BBC iPlayer is our free service that lets you catch up with radio and television programmes from the past week. If you are in the UK and connected to the internet you can:

View and listen to programmes (including HD programmes) from the previous seven days instantly on the website by clicking on them to play (called streaming).You can either watch or listen to a current show as it is transmitted live (the On Now facility) or catch up with a programme after broadcast -normally up to seven days, though due to rights reasons some programmes, such as Crimewatch, have a shorter availabilty. This works on computers, games consoles and mobile phones – click here to see the list of compatible devices and we're working on more ways.

Save a programme onto your computer or other compatible device to play later (called downloading). For this you need to install BBC iPlayer Desktop. To do this your computer must support BBC iPlayer.  Programmes can be kept for 30 days; after that they can no longer be viewed as the programme licence will have expired.

Listen to a radio programme from the past seven days or to a current radio broadcast as it is transmitted live (the On Now facility). The option of a pop-out player allows you to continue listening while you browse other web pages.

You can also access BBC iPlayer on certain mobile phones.

Programmes are made available as soon as possible after transmission – but please note that for technical reasons some programmes may not appear on the site for several hours and due to rights issues some programmes, such as Match of the Day, are not available.

If you have any more questions about BBC iPlayer the following categories may help; otherwise try typing your question or related key words into the search box (on the right of this page):

Find out more about:

Programme availability      Outside the UK      Using BBC iPlayer      Downloading  

You could also try browsing our message boards, which discuss many aspects of the service including common issues and problems. Please note that because this content is not generated by the BBC, it is not searchable via our search tool; however, we suggest typing key words such as BBC iPlayer + your issue into your preferred search engine.

If you want to report a technical fault see this FAQ for further information