Comments on: Nine offers free Canal Road downloads

By: benjamin

benjamin — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 23:49:16 +0000

I downloaded the program and watched all series of sea patrol no problem with vista, but i can not find it anywhere so i can downloaad it for my mac……..cn anyone help

By: David Knox

David Knox — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 03:02:48 +0000

Seems odd this is still on offer. I suspect the webmaster hasn’t taken it down.

By: habberdash

habberdash — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 02:59:53 +0000

Well bugger me.. I got a nice banner saying to view video download HIRO codec at video.ninemsn/catchuptv …
well I would if and Codec was on that page or any other bleeding page on msn.. tried the HIRO website and all I get is blurb on how wonderful it is
Well guys it might be wonderful…
but I will never know will I unless some clear and simple directions to a download site for this codec
But then again after wasting an hour and half downloading what is essentially just an audio file, maybe I should just give up on Nine and go look on other sites and actually get what I ask for

By: c0r3

c0r3 — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 17:00:47 +0000

dont worry about hiro codecs or nine’s inability to offer free media.. i already have the episode on dvd .. no need to rely on these big time money hungry people from nine i know nothing can be free but hell give us a break… im sick of them trying to shove ads up my brain all the time.. brainwashing at its best.. hey i pay for foxtel and i get as much ads as i do for normal tv wth is going on? what else do they want?

By: eqvdjwcn tkspfbj

eqvdjwcn tkspfbj — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 00:02:43 +0000

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By: Ann

Ann — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 08:25:00 +0000

Can't get Hiro to work.
It doesn't come up as a recognisable file on my system for some reason.
Absolutely no help about this in the Hiro FAQ....so it's a mystery to me.
I'm running Windows XP and Media Player 10.
When I tried to find compatible software I got links on IE and MIME issues but it was all too much to comprehend.
Had this problem today trying to download Sea Patrol and would love to download Canal Road.
Any clues?

By: RichoTB

RichoTB — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 14:22:00 +0000

I’m actually interested in watching this show. It actually has a different plot to all the other mundane Aussie drama series out there. Cop shows = Rush, City Homicide, Blue Heelers. Hospital shows = All Saints. Soap operas = Home and Away, Neighbours, Tripping Over. This might just be a breath of fresh air.

By: Thomas

Thomas — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 14:10:00 +0000

I don’t know where the FAQ is, but it says on a page like this:

http://video.ninemsn.com.au/catchuptv/seapatrol

that the Mac version is coming “soon” (yes it is ridiculous).

Also, I don’t know if anyone is reading this anymore (now that it’s off the first page), but I downloaded Canal Road Ep 1 out of curiousity, and unless I’ve done something very wrong, they have gone and taken the 16:9 ratio source and squeezed it into what looks like a 4:3 picture. The screen is so absurdly out of ratio that I couldn’t even make it through the opening credits without wanting to throw something at the screen.

Channel Nine seem to be trying very hard to punish us for taking an interest in their local content.

By: A.A.

A.A. — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 17:50:00 +0000

No Mac download of the Hiro player is offered on 9’s site despite Hiro’s FAQ saying there’s a Mac version

By: itsross

itsross — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 10:46:00 +0000

“You didn’t seriously expect a company like Nine to let their episodes out without being locked down by DRM, now did you?”

No honestly I didn’t, that’s why I wasn’t willing to waste my bandwidth trying find out

By: Abstract Adam - Adam Oriti

Abstract Adam - Adam Oriti — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 09:48:00 +0000

Well this has placed a sour note in my interest in this show. I was really looking forward to it. Downloaded it burnt it, now I ahve to download some codec and watch in sitting at my computer…I even poured a wine to relax and watch a new drama…I am not even gonna bother.

By: neonkitten

neonkitten — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 07:43:00 +0000

No, Nine's not had their execs smoking the crack pipe over the weekend. Read the fine print:

"Access to free episode download has never been simpler. All you need to do is download the free Hiro video player."

And what is this "Hiro Video Player"? This is from the player's FAQ:

"The HIRO video software is a plug-in to the Windows Media Player and Quicktime, that dynamically adds advertisements to videos, in real-time as they are being watched – just like in commercial TV."

And then:

"In addition, ads are personalized for each user according to the data he or she supplied during registration."

I downloaded episode 1 to have a look. It's an AVI file, and MediaInfo reports it as being Xvid with an AC3 soundtrack. But attempting to play it back on any standard Windows Xvid player results in a great big banner across the screen advertising the Hiro Video Player, and a NineMSN logo. There is no viewable video in the file at all after the opening credits. Clever little Hiro people.

In short, if you were thinking of watching this on any normal viewing device like, oh, a TV via your networked media player, forget it.

So don't go sharing this one via BitTorrent sites, unless you want to get your arse flamed to the ends of the earth for being a complete idiot.

You didn't seriously expect a company like Nine to let their episodes out without being locked down by DRM, now did you?

By: itsross

itsross — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 00:03:00 +0000

From the Nine website:
“You can also copy, share and burn each episode to DVD or even distribute the files via file-sharing applications, such as Bit Torrent.”

What?? I know its Monday morning and I’m daft, but is channel Nine actually telling me to wack this up on the pirate bay??