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Listening Digitally

Want to know how to listen online to Iowa Public Radio? It's easy - get the info you need here.

Listen to IPR wherever you are! Access any of IPR’s online streams – IPR News, Classical, and Studio One – using your computer’s or smart device's browser or any of your preferred streaming devices.

Ensuring a high quality listening experience


We strongly recommend you use one of our listening platforms or methods listed below whenever possible. When you do this, you interact with our stream in listening platforms that we control, which means these are the platforms where we can provide the best listening experience.

We have less control over other services, including TuneIn, the Public Radio Player, and Sonos. When you have a listening issue on one of those platforms, we reach out to that service provider on your behalf. We’re happy to do this, but it can take as long as two months to get the issue resolved with that entity.

Let’s Get Started


Please note, our website is best viewed on desktop and mobile devices using Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, and Safari web browsers. If you use a Windows-based PC and use the Internet Explorer browser, we strongly recommend you use one of the first three browsers listed for a quality experience. This extends to listening through the website as well.

For help finding, setting up, and troubleshooting online listening issues, please select the appropriate help section:

Listening through your web browser


CLICK "PLAY"
The fastest and easiest way to listen from your computer is with the player built right into this browser page (it’s the blue bar with the play button). If you're viewing on desktop, it's right below our logo at the top of the page. If you're viewing on your smart device, it's at the bottom of the page.

On desktop, click the "All Streams" button to switch between IPR News, IPR Classical, and IPR Studio One. If you're viewing on your smart device, click the soundwave icon on the bottom right to expand the stream options.

Resume browsing the site. The player will keep playing as long as you keep a tab open to Iowa Public Radio.

Troubleshooting the Persistent Player


Here are some quick troubleshooting steps and reasons why you might be having issues playing our streams through the persistent player:

Issue: I clicked audio in a story to listen to. Now I can't find the stream. What do I do?

Solution: A feature of our website is to play the audio you're listening to through the persistent player, no matter what that audio is. When you click on the story audio, it'll play there so that you can keep browsing the site while listening to the story or podcast. Once it's done, you simply need to click back into "All Streams" to select either IPR News, IPR Classical, or IPR Studio One.

Issue: The stream starts and stops frequently. What’s going on and can it be fixed?

There are a lot of possibilities for what could be going on here. We’ll try to run through the most common ones:

Step 1: Think about the internet you're currently using and answer these questions:

  • What is your internet connection speed?
  • Is your internet connection generally reliable or do you have issues no matter what you're doing?
  • Are you using Wifi or a wired connection to stream us?
  • Do you have other devices streaming content (video, audio) at the same time where you are?

As you answer these questions, here are some important things to keep in mind:

  • If you have a low connection package (10 Mb or less), you have reliability issues with your internet (it drops out a lot), or you have multiple devices streaming content at the same time, the start/stop could be because you're doing too much with your available bandwidth.
  • Additionally, if you’re listening wirelessly (Wifi), your connection is subject to more bandwidth fluctuation. You could have spots in your house where your bandwidth is more stable and spots where it's less stable - each house is unique. Try moving around your house to see if this is the case.

Step 2: Observe for patterns in when you have listening issues.

  • Do you notice internet reliability changes during certain times of day?
    • For example, is it always around 4–6 pm in the afternoon (say, when your family and neighbors get home from work/school)?
  • Do you notice changes when other devices are streaming or watching video?
  • Do you notice changes in certain weather?

As you answer these questions, here are some possible explanations for these patterns:

  • Time of day - who's in and around your home (this includes your neighbors) and what they're doing digitally can reduce bandwidth availability. Video streaming and video games take a lot of bandwidth. If that's happening, your audio listening might suffer because of it.
  • If you believe that weather is impacting your listening experience you should reach out to your internet provider for extra troubleshooting support.

Step 3: Consider where you are or how you're trying to listen.

  • Are you traveling and using phone (or car) data to stream us?

Cell signals aren’t 100% reliable, and there are parts of Iowa (and the country) where the signal is weak – you may have to wait to reconnect once your cell coverage improves.

Our default stream bitrate is 128 Kbps. We also offer a lower bitrate option that you can use when you have low data quality. You can try one of these stream URLs instead:

Issue: I want to see the song that was playing, but it’s not listed in the persistent player anymore.

We’ve provided direct links to our Classical and Studio One playlists:

If you can't find the song info there, contact us, and be sure to provide the day and time you were listening. Please be as exact as possible.

Issue: I don’t want to go to the website every time to start the player. Is there another way to listen to the streams directly?

Yes. Our streams can be played in media players compatible with streaming MP3 audio. These links will work in your browser:

These stream links will work in alternative players:

Other questions, feedback, and suggestions


If you have online listening questions that we haven’t addressed here, e-mail us at streaming@iowapublicradio.org. We try to respond in 24 - 48 business hours with a starting set of troubleshooting steps.

If you have feedback or suggestions for improvements, e-mail us at streaming@iowapublicradio.org as well. We want to hear from you – your feedback and input helps us improve this page and our online listening options generally. We also appreciate criticism – as long as it’s constructive and can help us improve our services.

If you have issues listening on your over-the-air radio (AM, FM) or HD radio, please visit our Radio Listening page for troubleshooting support.