# Windows Media Player And Cnn Video



## rjmas (Sep 3, 2005)

Hi,

I used to use Real Player with CNN video, and it worked fine. Now they have gone to Windows Media Player only. I can view the video, but it takes a long, long time to load, making it nearly useless. So you have any suggestions. CNN help for Mac is, of course, nearly non-existent.  Thanks.

Raymond


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## gparis (Sep 5, 2005)

Unfortuneately, no one loves the mac users out there 

Keep your Windows Media Player versions up to date, and safari (or whatever browser you are using).


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## TommyWillB (Sep 5, 2005)

is there a way to get the Windows Media plugin to work with Firefox?


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## smithy (Sep 6, 2005)

Windows Media player sucks bill's small one.  I seriously would never expect a update for it.


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## TommyWillB (Sep 6, 2005)

Thanks for the intelligent contirbution to the discussion smithy!


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## smithy (Sep 7, 2005)

No worries, only stating the facts.


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## edtechswiss (Oct 5, 2005)

Please somebody savvy and shrewd, help me!

As with others, I paid the Real Player subscription, but now CNN is free, yeah! But
I cannot get it to play well. Two days of various support groups and reinstalling has improved the situation, but not resolved the buffering problem.

I use CNN, BBC, etc streaming video in my classroom and in my studies. 
I am in a postgrad in Educational technology, but I am not a tech head.  I really need some help here!

I have a Mac G4 and an ibook running mac os x 10.3.9

I am 99% sure that I have the latest Real Player and Windows Media Player versions:

Real Player 10 build 331
and WMP 9 build 3307

I am on the latest Safari (1.3.1 v 312.3.1) and Firefox (1.0.7)

I have a cable connection. 1200kbits in / 200kbits out

CNN   streams won't play through  always stopping to buffer!

on Firefox -  stream does not run more than a few seconds before buffering. It stops continuosly to buffer. I have tried the grease monkey fix: 
http://larytet.sourceforge.net/howto.shtml
with the same result  it buffers in the WMP window, just as it did in the CNN embedded window.  

NOTE:  I do get sound and image. The buffering seems to be my remaining problem.

on Safari  same problem  buffers every few seconds (in the embedded player window)

Maybe I have to tweak Windows Media Player application Preferences? Should I set the buffer to many seconds, or just a few? Which protocols do I select?  This is all greek to me. I have tried various settings, and no combination solves the buffering problem.

Help programs  -- yes I download and tried Flip4Mac.  It works! But then user groups said this was poorly designed program that might interfere with all sorts of other applications, so I deinstalled it, completely.   But hey, it worked (though you have to wait a long time for the video to stream completely into the quicktime player window).

BBC  Well the streams almost always don't work if I take WMP as the option. I think this is because BBC has just added WMP so many streams arent in the format yet.  In RP option, they work, in both Safari and Firefox.  Pitifully small stream however.

Bonus prize:  can you help me here?:

Does anyone have a crack to get BBC broadband outside of the UK?  Real Player subscription carried decend BBC broadband for a few months, a year or more ago, but now we seem to be stuck with postage stamp streams, free, but useless.

When are Google Video and Blinkx really going to work well for Mac users?  Most of the suggestions wont play.

Thank you, all.


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## AliOop (Oct 10, 2005)

I'm having the same problem.  On CNN and other sites offering streaming video, the Media Player opens but it takes about a minute to 90 seconds to load each video.  Sometimes I get sound only, and if I stop the video to skip back to a previous point, I have to wait the minute all over again.
I am 100 percent sure I have the latest Windows Media Player.  On my PC connected to the same network, the videos on the same site load in just a few seconds.

I'd be really grateful for any tips.


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## texanpenguin (Oct 10, 2005)

Here's the thing:

Windows Media Player on the Mac does little more than lag behind its PC counterpart. It is slow, ugly, and doesn't play many formats at all.

Flip4Mac is fine for some streams, but if they're continuous, you'll just get a "?" logo over the QT window.


Really, your best bet is to write a letter (on paper) to the organisation, asking nicely that they reintroduce Real Player or QuickTime support, which is far better implemented on all platforms. Windows Media Player will never be at the same point on the Mac as it is on the PC, just as MSN Messenger isn't. Both of those are chiefly consumer products, and in the consumer market, Microsoft is a competitor to Apple (and is in no rush to accommodate its competitor much better than its marginal support at the moment). The problem is, MSN owns many of the websites themselves, so naturally supports WMP. It's the same for me with NHL highlights.


In short, don't hold your breath for it to get better unless someone (possibly Flip4Mac) does Microsoft's job for it.


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