Before You Buy Google Home…

We do not recommend purchasing Google Home for listening to BBN. However, if you already have Google Home, please try the voice commands below to see if BBN plays at your location.

We have observed that Google Home plays BBN perfectly at some locations, but not others. At some locations, Google announces that the BBN stream is starting, but then the device goes silent and doesn’t ever play the stream. This is not limited to BBN. A multitude of users have reported the issue to Google tech support, over years of time, about almost any radio stream you can think to name.

Evidence points to it being location specific, but not necessarily a network problem. A stream will go silent at one location, but then play fine with the same equipment moved to another house. We will continue attempts to pinpoint the cause so all Google Home users can enjoy BBN.

Phrases to Play BBN Radio on Google Home

  • “Hey Google, play BBN English” (It once worked to say “BBN Radio”, but that no longer seems to be the case for everyone. If you get our Portuguese stream instead, switch to saying “Hey Google, play BBN English”. This began in mid August 2019.)
  • “Hey Google, play BBN Espanol.”
  • “Hey Google, play BBN Portuguese.”
  • “Hey Google, play BBN Chinese.”
  • “Hey Google, play BBN Japanese.”
  • “Hey Google, play BBN Korean.”
  • “Hey Google, play BBN German.”
  • “Hey Google, play BBN Russian.”

You must use the exact phrase for Google Home to recognize what to do. It also works to substitute “start” in place of the word “play”.

If Google Home doesn’t play BBN, try saying “BBN” more slowly and add a brief silence between letters.

Additional ways to play BBN on Google Home Devices

Sometimes, you can invoke the BBN stream using the call letters or frequency of a BBN station. Like this:

“Hey Google, play WYFQ” (WYFQ may be the only one that works)

“Hey Google, play 93.5 FM” (only works when you are near a BBN station on the frequency)

Compatible Google Home Devices

  • Google Home
  • Google Home Mini
  • Google Home Max

If you know someone who is sight-impaired and already has a Google Home, this may be a perfect way for them to hear BBN!