Buzzr for a buck - you too can watch Buzzr live

[snowpeck]

As of now, it looks like Buzzr's stream will only be on their website, but depending on certain factors, there may be hacks to get it on a Roku or Fire stick or whatever.

[clemon79]

As of now, it looks like Buzzr's stream will only be on their website, but depending on certain factors, there may be hacks to get it on a Roku or Fire stick or whatever.

Fires and tablets have browsers, so I'm not overly worried about them. The concern is Roku, I think, and I'm a pretty Roku-enabled household, so that's of interest to me. (That said, I have workarounds for both TVs if needed, but Roku is WAY easier.) And yeah, the ability to make even an unofficial app is going to depend on how exposed they make the stream (and whether the stream is Roku-friendly).

[parliboy]

As of now, it looks like Buzzr's stream will only be on their website, but depending on certain factors, there may be hacks to get it on a Roku or Fire stick or whatever.

The first thing I’ll be doing is seeing if I can stream it from the tv cast app on my iPad.

[snowpeck]

A little clever deduction allowed me to figure out that the stream is already up, just not linked on their homepage yet: http://buzzrplay.com/watch

[WhammyPower]

A little clever deduction allowed me to figure out that the stream is already up, just not linked on their homepage yet: http://buzzrplay.com/watch

And looking at the source code, it looks like it may be damn easy to put onto a Roku.

[Kniwt]

A little clever deduction allowed me to figure out that the stream is already up, just not linked on their homepage yet: http://buzzrplay.com/watch

Can anyone outside the U.S. report whether it's geoblocked?
 

[Sodboy13]

For a channel based entirely on old programming that traditionally skews toward an older audience, Buzzr has been rather impressive in making their product accessible on non-traditional platforms.

[aaron sica]

Can anyone outside the U.S. report whether it's geoblocked?

I'm not outside the US, but I connected with my VPN and a Toronto IP address and it played fine.

[clemon79]

Their player stretches the image (on a PC with web browser) at full-screen. That's gonna be an issue. Hopefully apps show up soon.

(It's better on an iPad (and will run the stream in Mini-mode or whatever they call it), but still skewed. For now, for me, it's worth the $1 a month for the uniform experience. Hopefully apps show up soon.)

(Usefully, though, that direct stream URL will play back just fine in VLC Media Player, which opens a LOT of windows. Good job, WP!)

EDIT: Turns out there are LOTS of ways to skin this particular cat: ChannelPear will set you up to get it into a Roku or Plex (though installing the ChannelPear plug-in might be a little techy), but the VLC route a) seems to be the most global (there's a VLC for Xbox One, didja know that?), b) doesn't require making any new accounts anyplace, and c) allows the most control over aspect ratio for us nitpicky folk who care about that. I am betting there is a simpler Roku method since all you are doing is playing what seems to be a very Roku-friendly stream.)

[clemon79]

And looking at the source code, it looks like it may be damn easy to put onto a Roku.

Soooooo...do we know how we might make this happen? I was looking up packaging up Roku apps and was just running into a billion fly-by-night operations who are hawking their app-making abilities.

EDIT: Figured it out. It involves this thing: https://channelpear.com/help/how-to-watch-channel-pear-on-your-roku-device/

[Casey]

Streaming it right now on my iPad and AirPlaying it to the Apple TV in my living room.  *Finally* I get to watch it!

[Setsunael]

A little clever deduction allowed me to figure out that the stream is already up, just not linked on their homepage yet: http://buzzrplay.com/watch

Can anyone outside the U.S. report whether it's geoblocked?

Can confirm it's not geoblocked in France, so likely not geoblocked at all likely

[vtown7]

Yep good to go north of Toronto!

[chargeradiocom]

The simplest fix I've found, if you're using iOS devices and a non-Apple TV streamer, is 2kit's Video & TV Cast app. I've tried it today with both Roku and Chromecast. Other than the Chromecast stream dropping a couple times when I first launched it, the casts to both devices have been rock solid.

They have Android apps as well, though I can't speak on their performance.

The basic versions of the app are free. There is a paid version, but if all you're looking for is an easy, reliable way to cast the streams to your TV, I don't see any real reason to buy it.

(Full disclosure... There is a bit of stretching--sorry clemon79--though not to the full edges of the screen.)

[cyclone45]

We don't even know if it will continue beyond 2am today. Not getting my hopes up. Already shut the stream down cause I don't wanna feel like I'm watching it illegally. Buzzr was very vague about the birthday stream, whether it was supposed to be 24 hours or permanent, so I just shut it to avoid "bending" the rules.