On: Why can't people in US watch Al Jazeera?

[spooneybarger]

Whenever I try, it barely works and usually crashes. Right now, barely works would be a kind description.

The stations I get via cable/sat tv etc don't have scaling problems of this sort. They might have crap coverage and you could argue that is a scaling issue of some sort but.. at least I can manage to watch.

[ComputerGuru → spooneybarger]

There's an alternate feed available from livestation in both SD and HD editions. http://www.livestation.com/channels/3-al_jazeera_english

And a RealPlayer live stream, which (as much as RealPlayer sucks) may be a better choice than Flash. But it's pretty low-def: http://europe.real.com/smil/aljazeera_us_lo.ram

[w1ntermute → ComputerGuru]

> as much as RealPlayer sucks

No need for RealPlayer. Just get Media Player Classic Home Cinema (http://mpc-hc.sourceforge.net/) and Real Alternative (http://www.filehippo.com/download_real_alternative/). With that combination, RealMedia streams have become one of my favorites. You can do the same with QuickTime, by getting QuickTime Lite (http://www.filehippo.com/download_quicktime_alternative/).

[ComputerGuru → w1ntermute]

I don't think they do live streams. I'm on Mac, and usually use VLC to watch RealPlayer files, but I couldn't get to the RealPlay live media (.ram files).

[w1ntermute → ComputerGuru]

MPC-HC + RealAlternative can play RealMedia files that VLC (and MPlayer) can't. But this is the best option (IMHO): http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2156494

[spooneybarger → ComputerGuru]

When I went to that earlier today, they had up the 'site overloaded' message.

Now I get 10-15 seconds of video followed by a couple minutes of what I assume is buffering and repeat.

[BigZaphod → spooneybarger]

Works great for me in the US. I've been watching it off and on the last couple days from different locations and different ISPs.

[Luc → spooneybarger]

They use Brightcove. It's rock solid for me (in Belgium), and better video quality than the BBC feed.

[knowledgesale → Luc]

are you saying you can watch bbc online?

[JonnieCache → knowledgesale]

only if you're in the uk :(

get yourself a UK hosted vps an set up a tunnel.

[jdp23 → spooneybarger]

I was really surprised to see the parent downvoted. There's useful personal experience here, as well as a valid observation about an advantage broadcast and cable have only internet-only access.