Streaming Video Information

The primary mission of GOV TV is to bring the public meetings of the Albuquerque City Council and the Bernalillo County Commission to the home audience. Our outreach has previously been strictly limited to local cable subscribers of Comcast. We're happy that we can now reach a wider audience via the Internet. We're now offering live webcasting and pre-recorded streaming video of numerous local government meetings and programs on our web site. All of our live and pre-recorded streaming video can be accessed from the GOV TV Home Page.

 

Format and Requirements

GOV TV uses the Windows Media Format to encode and deliver streaming video on the Internet. To view and listen to our programs you must have a sound card, a 28.8 Kbps, 56 Kbps telephone modem, DSL, Cable Modem, T3 or T1 Connection and the Windows Media Player. If you don't have it already, you can download the Windows Media Player free from Microsoft . NOTE: We have reports from several users that the latest version of Windows Media Player (Version 11) will not play our LIVE GOV TV Stream. It appears that version 11 is not backwards compatible with some earlier versions of Windows Media Live Streaming Server. If and when we find a solution to this problem we will post it here. One person reported a solution as follows:

In Internet Explorer>tools>internet options>connections>LAN settings, be sure "Automatically detect settings" is checked.

There are compatible versions available for computers running either Windows or Mac operating systems.

Web Browser Issues

When properly installed as a "plug-in" to your web browser, i.e., "Netscape or Internet Explorer," the stand alone Windows Media Player application will open automatically, locate the video stream on our server, buffer and begin to play the video after you click on the link to either our Live GOV TV Stream or any of our pre-recorded video programs.

If your computer is running a Windows operating system and you are using a recent version of Microsoft Internet Explorer as your web browser you should have all the necessary software pre-installed and configured to view our streaming video without problems.

If clicking the link does NOT launch the stand alone Windows Media Player you may need to reinstall the Player or make adjustments in your browser settings, however, there is an alternative viewing method you can try...

1. Right click on the desired link and select "properties" from the resultant pop-up menu.
2. Highlight and copy the URL listed as the "Address". ( For example, the URL of our Live Stream link is http://www.cabq.gov/govtv/live.wvx )
3. Open the Windows Media Player independently via your programs menu or a shortcut icon you may have for launching it.
4. When your Windows Media Player is opened in "full mode" select the "file" menu in the upper left of the screen, then select "Open URL" -- A box will open.
5. Paste the URL from the link into the box and click OK.

Further instructions for proper configuration of the Windows Media Player with the Netscape web browser can be found at Microsoft Product Support Services .

Broadband vs. Dialup

Broadband versions are for visitors with DSL, Cable Modem, T3 or T1 Connections; Dialup versions are optimized for access via 28.8Kbps and 56Kbps telephone modems.

For a satisfactory viewing experience, a broadband connection is recommended, however, a dialup connection will deliver a good enough picture for you to recognize the speaker during close-up shots and the audio portion will be adequate.

Our Live GOV TV Stream is a "smart" stream delivered from a windows media server. It will automatically detect the available bandwidth of the connection and deliver either a high quality 143 Kbps stream or a lower quality 25 Kbps stream according to the bandwidth detected between your computer and our server.

Our pre-recorded streaming video files of government meetings and other programs are stored on the City of Albuquerque webserver and are streamed via HTTP instead of using the windows media server. Broadband selections are delivered at a constant bitrate stream of 143 Kbps. Dialup selections are delivered at a constant bitrate stream of 24 Kbps. If there is heavy Internet traffic it is possible that there will be interruptions and periods of re-buffering of the video while viewing.

Searching, Downloading, Saving to Hard Drive

Our Live GOV TV Stream is not searchable and cannot be saved to your computer for later viewing.

Our pre-recorded streaming video files of government meetings and other programs are stored on the City of Albuquerque webserver. They can be viewed at anytime and can even be saved to your local hard drive if you choose. We keep the most recent recording of televised government meetings stored on our web site ONLY until the next meeting is televised - at the end of the meeting the old file will be replaced with the new one (usually within 20 minutes of the end of the meeting). Links to these programs can be accessed on the GOV TV Home Page.

When you initiate the streaming video of a recorded program with the Windows Media Player a connection is established and the entire file begins downloading into your temporary Internet files while you are viewing the video. As soon as this downloading is completed you will be able to drag the timeline position indicator to any point along the timeline (located below the video viewing window) with your mouse cursor and visually search the video at will. The download time required to reach this point where the file is searchable is dependent upon the speed of your connection and the length of the video; it could be anywhere between a few seconds and a half hour or more if you have a slow connection.

After the file has downloaded to your temporary Internet files you can save the video to your computer as follows:

1. When your Windows Media Player is opened in "full mode" select the "file" menu in the upper left of the screen, then select "Save Media As".
2. A Box will open allowing you to re-name the file if you wish and select the appropriate folder or location for saving.
3. When you are done with step two, click the "Save" button.

Archives of Older Meetings

Only recordings of the most recently televised meeting of each government body are available on our website. Copies of older meetings are archived in Windows Media Format on CD ROM at the GOV TV offices. If you have a need for access to older meetings contact Dustin Arrington via Email: darrington@cabq.gov  or telephone: (505) 768-3035.

Additional Resources for Troubleshooting

If you need more information or have trouble with downloading, installation or operation of the Windows Media Player there is a troubleshooting guide available at Microsoft Product Support Services .