How to Listen
How to Listen
First the boring bit
You must register with us and log in to listen. If you haven't used 4radio before, you'll be prompted to register for the site. All we need is an e-mail address and a unique username, and then you're away! Once registered, you'll receive an e-mail from us to confirm this has been set up successfully. You'll need to log back in using this e-mail at some point during the following seven days.
Why should I register?
Ways to listen
There are two main ways to listen to 4radio:
- Online with the Channel 4 Radio Player; this is also known as 'streaming'. Listening online works best if you have a fast connection to the internet.
- Downloading shows to your computer to listen to later. You can download shows individually or subscribe to a podcast (a download service using RSS).
Using the Channel 4 Radio Player
The Radio Player opens in a separate window. It appears when you click the Preview link 
or add an item to your playlist.
The top of the Radio Player has buttons that control how it plays. The right half contains your playlist, that is, the shows you've chosen to listen to.
The left half lists all the available shows, grouped by genre. Click on any show on the left to add it to your playlist on the right.
The title and progress bar gives you details about the show now playing. It also tells you how much of the show has 'streamed' (temporarily downloaded) and how much time is left to play.
If the progress bar is white it means the show has not completely streamed yet. You might experience pauses or gaps during playback until it finishes streaming.
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Play |
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Pause |
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Fast forward |
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Play next show |
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Move Up, Move Down and Delete shows from your playlist |
Channel 4 Radio Player controls
Add as many shows to your playlist as you like. The Radio Player will play each show in order – the show 'now playing' is highlighted so you can quickly see which one it's on.
Rearrange the order of shows using the Move Up and Move Down buttons. Delete shows one at a time using the Delete button, or delete all shows at once using the Clear Playlist link at the bottom.
Downloading shows
To download a show, click the Download link in the show's episode list. Download links only appear on the page where the show's full description appears; think of it as the show's 'home page'. You can find a show using the Browse All Shows feature (from the radio dial) or by visiting the genre pages such as Entertainment or Music.
What if there's no download link?
Note: many shows can be downloaded but some cannot because of copyright or DRM (digital rights management) licensing restrictions.
Podcasts (RSS feeds)
Podcasts are a way of getting a link to your favourite shows delivered to your RSS reader, such as My Yahoo! or your iTunes Library. You can subscribe to podcasts from any show that displays this RSS symbol: Learn more about RSS and podcasts.
