{"record":{"id":"a759413faa8dd709","repo":"ytdl-org/youtube-dl","slug":"episode-s-is-not-currently-available","errorCode":null,"errorMessage":"Episode %s is not currently available","messagePattern":"Episode (.+?) is not currently available","errorType":"exception","errorClass":"ExtractorError","httpStatus":null,"severity":"error","filePath":"youtube_dl/extractor/bbc.py","lineNumber":509,"sourceCode":"            'http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/playlist/%s' % playlist_id, playlist_id)\n\n    def _download_legacy_playlist_url(self, url, playlist_id=None):\n        return self._download_xml(\n            url, playlist_id, 'Downloading legacy playlist XML')\n\n    def _extract_from_legacy_playlist(self, playlist, playlist_id):\n        no_items = playlist.find('./{%s}noItems' % self._EMP_PLAYLIST_NS)\n        if no_items is not None:\n            reason = no_items.get('reason')\n            if reason == 'preAvailability':\n                msg = 'Episode %s is not yet available' % playlist_id\n            elif reason == 'postAvailability':\n                msg = 'Episode %s is no longer available' % playlist_id\n            elif reason == 'noMedia':\n                msg = 'Episode %s is not currently available' % playlist_id\n            else:\n                msg = 'Episode %s is not available: %s' % (playlist_id, reason)\n            raise ExtractorError(msg, expected=True)\n\n        for item in self._extract_items(playlist):\n            kind = item.get('kind')\n            if kind not in ('programme', 'radioProgramme'):\n                continue\n            title = playlist.find('./{%s}title' % self._EMP_PLAYLIST_NS).text\n            description_el = playlist.find('./{%s}summary' % self._EMP_PLAYLIST_NS)\n            description = description_el.text if description_el is not None else None\n\n            def get_programme_id(item):\n                def get_from_attributes(item):\n                    for p in ('identifier', 'group'):\n                        value = item.get(p)\n                        if value and re.match(r'^[pb][\\da-z]{7}$', value):\n                            return value\n                get_from_attributes(item)\n                mediator = item.find('./{%s}mediator' % self._EMP_PLAYLIST_NS)\n                if mediator is not None:","sourceCodeStart":491,"sourceCodeEnd":527,"githubUrl":"https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/blob/956b8c585591b401a543e409accb163eeaaa1193/youtube_dl/extractor/bbc.py#L491-L527","documentation":"Sibling of errors 45/46 in BBCCoUkIE._extract_from_legacy_playlist: the legacy playlist XML returns <noItems reason=\"noMedia\"/> — the episode record exists but no playable media is attached at all (not a timing issue like pre/postAvailability). Raised expected=True as 'Episode %s is not currently available'.","triggerScenarios":"Extracting a programme id that the EMP backend knows about but that has no media streams attached: radio/news clips replaced by text, programmes with rights-cleared metadata but no stream, or ids that only ever carried metadata.","commonSituations":"Scraping programme pages that embed ids for non-video content; episodes whose audio/video rights lapsed entirely; BBC data inconsistencies where a page links an id the media backend does not serve.","solutions":["Try the modern (non-legacy) extraction path / the programme's canonical page — the extractor prefers other sources first and only falls back to legacy, so hitting this means the modern path already failed for that id.","Verify in a browser that the episode actually plays; if the page shows no player, the id is metadata-only.","Filter such ids out of batch lists by checking the page for a player before extraction.","Report persistent cases upstream if the page clearly plays media but extraction ends here."],"exampleFix":null,"handlingStrategy":"try-catch","validationCode":null,"typeGuard":null,"tryCatchPattern":"try:\n    ydl.extract_info(episode_url)\nexcept ExtractorError as e:\n    if 'is not currently available' in str(e):\n        mark_unplayable(episode_url)  # metadata-only id; skip in future runs\n    else:\n        raise","preventionTips":["Before batch extraction, filter programme pages that render no player widget.","Remember hitting this branch means the modern extraction path already failed too — the id itself is media-less.","Do not retry: noMedia is a state, not a transient error."],"tags":["bbc","availability","no-media","legacy-playlist","extractor"],"backgroundTag":null,"analyzedSha":"956b8c585591b401a543e409accb163eeaaa1193","analyzedAt":"2026-08-14T18:59:47.863Z","schemaVersion":2},"datasetVersion":"2026-08-15T22:17:37.221Z"}