Listening to the broadcasts:
OS X comes equipped with iTunes and Quicktime which can open up broadcasts using the .mp3 broadcasting format (Shoutcast, Icecast, etc). Real Audio and Windows Media will require a free download. In addition, you will want to download Flash, as many broadcast videos are sent as .FLV files. (YouTube, Google Video).

To manually open a broadcast in Quicktime or iTunes:
- You will need the broadcast’s URL.
- In Quicktime, go to File on the Menu Bar and choose “Open URL”
- In iTunes go to Advanced on the Menu Bar and choose “Open Stream”
- Type in the URL and it will connect.
- Depending on the broadcast speed, It may take a minute for the stream to buffer.
- If the stream is ok, it will begin playing.

Real Player:
RealPlayer has always been a difficult player to download. Its like they’ve taken a page out of the AOL handbook on making things weird, misleading and difficult to do. If you go to their main page, its a gigantic advertisement for the SuperPass. You don’t need that. If you scroll to the middle of the page in the tiniest of print, there is a link for “Previous Mac Versions”. That’s the link to take you to the download area. Here’s the direct link for RealPlayer 10.

Once installing, remember you don’t need to sign up for anything or register. On its first run, it will play a welcome movie and you will be ready to go. The installer will drop in a browser plugin as well – web pages will now pop open a window to stream real media format broadcasts. If you need to manually open a broadcast, go to the File menu bar option, choose “Open Location” and enter in the broadcast’s URL.

Note: I should point out that I have had some difficulty playing certain video streams on sites with the OS X Real Player. Perhaps the Windows Version handles things a little differently. In all honesty, due to the Flash (FLV) video format’s popularity and cross-platform compatibility, the Real Player format is becoming a thing of the past for video.

Windows Media:
Windows Media Player for the Mac has gone the way of Internet Explorer for the Mac – They are both obsolete and haven’t been worked on in years. What Microsoft does recommend is a codec pack for Quicktime called “Flip4Mac”. You can download it here from Microsoft’s website.

Once installed, it enables Quicktime to understand various WMA and WMV formats. You play them just like you would play any other sort of movie. If the stream is embedded in a web page, Quicktime will be able to handle it.

Note: While Flip4Mac is very useful, it will not play DRM protected Windows Media Files.

Next Page: Recording the Broadcasts.

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