frustration playing CNN videos

Running 64 bit Win7 with Adobe Flash Player. All browser extensions disabled, hardware acceleration unchecked. Baud rate > 20 Mbps. Cannot play CNN videos. Can play ABC, CBS & FOX videos.

Which browser? IE11? Firefox? Chrome? ......?

Watch the Windows Resource Monitor (Network tab) when you request a CNN video.

Do you see connections to servers like these:

UsernameIssues said:

Which browser? IE11? Firefox? Chrome? ......?

Watch the Windows Resource Monitor (Network tab) when you request a CNN video.

Do you see connections to servers like these:

I've tried Firefox and Chrome; currently on Chrome. The Windows Resource Monitor is open and I don't see how to use it.

If this is yor first time to use the Windows Resource Monitor, then you might need to open the various panels.

Once the tab named Network is selected, find the bar labeled Network Activity. On the far right side of that bar, you should see a circle (button?) with a single chevron. Click on that control to open the Network Activity panel. That is where you should see connection to akamai servers when requesting Videos from CNN. If you don't see that, then something is blocking the connection.

Do you have another device (another computer, smart cell phone, tablet...) that you can check cnn videos on while using that same ISP?

UsernameIssues said:

If this is yor first time to use the Windows Resource Monitor, then you might need to open the various panels.

Once the tab named Network is selected, find the bar labeled Network Activity. On the far right side of that bar, you should see a circle (button?) with a single chevron. Click on that control to open the Network Activity panel. That is where you should see connection to akamai servers when requesting Videos from CNN. If you don't see that, then something is blocking the connection.

Do you have another device (another computer, smart cell phone, tablet...) that you can check cnn videos on while using that same ISP?

There are no akamai servers. The win7 firewall is turned off.

Do you have another device (another computer, smart cell phone, tablet...) that you can check cnn videos on while using that same ISP?

You might want to check with Baidu to see if they block that content.

UsernameIssues said:

Do you have another device (another computer, smart cell phone, tablet...) that you can check cnn videos on while using that same ISP?

You might want to check with Baidu to see if they block that content.

Baidu firewall is turned off along with Win7's. Still confused about CNN. I must have a Wolfe Blitzer virus [sic]. Videos from ABC, CBS, NBC & FOX all play. CNN plays next door using same ISP running a more restrictive Win7; we're both in a nursing home with the same Wi-Fi. Both PC's were tested with Chrome.

Thanks for checking next door. Wolfe Blitzer virus


Maybe akamai is not the content delivery service that CNN uses in your area. See what shows in the Windows Resource Monitor when you play a Foxnews video. There is no guarantee that Foxnews and CNN use the same CDN, but it should at least show you what video traffic looks like within the Windows Resource Monitor. [In the top pane, you can put a check by Chrome to filter the info in the other panes.]


Have you tested playing CNN videos while in the safe mode with networking?

Have you looked to see if your HOSTS file is blocking anything?

Let us know if you need help getting into the safe mode or checking the HOSTS file.


What do you see when you try to play a CNN video?

I don't have the Flash add-on for IE11. I don't have the Flash plug-in for Pale Moon Firefox variant). CNN videos play in those browsers via HTML5. However, the rotating red square in the middle of the video in IE11 never goes away - even while the video plays/ends.

Some news:
Google news has a CNN video that plays.
Conjecture ; problem caused by Adobe Flash; in CNN it enables hardware acceleration [right click spinning square > inspect > settings shows it's enabled and cannot change]. Previously, I had disabled hardware acceleration both in the browsers and in Adobe Flash.

jalea148 said:

Running 64 bit Win7 with Adobe Flash Player. All browser extensions disabled, hardware acceleration unchecked. Baud rate > 20 Mbps. Cannot play CNN videos. Can play ABC, CBS & FOX videos.

Originally tried Chrome, Firefox and IE.
Just tried Safari - same problem. However, with the Tor browser the CNN videos play! Does this mean there is a fix for Chrome or Firefox?