Saving Windows Media video stream from ctv.ca to hard disk

Hi everybody, first of all I'd like to thank you for your help.
Now I have this video on the internet that I'd like to rip to my PC.
It's right here (click "eTalk: on the set of studio 60")
It's very important that I have this video as a file on my computer.
And if possible, please try not using complicated language and terms..

What software should I use?
and how to use it?
Thanks again!

Nice stream.

It has the following part in the URL: "mms://"
It means that we have a Windows media stream.

When you try to find a real stream URL with a packet sniffer like Project URL Snooper you get the following list of URLs:

mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/09/18/ctvvideologger1_500kbps_2006_09_18_1158620396.wmv
mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/09/18/ctvvideologger1_218kbps_2006_09_18_1158619251.wmv
mms://a180.v89244.c8924.g.vm.akamaistream.net/7/180/8924/44ce8bb3/fs6.insinc.com/akamai/ctv/promos/ctv/promo_studio60_launch1_startsSept17_30.wmv
/servlet/HTMLTemplate?tf=/ctv/mar/video/new_player.html&cf=ctv/mar/ctv.cfg&hub=Primetime&video_link_high=mms://a180.v89244.c8924.g.vm.akamaistream.net/7/180/8924/44ce8bb3/fs6.insinc.com/akamai/ctv/promos/ctv/promo_studio60_launch1_startsSept17_30.wmv&video_link_low=&clip_start=00:00:00.00&clip_end=00:00:30.03&clip_caption=Watch a preview of
mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/10/14/ctvvideologger3_160833520_1160863286_500kbps.wmv
mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/10/14/ctvvideologger3_160833519_1160862462_218kbps.wmv
/servlet/HTMLTemplate?tf=/ctv/mar/video/new_player.html&cf=ctv/mar/ctv.cfg&hub=VideoGallery&video_link_high=mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/10/14/ctvvideologger3_160833520_1160863286_500kbps.wmv&video_link_low=mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/10/14/ctvvideologger3_160833519_1160862462_218kbps.wmv&clip_start=00:01:21.68&clip_end=00:02:50.17&clip_caption=CTV
mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/10/14/ctvvideologger3_160833508_1160854303_500kbps.wmv
mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/10/14/ctvvideologger3_160833507_1160853480_218kbps.wmv
/servlet/HTMLTemplate?tf=/ctv/mar/video/new_player.html&cf=ctv/mar/ctv.cfg&hub=VideoGallery&video_link_high=mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/10/14/ctvvideologger3_160833508_1160854303_500kbps.wmv&video_link_low=mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/10/14/ctvvideologger3_160833507_1160853480_218kbps.wmv&clip_start=00:00:51.88&clip_end=00:04:54.19&clip_caption=CTV
mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/10/14/ctvvideologger2_500kbps_2006_10_14_1160846720.wmv
mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/10/14/ctvvideologger2_218kbps_2006_10_14_1160845237.wmv
mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/10/14/ctvvideologger3_160833500_1160848200_500kbps.wmv
mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/10/14/ctvvideologger3_160833499_1160847377_218kbps.wmv
mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/10/14/ctvvideologger1_500kbps_2006_10_14_1160838102.wmv
mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/10/14/ctvvideologger1_218kbps_2006_10_14_1160836922.wmv
mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/10/14/ctvvideologger2_500kbps_2006_10_14_1160850447.wmv
mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/10/14/ctvvideologger2_218kbps_2006_10_14_1160848965.wmv
mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/10/14/ctvvideologger3_160833490_1160839615_500kbps.wmv
mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/10/14/ctvvideologger3_160833489_1160838792_218kbps.wmv
/servlet/HTMLTemplate?tf=/ctv/mar/video/new_player.html&cf=ctv/mar/ctv.cfg&hub=VideoGallery&video_link_high=mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/10/14/ctvvideologger3_160833490_1160839615_500kbps.wmv&video_link_low=mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/10/14/ctvvideologger3_160833489_1160838792_218kbps.wmv&clip_start=00:10:38.35&clip_end=00:03:49.24&clip_caption=CTV
mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/10/14/ctvvideologger1_500kbps_2006_10_14_1160863254.wmv
mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/10/14/ctvvideologger1_218kbps_2006_10_14_1160862073.wmv
/servlet/HTMLTemplate?tf=/ctv/mar/video/new_player.html&cf=ctv/mar/ctv.cfg&hub=VideoGallery&video_link_high=mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/10/14/ctvvideologger1_500kbps_2006_10_14_1160863254.wmv&video_link_low=mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/200HTTP/1.1
mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/10/14/ctvvideologger3_160833484_1160833463_500kbps.wmv
mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/10/14/ctvvideologger3_160833483_1160832640_218kbps.wmv
mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/10/14/ctvvideologger2_500kbps_2006_10_14_1160863565.wmv
mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/10/14/ctvvideologger2_218kbps_2006_10_14_1160862083.wmv
/servlet/HTMLTemplate?tf=/ctv/mar/video/new_player.html&cf=ctv/mar/ctv.cfg&hub=VideoGallery&video_link_high=mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/10/14/ctvvideologger2_500kbps_2006_10_14_1160863565.wmv&video_link_low=mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/10/14/ctvvideologger2_218kbps_2006_10_14_1160862083.wmv&clip_start=00:00:57.75&clip_end=00:04:43.28&clip_caption=CTV
mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/10/14/ctvvideologger1_500kbps_2006_10_14_1160862099.wmv
mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/10/14/ctvvideologger1_218kbps_2006_10_14_1160860918.wmv
/servlet/HTMLTemplate?tf=/ctv/mar/video/new_player.html&cf=ctv/mar/ctv.cfg&hub=VideoGallery&video_link_high=mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/10/14/ctvvideologger1_500kbps_2006_10_14_1160862099.wmv&video_link_low=mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/10/14/ctvvideologger1_218kbps_2006_10_14_1160860918.wmv&clip_start=00:00:57.87&clip_end=00:01:19.09&clip_caption=CTV
mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/10/14/ctvvideologger2_500kbps_2006_10_14_1160861969.wmv
mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/10/14/ctvvideologger2_218kbps_2006_10_14_1160860486.wmv
/servlet/HTMLTemplate?tf=/ctv/mar/video/new_player.html&cf=ctv/mar/ctv.cfg&hub=VideoGallery&video_link_high=mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/10/14/ctvvideologger2_500kbps_2006_10_14_1160861969.wmv&video_link_low=mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/10/14/ctvvideologger2_218kbps_2006_10_14_1160860486.wmv&clip_start=00:03:25.13&clip_end=00:03:10.19&clip_caption=CTV
/servlet/HTMLTemplate?tf=/ctv/mar/video/new_player.html&cf=ctv/mar/ctv.cfg&hub=VideoGallery&video_link_high=mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/10/14/ctvvideologger2_500kbps_2006_10_14_1160850447.wmv&video_link_low=mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/10/14/ctvvideologger2_218kbps_2006_10_14_1160848965.wmv&clip_start=00:08:32.71&clip_end=00:01:36.23&clip_caption=CTV
...................................
...many more were here...
...................................
mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/10/09/ctvvideologger2_218kbps_2006_10_09_1160447904.wmv
/servlet/HTMLTemplate?tf=/ctv/mar/video/new_player.html&cf=ctv/mar/ctv.cfg&hub=VideoGallery&video_link_high=mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/10/09/ctvvideologger2_500kbps_2006_10_09_1160449380.wmv&video_link_low=mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/10/09/ctvvideologger2_218kbps_2006_10_09_1160447904.wmv&clip_start=00:03:35.28&clip_end=00:29:26.86&clip_caption=CTV

And that were multimedia URLs only. Oh my gush

We can view the source of the web page with an embedded player to find the following:

<div class="currentVideo" onclick='playCurrentByObject(this); return false;' id="ctvnews.20060918.00162000-00162725-clip3"
start_time="00:07:09.76" end_time="00:02:08.12" video_high="mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/09/18/ctvvideologger1_500kbps_2006_09_18_1158620396.wmv" video_low="mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/09/18/ctvvideologger1_218kbps_2006_09_18_1158619251.wmv" caption="Watch a preview of 'Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip'"
>

We can notice a couple of mms:// URLs above. And if we are attentive we can also notice start and end times of the stream. And we don't really need a full stream, don't we?

We can also right click on the embedded Windows Media player to find the following URL

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/HTMLTemplate/nocompress?content_type=video/x-ms-asf&brand=generic&tf=/ctv/generic/video/videoplayer.asx&cf=/ctv/generic/video/player.cfg&url=mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/09/18/ctvvideologger1_218kbps_2006_09_18_1158619251.wmv&start=00:07:09.76&end=00:02:08.12&spd=lo&hub=related&ads=true

We can download an .ASX metafile from the URL above with any download manager. After downloading, open it with any text editor and you will see the following content

<asx version = "3.0"> 
  <abstract></abstract> 
  <title>CTV.ca Video</title> 
  <author>Bell Globemedia</author> 
<moreinfo href="http://www.ctv.ca/" />
  <copyright>Copyright 2003 Bell Globemedia</copyright><entry> 
    <StartTime value="00:07:09.76" /> 
    <Duration value="00:02:08.12" /> 
    <ref href="mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2006/09/18/ctvvideologger1_218kbps_2006_09_18_1158619251.wmv" /> 
  </entry> 
</asx>

So we have to record a part of Windows Media stream here. The only problem is that some media stream recorders supporting Windows Media streaming video/audio can't posprocess metafiles correctly and use start and end times. And some of them do not even allow you to use start and end times.

How to avoid this total mess with URL finding, analyzing and other balderdashery stuff??? Just use WM Recorder in the ADA or PRO mode with AUTO turned on. In this mode you don't even have to hit the record button. Just open any Windows Media stream in a player or browser and play it. It will be recorded automatically! Really amazing software!

WM Recorder can record Windows Media, Real Audio/Video, QuickTime and Flash video streams. You may read about its Real time recording mode in its User guide. You may also read about it in our FAQ:
Recording/downloading/capturing/saving flash .flv streaming media with WM Recorder

The above mentioned FAQ is about saving flash video stream (like the ones that you may find at YouTube or Google Video) , but the process of recording is absolutely the same here. The only difference is that we play .wmv windows media video stream here instead of .flv flash video stream.