What are RSS feeds and how do I subscribe to them?

What is RSS?

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a way of getting the latest content from a website - such as news headlines, articles or podcasts - as soon as it is published, without you having to visit the site repeatedly to check for updates. You can subscribe (free) to any number of RSS ‘feeds' and look at them all in one place.

Feeds allow you to see when we have added new content. You can get the latest programmes in one place, as soon as its published.

What do I need?

You will need one of the following to subscribe and read RSS feeds:

A. Modern web browser

Many web browsers now allow you to add RSS feeds as browser favourite or bookmark folders. The folders are automatically updated with listings of links to the latest BBC iPlayer programme pages.

B. Account with web-based news reader websites

Many popular web sites allow you to add RSS feeds to your homepage with them. There are also other dedicated news reader websites that you can use. Each feed you add shows up as a separate automatically updated listing of links to the latest BBC iPlayer programme pages. This option is useful if you want to access the feeds from multiple computers.

C. Desktop news reader software

Some email software also allow you to read RSS feeds. In addition, there's dedicated news reader software that you can download and install.


How do I subscribe to RSS feeds?

You can subscribe to programmes that are available on BBC iPlayer in many ways across the site. The feeds described above are all offered in a simple Atom feed format that all standard feed readers can subscribe to.

RSS_Circled

As you navigate the site you'll notice feed icons RSS_Feed towards the foot of most pages.

Wherever it appears, it links to a feed listing the current programmes on that page. When you find a programme page that reflects some of your tastes, click the icon to add its feed to your feed-reader programme.

Later, you can use the feed-reader to view an up-to-date list of matching programmes, without having to revisit the page itself.

Types of feed

 

All of the above can be filtered easily to just TV or Radio programmes and you can also combine the TV/Radio filters with those for most-popular or featured.

We don't offer searchable or schedule feeds, but we are planning to add to each episode page a feed including all available episodes of the relevant series.

Didn't see your answer here?

If you have detailed issues about using BBC iPlayer not covered here, please read our Where can I go to discuss BBC iPlayer? FAQ or you can Contact Us.

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