BBC iPlayer issues with TVOS 17.1

I am not using a VPN but I am using a DNS service that bypasses geolocation blocks. All other UK stations work fine, it's just the iPlayer I have issues with. I reported the problem and for a while things improved but recently it has started to have issues again. The problem now shows up when trying to start playing a program or sometimes it will freeze midway through a program and when I try to restart it I get that blank page again.

How are you trying to connect to the BBC iPlayer?

I'm in the same boat wrt earlier versions of TVOS. I started with 17.0 on this device.

I do however think it is an issue with the DNS servers that are being used. I have a PC hooked up to my TV and used that to access the BBC and was also having issues, although not as bad.

I saw this error message once while trying to watch a programme:

"Your client has made a request for a BBC domain that is no longer hosted on Akami, but the request was sent to an Akami IP address. This suggests your client is using a very out-of-date DNS response, or one that has been altered. If you are using VPN software or similar, try disabling it and / or contact your VPN provider's technical support."

I suspect that the BBC has been moving stuff around with the CDN (Content Distribution Networks) they are using and that DNS databases are not up to date with the changes. At least that's my theory.

I just opened a new ticket with my DNS provider to see if they can get any further with it.

Antonio, my DNS provider seems to have fixed the problem for me, at least for the time being.

Since the issue seems to be a DNS issue have you tried setting a different DNS value on your AppleTV?

I'm assuming that when you are connected to your VPN that you are using the VPN provider's default DNS. Try overriding that in the AppleTV settings to Google DNS (IP address 8.8.8.8) and see if you see any difference.