youtube-dl: C-SPAN videos not working

Make sure you are using the latest version: run youtube-dl --version and ensure your version is 2019.01.10. If it’s not, read this FAQ entry and update. Issues with outdated version will be rejected.

• I’ve verified and I assure that I’m running youtube-dl 2019.01.10

Before submitting an issue make sure you have:

• At least skimmed through the README, most notably the FAQ and BUGS sections
• Searched the bugtracker for similar issues including closed ones
• Checked that provided video/audio/playlist URLs (if any) are alive and playable in a browser

What is the purpose of your issue?

• Bug report (encountered problems with youtube-dl)
• Site support request (request for adding support for a new site)
• Feature request (request for a new functionality)
• Question
• Other

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If the purpose of this issue is a bug report, site support request or you are not completely sure provide the full verbose output as follows:

$ youtube-dl https://www.c-span.org/video/?456714-1/morning-hour -v
[debug] System config: []
[debug] User config: []
[debug] Custom config: []
[debug] Command-line args: [u'https://www.c-span.org/video/?456714-1/morning-hour', u'-v']
[debug] Encodings: locale UTF-8, fs UTF-8, out UTF-8, pref UTF-8
[debug] youtube-dl version 2019.01.10
[debug] Git HEAD: 9115778
[debug] Python version 2.7.9 (CPython) - Linux-3.13.0-43-generic-x86_64-with-debian-jessie-sid
[debug] exe versions: ffmpeg 2.7.1, ffprobe 2.7.1
[debug] Proxy map: {}
[CSpan] 456714: Downloading webpage
[CSpan] 519407: Downloading JSON metadata
ERROR: CSpan said: Video not available at this time
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/home/sam/cspan/env/lib/python2.7/site-packages/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py", line 793, in extract_info
    ie_result = ie.extract(url)
  File "/home/sam/cspan/env/lib/python2.7/site-packages/youtube_dl/extractor/common.py", line 508, in extract
    ie_result = self._real_extract(url)
  File "/home/sam/cspan/env/lib/python2.7/site-packages/youtube_dl/extractor/cspan.py", line 137, in _real_extract
    raise ExtractorError('%s said: %s' % (self.IE_NAME, get_text_attr(data, 'error')), expected=True)
ExtractorError: CSpan said: Video not available at this time

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Description of your issue, suggested solution and other information

Youtube-dl can no longer download some C-SPAN videos. I’m not sure if this is an issue with youtube-dl, or with C-SPAN itself, but videos do continue to work in the browser. I’ve also noticed that this seems to only be effecting newer videos (posted within the last few weeks). I almost wonder if it’s related to the government shutdown? In any case, thanks for taking a look!

Some videos that work:

• https://www.c-span.org/video/?456045-1/federal-school-safety-commission-report-briefing
• https://www.c-span.org/video/?456149-1/national-debt-economy

Some that don’t work:

• https://www.c-span.org/video/?456308-107/jennifer-shutt-government-shutdown-part-2
• https://www.c-span.org/video/?456714-1/morning-hour