[kwlug-disc] Streaming Media Player for Web TV

[Colin Mackay]

I do this on a daily basis with XMBC, librtmp and the XBMC plugin: Canada
on Demand.  This is how I 'cut the cord'...

Currently I have two Ubuntu boxes running on Zotac hardware (nVidia ION
graphics) with XBMC 11 (Eden).

Installing XBMC on Ubuntu is pretty simple.  Install their PPA and do a
simple 'sudo apt-get install xbmc'.  Check out http://xbmc.org for more
info.

I installed the Canada on Demand plugin from github here:
https://github.com/howlett/plugin.video.canada.on.demand
This plugin pulls all the available streaming from about 30 Canadian sites
and allows you to easily navigate through their offerings.

librtmp is required for Canada on Demand to work properly.  You can find
RTMP here: http://rtmpdump.mplayerhq.hu/
Some distros have RTMP as a package you can install, but I've always used
git. :)

There is an option inside the Canada on Demand plugin called 'librtmp is
Awesome'.  You need to check this for the plugin to use librtmp.


Now, not all the channels work.  I routinely watch the following without
issue:
Discovery Canada
HGTV
Food Network
CTV
Global
Space
Slice

There are others that do work, but I just don't watch them.

You mentioned Netflix.  Netflix will NOT work on XBMC under Linux due to
their Silverlight requirement, but XBMC, rtmp and Canada on Demand will run
on a Microsoft platform.  Netflix works there.


One other thing to consider, is to toss up an antenna and see what you can
pull in.  From K/W, you should be able to get Global (HD), CTV (HD) and
CityTV (HD) with an indoor antenna.  If you go bigger, with a nice outdoor
antenna there's a chance you'll pick up stations from the CN Tower and if
you really go nuts with a Channel Master 6' Yagi, you might even get the US
networks, but do some research before you shoot for that!

Check out tvfool.com (
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=90), put in your
address and it'll show you stations on a Google map.  Please
note that their DB is a little older and there are no more Analog stations,
they're all digital now.


Have fun!


On Thu, May 3, 2012 at 12:19 AM, Tudor Holton <tudor at tudorholton.com> wrote:
> Hello ppl!
>
> I have a special client (my partner's parents) who want a device that will
> play streaming content from their favourite TV networks websites (CTV,
> Global, City, etc.) directly to their HDMI TV via a 10-foot interface.
>
> There seem to be a few media players that will play netflix and such and,
at
> the moment, we play all their content for them via an Android tablet, so
we
> know it can be done using Linux.  But, to be honest, it's a bit fiddly for
> them. (Not to mention confusing for people over 60.)
>
> I've also looked at the Neuros Link, which is an Ubuntu 10.04 box with
what
> appears to be Boxee installed.  It claims that one can access US TV
network
> sites because of Boxee, but I don't know whether Boxee would let them
watch
> specifically Canadian web tv content.
>
> Does anyone have any recommendations regarding players for Internet TV
> content?  (Preferably that works well on a 10-foot interface.)
>
> Cheers,
> Tudor.
>
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