is still choppy you can select the Lower bandwidth option. Find out how to do so here.

Network traffic

Check that your connection is not being shared with others that may be downloading or uploading files. Network traffic may also build at certain types of day, so you may wish to try later.

Some security programs, firewalls or routers may block your access to BBC iPlayer. This may mean that you always see the loading screen, with a spinning circle in the middle of where the video should be. Please check your computer's settings to ensure that it is not blocking BBC iPlayer or Flash.

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For further help you can Contact Us, or you can discuss this issue at the BBC iPlayer messageboard.