Fox Sports, FS1, FS2, etc.

[doctorm]

I just learned today that Fox Sports will be carrying IndyCar racing this year. I thought not having Peacock involved would be good, but testing a replay rip is proving difficult.
I get 403: Forbidden when using the index.m3u8 link, I see no evidence of widevine involved and WideVineProxy2 doesn't seem to produce anything.

Any suggestions on how to get a usable link, key if needed, and blocking commercials if it's not automatic?

[ehurdler]

I just learned today that Fox Sports will be carrying IndyCar racing this year. I thought not having Peacock involved would be good, but testing a replay rip is proving difficult.
I get 403: Forbidden when using the index.m3u8 link, I see no evidence of widevine involved and WideVineProxy2 doesn't seem to produce anything.

Any suggestions on how to get a usable link, key if needed, and blocking commercials if it's not automatic?

Since these will be live streams, this is already what I do with football games on FS1:

Once broadcast starts, find the m3u8/index.m3u8 use the following:

N_m3u8DL-RE --live-real-time-merge "***url of index.m3u8****" --save-name "Name of file"

Since this is a live stream, when done, hit "CTRL+C" to end. You will get an .ts file. From here yes, it will have ad segments, but you can edit those out however you'd want.

[doctorm]

I live rips better than replays? Honestly, ripping real-time streams frequently goes wrong for me (stupidity like starting too late, internet hiccups, etc.).
It also looks like they limit to 720p. :-\

[ehurdler]

I live rips better than replays? Honestly, ripping real-time streams frequently goes wrong for me (stupidity like starting too late, internet hiccups, etc.).
It also looks like they limit to 720p. :-\

At least I haven't tried, but Foxsports doesnt have replays that I am aware of.

If you send a link I can look. But give what I gave you a try. I have had no issues with games. 720p yes, but 60fps/59.9fps is pretty good rather than 720p 29fps.

[doctorm]

At least I haven't tried, but Foxsports doesnt have replays that I am aware of.

If you send a link I can look. But give what I gave you a try. I have had no issues with games. 720p yes, but 60fps/59.9fps is pretty good rather than 720p 29fps.

They live stream in 720p60? Okay, that makes sense. You got me to check my cable broadcast and it's in that format. It makes sense.

You can try to grab what you want.
https://www.foxsports.com/replays

Edit: Still get an issues trying to rip. If I go for 7.m3u8 I get only the ads. If I use the index.m3u8 I get 403.

[ehurdler]

At least I haven't tried, but Foxsports doesnt have replays that I am aware of.

If you send a link I can look. But give what I gave you a try. I have had no issues with games. 720p yes, but 60fps/59.9fps is pretty good rather than 720p 29fps.

They live stream in 720p60? Okay, that makes sense. You got me to check my cable broadcast and it's in that format. It makes sense.

You can try to grab what you want.
https://www.foxsports.com/replays

Edit: Still get an issues trying to rip. If I go for 7.m3u8 I get only the ads. If I use the index.m3u8 I get 403.

I got it working with streamlink and N_m3u8DL-RE

I chose replay https://www.foxsports.com/replay/fmc-059608rrac9jgvu4

For either option make sure to use the long weird url - proxy.1,proxy.2,proxy.3,proxy.4,proxy.5,proxy.6,pr oxy.7,proxy.8,proxy.9,proxy.10,proxy.11,proxy.12,p roxy.13.m3u8

streamlink

streamlink "hlsvariant://https://foxvideo-sports.akamaized.net/exp=1736907103~acl=%2f*~hmac=***************************************/vod//csm/builder/proxy.1,proxy.2,proxy.3,proxy.4,proxy.5,proxy.6,proxy.7,proxy.8,proxy.9,proxy.10,proxy.11,proxy.12,proxy.13.m3u8*******long****url********" --hls-segment-threads 5 -o PSU-USCWCBB2.ts
[warnings][streamlinkdeprecation] `hls-segment-threads` has been deprecated in favor of the `stream-segment-threads` option
[cli][info] Found matching plugin hls for URL hlsvariant://hlsvariant://https://foxvideo-sports.akamaized.net/exp=1736907103~acl=%2f*~hmac=***************************************/vod//csm/builder/proxy.1,proxy.2,proxy.3,proxy.4,proxy.5,proxy.6,proxy.7,proxy.8,proxy.9,proxy.10,proxy.11,proxy.12,proxy.13.m3u8*******long****url********
Available streams: 270p (worst), 360p, 480p, 540p, 720p_alt2, 720p_alt, 720p (best)

You can choose what option you want here, best gives you 720p 59.9 fps

N_m3u8DL-RE

N_m3u8DL-RE "https://foxvideo-sports.akamaized.net/exp=1736907103~acl=%2f*~hmac=***************************************/vod//csm/builder/proxy.1,proxy.2,proxy.3,proxy.4,proxy.5,proxy.6,proxy.7,proxy.8,proxy.9,proxy.10,proxy.11,proxy.12,proxy.13.m3u8*******long****url********" --save-name "PSUuscWCBB"
21:14:13.677 INFO : N_m3u8DL-RE (Beta version) 20230628
21:14:13.698 INFO : Loading URL:https://foxvideo-sports.akamaized.net/exp=1736907103~acl=%2f*~hmac=***************************************/vod//csm/builder/proxy.1,proxy.2,proxy.3,proxy.4,proxy.5,proxy.6,proxy.7,proxy.8,proxy.9,proxy.10,proxy.11,proxy.12,proxy.13.m3u8*******long****url********
21:14:13.800 INFO : New version detected! v0.3.0-beta
21:14:13.846 INFO : Content Matched: HTTP Live Streaming
21:14:13.847 INFO : Parsing streams...
21:14:13.847 WARN : Master List detected, try parse all streams
21:14:13.854 WARN : Writing meta json
21:14:13.855 INFO : Extracted, there are 7 streams, with 7 basic streams, 0 audio streams, 0 subtitle streams
21:14:13.855 INFO : Vid 1280x720 | 6705 Kbps | 59.94 | avc1.640020,mp4a.40.2
21:14:13.856 INFO : Vid 1280x720 | 5385 Kbps | 59.94 | avc1.640020,mp4a.40.2
21:14:13.856 INFO : Vid 1280x720 | 4065 Kbps | 59.94 | avc1.640020,mp4a.40.2
21:14:13.857 INFO : Vid 960x540 | 2745 Kbps | 59.94 | avc1.4D4020,mp4a.40.2
21:14:13.857 INFO : Vid 852x480 | 1689 Kbps | 29.97 | avc1.4D401F,mp4a.40.2
21:14:13.857 INFO : Vid 640x360 | 897 Kbps | 29.97 | avc1.4D401E,mp4a.40.2
21:14:13.858 INFO : Vid 480x270 | 310 Kbps | 14.985 | avc1.4D4015,mp4a.40.5
21:14:16.181 INFO : Parsing streams...
21:14:16.692 INFO : Selected streams:
21:14:16.693 INFO : Vid *AES_128 1280x720 | 6705 Kbps | 59.94 | avc1.640020,mp4a.40.2 | 1494 Segments | ~01h38m56s
21:14:16.693 WARN : Writing meta json
21:14:16.698 INFO : Save Name: PSUuscWCBB
21:14:16.698 WARN : MuxAfterDone is detected, binary merging is automatically enabled
21:14:16.699 INFO : Start downloading...Vid 1280x720 | 6705 Kbps | 59.94 | avc1.640020,mp4a.40.2
21:14:17.039 WARN : Reading media info...
21:14:17.103 INFO : [0x1e1]: Video, h264 (High) ([27][0][0][0]), 1280x720, 59.94 fps
21:14:17.104 INFO : [0x1e2]: Audio, aac (LC) ([15][0][0][0]), 96 kb/s
21:14:17.105 INFO : [0x1e3]: Data, scte_35
21:14:17.106 INFO : [0x1e4]: Data, timed_id3 (ID3 )
21:15:40.868 INFO : Binary merging...
21:16:29.480 WARN : PSUuscWCBB.ts

Depending on option here, also get 720p 59.9 fps.

In both cases it does give you a .ts file. I just use ffmpeg to convert to mkv and all is working, in my example I get a full replay, no ads. Well there were no ads to start with on replay. But never tried before tonight, but works 100% both ways.

[doctorm]

I think the issue I'm running into is that the .m3u8 files links I get aren't similar. There's nothing with the proxy.1,proxy.2,...
Maybe you are ad blocking something I'm not or your cable provider gives you replays commercial free. I dunno. Also, when I click the replay you posted it says it isn't available from my cable provider.

I think I found something that I'm testing, but streamlink doesn't work with it and the download is slow.

[ehurdler]

I think the issue I'm running into is that the .m3u8 files links I get aren't similar. There's nothing with the proxy.1,proxy.2,...
Maybe you are ad blocking something I'm not or your cable provider gives you replays commercial free. I dunno. Also, when I click the replay you posted it says it isn't available from my cable provider.

I think I found something that I'm testing, but streamlink doesn't work with it and the download is slow.

Yeah, you're right. I do have uBlock Origin running in Chrome still. That is the difference. If you install that, use it, I would assume you would get the same results with both streamlink and N_m3u8DL-RE as I do. Worth a shot if you can.

[doctorm]

Yup. That was it. I had uBlock Origin disabled to avoid issues with stream ripping when ads are present. Enabling it changes the m3u8 to a downloadable stream.
n_m3u8dl-re makes for a fast and good process.
Thank you. That's going to be useful this year.

[doctorm]

A follow up question on this. While ripping these are pretty simple and there is no WideVine encryption, does Fox Sports have a DD5.1 audio track hidden somewhere (like for other devices) or is everything AAC 2.0?

Edit: What's weird is when I put the .m3u8 link into n_m3u8dl-re I'm given the option of the video resolution, but it says there is no audio track. Once it starts downloading, it gets the audio track as well... where is it finding the audio track if it's not in the playlist?

[2nHxWW6GkN1l916N3ayz8HQoi]

it says there is no audio track. Once it starts downloading, it gets the audio track as well... where is it finding the audio track if it's not in the playlist?

The audio track is in the playlist, just not in a separate track. Here's an example

#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:BANDWIDTH=6090006,AVERAGE-BANDWIDTH=5358155,CODECS="avc1.64002a,mp4a.40.2",R ESOLUTION=1920x1080,FRAME-RATE=59.940

As you can see it has 2 codecs, for video and audio. They both come at once in the same track/file

[doctorm]

Okay, I wouldn't have guessed mp4a was an audio codec, but I guess that makes sense. I checked a playlist and noticed that every stream version has 'mp4a.40.2', but the lowest resolution has

#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:BANDWIDTH=399169,AVERAGE-BANDWIDTH=310180,CODECS="avc1.4D4015,mp4a.40.5",RESOLUTION=480x270,FRAME-RATE=14.985

Does that make the 40.5 a different audio track (Edit: Tested and it seems to oddly be identical)? Still desperate to find a DD5.1. I've seen that the UK Fox Sports site seems to have it, I would expect us to somewhere as well.

[2nHxWW6GkN1l916N3ayz8HQoi]

Out of curiosity, can you give a uk fox sports video URL example that has dd5 ?

[doctorm]

I don't have that. I've just seen videos from it posted on Reddit. I assumed it was Sky1, but the poster said Fox Sports.