# BBC Phone Number Scraper (`phone_number_scraper/bbc-phone-number-scraper`) Actor

\[1k/2.5$] BBC Phone Number Scraper to collect public contact numbers from media contacts on BBC. Fast, reliable and export-ready for B2B leads, outreach and prospecting.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/phone_number_scraper/bbc-phone-number-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Phone Number Scraper](https://apify.com/phone_number_scraper) (community)
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.49 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event and usage. You are charged both the fixed price for specific events and for Apify platform usage.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

### 🔍 BBC Phone Number Scraper

BBC Phone Number Scraper helps you find public phone numbers that newsrooms, programme teams and organizations publish on bbc.com, in news articles, programme pages and World Service sites. Enter keywords such as `journalist` or `producer`, choose a country, and the Actor returns validated phone numbers with the page title, the text snippet that contains each number, and a direct link to the source page.

It is built for PR professionals, media researchers, communications teams and journalists who want to find contact numbers mentioned in BBC coverage without reading article after article. The BBC Phone Number Scraper uses only publicly available information, so you don't need a BBC account, iPlayer login or cookies.

> **🚀 Quick start:** Open the BBC Phone Number Scraper, add keywords like `journalist` or `producer`, select a country such as United Kingdom (+44), set your phone number limit and click **Start**. Results appear in a dataset you can export to CSV, Excel or JSON.

### ✨ BBC Phone Number Scraper – Key Features

The BBC Phone Number Scraper turns keyword searches into a structured list of media and organization contacts you can verify and use.

- 🔑 **Keyword-based search** – target roles, niches or topics such as journalist, producer, charity, helpline or appeal.

- 🌍 **194 countries supported** – pick a country and its dial code; only numbers valid for that country are kept.

- ✅ **Validated phone numbers** – every number the BBC Phone Number Scraper saves is checked and stored in the international E.164 format, such as `+441134960458`.

- 🧹 **Automatic de-duplication** – each phone number appears only once per run, even when several keywords find it.

- 🔗 **Source context included** – every record has the page title, the public snippet and the BBC URL.

- 💾 **Structured output** – export as JSON, CSV, Excel, XML or HTML, or read results through the Apify API.

- 🔄 **Reliable long runs** – if the platform restarts a run, the BBC Phone Number Scraper continues without saving duplicate numbers.

#### 🔹 Why use the BBC Phone Number Scraper?

| Benefit | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| No login needed | Works with publicly available bbc.com pages only |
| Clean contact data | Validated, de-duplicated numbers in one consistent format |
| Easy to verify | Source URL and text snippet for every phone number |
| Predictable costs | Result limits and spending caps keep each run under control |

### 📊 What Data Does the BBC Phone Number Scraper Extract?

The BBC Phone Number Scraper saves one record per phone number. Each record connects the number to the keyword that found it and the public BBC page it came from.

| Field | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| `phone_number` | Validated phone number in E.164 format | `+441134960458` |
| `country` | Country selected in the input | `United Kingdom` |
| `dial_code` | Country calling code | `+44` |
| `keyword` | Keyword that found this number | `journalist` |
| `title` | Title of the source page | `Food bank sees record demand - BBC…` |
| `description` | Public text snippet where the number appears | `week. Volunteers can call 0113 496…` |
| `url` | Direct link to the source page | `https://www.bbc.com/news/…` |
| `platform` | Platform the record comes from | `BBC` |
| `proxyGroups` | Technical information about the connection used for the run | – |

bbc.com is the BBC's international site for news, features and World Service language services. The BBC Phone Number Scraper can return numbers from:

- 📰 **News articles** – that quote a helpline, appeal line or an organization's contact number.

- 🎙️ **Programme and podcast pages** – where producers invite listeners to get in touch.

- 🌍 **World Service language pages** – such as Hindi, Arabic or Mundo.

- 🌐 **Other public bbc.com pages** – such as sport and travel sections that show a number in their text.

> **🔒 Public data only:** The BBC Phone Number Scraper reads publicly visible titles and snippets. It does not access BBC accounts, iPlayer, newsroom systems or any private data.

> **📌 What to expect:** Most BBC articles do not include phone numbers. Expect lower result counts; numbers usually belong to helplines, charities or businesses mentioned in stories, so organization keywords work better than personal roles.

### 🚀 How to Use the BBC Phone Number Scraper

You can run the BBC Phone Number Scraper in a few minutes without writing any code.

- **Step 1 – Open the Actor:** open BBC Phone Number Scraper in Apify Console and go to the **Input** tab.

- **Step 2 – Add keywords:** enter roles, niches or terms such as `journalist`, `producer`, `charity` or `helpline`.

- **Step 3 – Choose a country:** select the country whose phone numbers you need. The dial code is applied automatically.

- **Step 4 – Set your limit:** enter the maximum number of phone numbers and decide whether it applies per keyword or to the whole run.

- **Step 5 – Start the run:** click **Start** and follow the log. The BBC Phone Number Scraper processes keywords in the order you entered them.

- **Step 6 – Export your data:** download the dataset as CSV, Excel or JSON, or send it to your CRM.

> **⏰ Large searches:** For high phone-number limits or many keywords, increase the timeout in **Run options**. The default timeout is 3,600 seconds (1 hour).

### 🧭 How to Find Phone Numbers in BBC News Articles by Keyword and Country

Keyword and country together decide which phone numbers you receive. The BBC Phone Number Scraper looks for public bbc.com pages that match your keyword and contain a number valid for the selected country, then extracts and validates every number it detects.

For example, to collect UK charity and helpline numbers mentioned in BBC coverage, combine `charity`, `helpline` and `appeal` with **United Kingdom (+44)**. To find contacts in BBC Hindi stories, try `पत्रकार` and `producer` with **India (+91)**.

#### 🔹 Choosing keywords that return more phone numbers

- Use **organization types** such as charity, council, hospital, school or helpline.

- Use **media roles** such as journalist, producer, presenter or correspondent.

- Use the **local language** to reach World Service pages in Arabic, Hindi, Spanish and other languages.

- Add **several short, related keywords** instead of one long, narrow phrase.

### 💡 Can the BBC Phone Number Scraper Limit Phone Numbers per Keyword or per Run?

Yes. The BBC Phone Number Scraper gives you two ways to apply the **Max Phone Numbers** limit, controlled by the **Per Keyword Scrape Max Contacts** switch.

| Setting | How the limit works | Example with 3 keywords and a limit of 50 |
|---|---|---|
| **ON** (default) | The limit applies to each keyword separately | Up to 150 phone numbers in total |
| **OFF** | The limit applies to the whole run | Up to 50 phone numbers in total |

With the switch ON, every keyword gets its own share, so one popular keyword cannot use up the whole limit. With the switch OFF, the BBC Phone Number Scraper stops as soon as the total is reached.

> **⚠️ Heads-up:** With the switch ON, a run can collect – and be billed for – up to Max Phone Numbers × number of keywords, and it takes proportionally longer.

### 🎯 BBC Phone Number Scraper – Use Cases

The BBC Phone Number Scraper is useful when you need contact numbers connected to topics and organizations in BBC coverage.

- 📰 **PR and media research** – see which organizations BBC stories mention with a contact number.

- 🤝 **Charity and nonprofit outreach** – collect appeal and helpline numbers quoted in news coverage.

- 🏢 **Local business research** – find businesses featured in regional stories that share a number.

- 🌍 **International research** – use World Service pages to reach organizations in other languages.

- 📊 **Media monitoring** – track how often organizations in a field appear with a number.

- 🗂️ **Contact verification** – compare your records with numbers shown publicly on bbc.com.

### 📥 BBC Phone Number Scraper Input

The BBC Phone Number Scraper uses a simple input form. Only **Keywords** and **Country** are required.

| Field | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `keywords` | List of text | Yes | Keywords to search for, such as roles, niches or names. Default: `journalist`, `producer` |
| `country` | Select | Yes | Country of the phone numbers you need, shown with its dial code. Default: United Kingdom (+44) |
| `maxPhoneNumbers` | Number (1–10,000) | No | Maximum number of phone numbers to collect. Default: 5 |
| `perKeywordMaxContacts` | On/Off | No | ON: the limit applies to each keyword. OFF: the limit applies to the whole run. Default: ON |
| `proxyConfiguration` | Proxy settings | No | Optional connection settings. The default works for most users |

#### 🔹 Example input for the BBC Phone Number Scraper

```json
{
    "keywords": [
        "journalist",
        "producer"
    ],
    "country": "United Kingdom (+44)",
    "maxPhoneNumbers": 5,
    "perKeywordMaxContacts": true
}
```

> **💡 Note:** A higher limit allows more potential results but does not guarantee reaching that number. The BBC Phone Number Scraper stops early when no more matching public numbers are available.

### 📤 BBC Phone Number Scraper Output

Every phone number the BBC Phone Number Scraper finds is saved as a separate record in the run's dataset. Here is a sample of two records:

```json
[
    {
        "phone_number": "+441134960458",
        "country": "United Kingdom",
        "dial_code": "+44",
        "keyword": "journalist",
        "title": "Food bank sees record demand - BBC News",
        "description": "A Leeds food bank told a BBC journalist it now opens five days a week. Volunteers can call 0113 496 0458.",
        "url": "https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1example2345",
        "platform": "BBC"
    },
    {
        "phone_number": "+442920180726",
        "country": "United Kingdom",
        "dial_code": "+44",
        "keyword": "producer",
        "title": "Have your say: life on the night shift - BBC News",
        "description": "Our producer wants to hear from Cardiff night workers. Leave a message on +44 29 2018 0726.",
        "url": "https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2example6789",
        "platform": "BBC"
    }
]
```

Each record also includes the technical `proxyGroups` field. Local formats such as `0113 496 0458` are converted to the international format `+441134960458`.

#### 🔹 Export and integration options

- 📁 **Download** the dataset as JSON, CSV, Excel, XML or HTML.

- 🔌 **Use the Apify API** to start BBC Phone Number Scraper runs and fetch results from your own scripts or apps.

- ⏱️ **Schedule runs** to refresh your results daily, weekly or monthly.

- 🔗 **Connect integrations** such as webhooks, Make or Zapier to send new contacts to your CRM or spreadsheet.

### 💰 BBC Phone Number Scraper Pricing

The BBC Phone Number Scraper is priced per result: you pay for each phone number record saved to your dataset. The current price is always shown on the Actor's **Pricing** tab.

| Plan or setting | What happens |
|---|---|
| Free Apify plan | Each run returns up to 20 phone number results |
| Paid Apify plan | Each run returns up to your Max Phone Numbers limit |
| Maximum cost per run | The run stops when your limit is reached, so you are not billed beyond it |

> **💡 Cost tip:** Start with a small limit, such as 5–20 phone numbers, to test your keywords before you launch a large BBC Phone Number Scraper run.

### 🛠️ BBC Phone Number Scraper Tips and Best Practices

Follow these tips to get more useful results from the BBC Phone Number Scraper:

- 🧪 **Test first** – run two or three keywords with a low limit to see which ones return numbers.

- 🔁 **Low results? Re-run** with broader keywords, more related terms or a different country.

- 🌍 **Match the country to your audience** – numbers are validated for the selected country only.

- 🔍 **Check the article** – open the `url` and confirm whom the number belongs to; news pages often quote third-party numbers.

> **⚖️ Use data responsibly:** Phone numbers are personal data in many countries. Follow privacy laws such as GDPR and CCPA and local telemarketing and anti-spam rules, respect opt-out requests and never use the data for spam.

### ❓ BBC Phone Number Scraper – Frequently Asked Questions

#### 🔹 What is a BBC phone number scraper?

It is a tool that collects phone numbers published on public BBC pages. The BBC Phone Number Scraper on Apify does this automatically for your keywords and country and returns validated, structured results.

#### 🔹 How do I find phone numbers mentioned in BBC News articles?

Enter keywords that describe the organizations or roles you want, such as `charity` or `producer`, choose a country and start the run. The BBC Phone Number Scraper saves numbers that appear on public bbc.com articles and programme pages.

#### 🔹 Do I need a BBC account to use the BBC Phone Number Scraper?

No. The Actor works only with publicly available information, so it needs no BBC account, iPlayer login or cookies. You only need an Apify account.

#### 🔹 Why did the BBC Phone Number Scraper return fewer phone numbers than my maximum?

The maximum is an upper limit, not a guarantee. If only a few public pages match your keyword and country, the BBC Phone Number Scraper finishes early with the numbers it found. Try broader keywords, more keywords or another country.

#### 🔹 Can the BBC Phone Number Scraper collect numbers from a specific country?

Yes. Choose one of 194 countries in the **Country** field. Only numbers valid for that country are saved, together with the country name and dial code.

#### 🔹 In what format does the BBC Phone Number Scraper save phone numbers?

All numbers are saved in the international E.164 format, such as `+441134960458`, which works well with CRMs, dialers and spreadsheets.

#### 🔹 Does the BBC Phone Number Scraper remove duplicates?

Yes. Each phone number is saved only once per run, even if several keywords or pages contain it. The first keyword that found the number is stored in the `keyword` field.

#### 🔹 Can I run the BBC Phone Number Scraper on a schedule or through an API?

Yes. You can schedule runs in Apify Console, start them with the Apify API, and send the results to other tools with webhooks or integrations.

#### 🔹 Is it legal to use a BBC Phone Number Scraper?

The BBC Phone Number Scraper collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for using it in line with GDPR, CCPA and local telemarketing rules.

### 📬 BBC Phone Number Scraper Support

Have a question about the BBC Phone Number Scraper, found an issue, or need a tweak or a custom build? Get in touch – feedback and feature requests are always welcome.

- contact me by email :  alphascraper69@gmail.com

# Actor input Schema

## `keywords` (type: `array`):

A list of keywords to search for. (Example: John, marketing, etc.)

## `country` (type: `string`):

Select a country to scrape related phone numbers.

## `maxPhoneNumbers` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of phone numbers to collect. The scraper will stop once this limit is reached. Setting a higher limit allows for more potential results but doesn't guarantee reaching that number. This helps save costs by controlling scraping time.

## `perKeywordMaxContacts` (type: `boolean`):

ON (default): "Max Phone Numbers" is a target for EACH keyword, so the scraper works through every keyword instead of stopping once the first one fills up. OFF: it is a single total for the whole run. ⚠️ Heads-up: with this ON the run can collect (and be billed for) Max Phone Numbers × number of keywords, and takes proportionally longer.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Configure proxies for this Actor.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "keywords": [
    "journalist",
    "producer"
  ],
  "country": "United Kingdom (+44)",
  "maxPhoneNumbers": 5,
  "perKeywordMaxContacts": true
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

Structured records extracted by BBC Phone Number Scraper and stored in the run's default dataset.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "keywords": [
        "journalist",
        "producer"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("phone_number_scraper/bbc-phone-number-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "keywords": [
        "journalist",
        "producer",
    ] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("phone_number_scraper/bbc-phone-number-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "keywords": [
    "journalist",
    "producer"
  ]
}' |
apify call phone_number_scraper/bbc-phone-number-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,phone_number_scraper/bbc-phone-number-scraper"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/5byxNcQHsUzfoeqJx/builds/xhsGl3EndCZ63EFhQ/openapi.json