Open documentation ↗Overview
The definitive iPlayer API.
BBC iPlayer Business Layer is a media API from bbci.co.uk. Requests are authenticated with an API key. It is served over plain HTTP. Its OpenAPI description documents 30 endpoints.
At a glance
- Authentication
- API key
- HTTPS
- No
- CORS
- Unknown
- Category
- Media
- Base URL
https://ibl.api.bbci.co.uk/ibl/v1- Version
- 1.0
- Endpoints
- 30
- OpenAPI
- Specification ↗
- Spec updated
- 2023-03-06
Make a first request
Replace the placeholders; the documentation says exactly where credentials go.
curl -X GET "https://ibl.api.bbci.co.uk/ibl/v1/categories" \
-H "Accept: application/json" \
-H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"const response = await fetch("https://ibl.api.bbci.co.uk/ibl/v1/categories", {
method: "GET",
headers: {
"Accept": "application/json",
"X-API-Key": "YOUR_API_KEY",
},
});
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);import requests
response = requests.request(
"GET",
"https://ibl.api.bbci.co.uk/ibl/v1/categories",
headers={
"Accept": "application/json",
"X-API-Key": "YOUR_API_KEY",
},
timeout=30,
)
print(response.json())Endpoints
| Method | Path | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| GET | /atoz/{letter}/programmes | Programmes by initial title character |
| GET | /categories | Get categories |
| GET | /categories/{category} | Get sub-categories |
| GET | /categories/{category}/episodes | List all the episodes for a category. |
| GET | /categories/{category}/highlights | List the highlights for a category. |
| GET | /categories/{category}/programmes | List all the programmes for a category. |
| GET | /channels | List all the channels. |
| GET | /channels/{channel}/broadcasts | Get broadcasts by channel |
| GET | /channels/{channel}/highlights | List the highlights for a channel. |
| GET | /channels/{channel}/programmes | Get programmes by channel |
| GET | /channels/{channel}/schedule/{date} | Get schedule by channel |
| GET | /clips/{pid} | Get Clips |
| GET | /episodes/{pid} | Episode for a given pid. |
| GET | /episodes/{pid}/next | Get Onward Journey |
| GET | /episodes/{pid}/postrolls | Get Follow-ups (post-rolls) |
| GET | /episodes/{pid}/prerolls | Get Trailers (pre-rolls) |
| GET | /episodes/{pid}/recommendations | Get programme recommendations |
| GET | /groups/popular/episodes | Get programmes popular |
| GET | /groups/{pid}/episodes | Get episodes by group, brand or series |
| GET | /home/highlights | Get programme highlights |
| GET | /programmes/{pid} | Programme for a given pid. |
| GET | /programmes/{pid}/episodes | Child episodes for a given programme pid. |
| GET | /regions | List all regions |
| GET | /schema/ibl.json | Get schema |
| GET | /search | Search |
| GET | /search-suggest | Search-suggest |
| GET | /status | Get status |
| GET | /user/purchases | Get user store purchases |
| GET | /user/recommendations | Get user store recommendations |
| GET | /user/watching | Get user watching |
Questions
Does the BBC iPlayer Business Layer API need an API key?
Yes. The BBC iPlayer Business Layer API uses API key authentication; the documentation explains how to get credentials.
Does the BBC iPlayer Business Layer API support HTTPS?
The BBC iPlayer Business Layer API is listed as HTTP only, so avoid sending secrets to it.
How many endpoints does the BBC iPlayer Business Layer API have?
Its OpenAPI description lists 30 endpoints in version 1.0. All of them are shown on this page.
What are alternatives to the BBC iPlayer Business Layer API?
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