Thanks for the extensive information, foxy - I guess you're still teaching in Shanxi. That said, is Mr River still calling the shots at Yuncheng IELTS?
Now to the main point of my reply. I've found the BBC iplayer extremely slow to download when tuning in for English football among other BBC World Service radio programmes. Maybe some readers, including yourself, are unaware you can get two alternative direct links to the radio station by visiting the link below. Interestingly, the content on one of them is sometimes different, though still of BBCWS origin. It is kindly provided by an American radio station, Vermont Public Radio. Incidentally, both of the alternative links I've mentioned are running at around 20 kb/sec, considerably less than the BBC's iplayer.

http://www.radiofeeds.co.uk/query.asp?feedme=BBC+World+Service