I just accessed Prom 70 from two different sources, and much to my surprise the LOD files are playing again, and according to the RealPlayer Statistics, at a much higher bitrate than before. Although they are still encoded at 64.1 kbps, they are playing at 250+. However, the bitrate may bleed off down to the encoded rate after the files have been played for awhile.

It looks like "The World's Greatest Classical Music Festival" hasn't ditched more than half their worldwide audience after all!

Several explanations come to mind. I guess the most likely is that it actually was a technical glitch, and the person from the BBC who replied to my query was misinformed. Another possibility is that BBC management had an attack of clarity and decided to restore this service so as not to alienate this world-wide audience (any more than they have already been alienated, both from the loss of this service and the weasel-worded explanations such as was given to me). Take yer pick.

So now we can enjoy the LOD files of these Proms and other programs once again, able to listen at our leisure and no longer having to be tied to a computer for 2 -3 - 6 hours at a time. Whatever the reason for this, thanks BBC! And my offer, and that of hundreds of thousands around the world still stands--we will gladly and cheerfully pay a reasonable fee for a reasonable bitrate broadcast of the Proms and other BBC3 programming.