Use mlbplay.py as an example implementation of mlbviewer API. Basic flow is authenticate (part of authentication is collecting the required cookies), make a media request, then play the media. Part of the media request library parses the XML to look for authentication errors and blackout restrictions.

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I was able to get a lot further. I can now log in and construct the url correctly to get the base64 encoded HLS info. When I decode it I get a pipe separated list of a url, something I can't identify, and a bunch of other url parameters

http://mlbvod-akc.mlb.com/as01/mlbam...xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I'm not sure how to construct this to play. I've tried in the windows 8 3ivs HLS player and more importantly using the Windows Phone Streaming Media SDK.
http://phonesm.codeplex.com/

Am I on the right path? Any idea what the components are or how I should be constructing my request?

Ok, reverse engineering some more code :-)
https://code.google.com/p/mlbtv-hls-nexdef/

It looks like this is the AES decryption key maybe...

That portion of the code is a mystery to me. You should contact the mlbhls developer at the link above. Also, make sure you base your code off his experimental branch.

If anyone is subscribed to my SVN updates (which is something you can do now with the new sourceforge system...I think...maybe it's just me), ignore my latest check-in.

So, I don't own a TV but I watch internet TV or mlb off a (closed lid) laptop connected to a monitor. I usually use VNC to select whatever media to watch but if it's a mouse-able interface, I can use the connected USB mouse directly. Anyway, I thought to myself tonight, I saw mouse bindings for python and curses. It would be cool if I could come home, turn on the monitor, and click the game I want to watch without pulling out another laptop and VNC session my way in. So, this latest check-in adds very rudimentary mouse support. Basically, in main listings window, you can now click on the listing to open the video. That's it so far. I realize I will need at least a way to change days and I haven't decided how to do that yet. Maybe I'll just create a gnome menu item for mlbviewer for now and close/restart the program to get to the current day.

Anyway, I have finally moved into the new apartment, and my team is in the wildcard hunt. Expect an update to the standings soon (hopefully before KC implodes) to include wildcard standings.

Congratulations on your new apartment .

When trying to play archived games from August 13 I only get:
I'm not using mlbhls or NexDef.

Older games seem to work. Live games right now seem to work as well. I hope it is a "one-day-problem" only . I'll report back as soon as I can check out if today's archives work.

You don't need to be a premium subscriber to use the NexDef streams. You just won't be authorized for the higher bitrates (presumably though I cannot test that much as I am a premium subscriber.) Anyway, I can't test the rtmp streams until tonight as work doesn't allow rtmp through the firewall and I don't have the ssh pinhole punched through my new home gateway yet.

Maybe at the end of the season, when the price drops down to like $30, I'll pick up a second subscription just to work out what does and doesn't work between premium and basic subscriptions.

Update: Archived August 14 streams don't work either . I would be grateful if you could take a look at the rtmp streams. Thanks in advance!

Just for info: I am a premium subscriber as well, I just like to keep it simple .

Took me way too much time to get home tonight. I have been taking the light rail from new place and it just wasn't my night making connections. I don't immediately see what's different between two days ago and today.

I don't believe mlbhls is any more difficult than rtmpdump to install and it seems to be a lot more reliable.

For mlbhls, the svn url is in the README. You'll need libcurl4-openssl-dev, libconfig-dev or libconfig8-dev, and libssl-dev to compile it. If you want adaptive streaming, choose your min_bps and max_bps and set adaptive_stream to true. If you don't want adaptive streaming, set your max_bps to what you want and adaptive_stream=0. All the stream speeds are in the README and you don't even need to add the extra zeroes anymore.

Also, you'll need mplayer2 for mlbhls streams.

I know this doesn't sounds simple, but really, it is.

It is a lot more simple than me getting dirty with the flash app and wireshark to figure out why rtmp doesn't work right now.

I tried using mlbhls. Seeking is much worse for me though, and that's really important to me.

I would appreciate if you could take a look at the rtmp streams, but please take your time. My team is pretty much out of contention anyway, the condensed games will have to do . Also, maybe it'll start working again soon.

Just to confirm, I'm also getting the same rtmp server errors for all rtmp videos at all speeds on the 13th and 14th. (I use the rtmp streams on my olpc, which can't handle even the smallest mlbhls streams.)

The audio rtmp streams do seem to work, so at least I can listen to Pat and Zonk on the olpc! Not sure what that says about MLBAM's rtmp server though...

I have also been unable to view my games the past 2 days. Horribly dissappointing. I also prefer the seeking I get with the lower 1800 quality, and even on my 9 foot diagonal projection, I can't tell it's not HD.

Watching it through the browser is jerky on my system, so I really prefer yours! Please figure out what they have done to us!

Thanks,
Kermi

You can get up to 2400kb/s with a basic subscription, which is called "HD" by the flash player. I don't know how much higher premium subscription go, as I do not have a premium subscription.

There is definitely something busted with the archived rtmp streams, as others have reported. However, this looks as if it may be a rtmpdump issue rather than a mlbviewer issue, but I haven't investigated.

It does appear to be a rtmp issue, I tried to install mlbhls (I did a MAKE on it, then moved it to /usr/bin/ for total lack of any idea what else to do with it), but now I don't know what I need to change to make it NOT use rtmp. I've tried removing my video_player line, I've tried messing around with other things in my config file. It still crashes saying it's an rtmp problem.


*feeling pathetic*
Kermi

I believe you can switch to the mlbhls/nexdef stream by hitting "n" at the listings screen within mlbviewer, or by setting "use_nexdef=1" in .mlb/config. I'm not sure whether you can cycle through the available mlbhls speeds from within mlbviewer; I believe it sets the speed from the max_bps option in the config file (mine is set to 1200000).

FWIW, Googling around for that rtmpdump error shows a bunch of issues that usually seem to be resolved by changing one of rtmpdump's rather baffling options. So it could be that MLBAM has changed one of these parameters? I have no idea how to figure out the right options to use though (even for easier streams than this)...