youtube-dl: CBS: all videos failing

Checklist

I’m reporting a broken site support
I’ve verified that I’m running youtube-dl version 2021.12.17
I’ve checked that all provided URLs are alive and playable in a browser
I’ve checked that all URLs and arguments with special characters are properly quoted or escaped
I’ve searched the bugtracker for similar issues including closed ones

Verbose log

using an assetType of Downloadable (not DRM):

https://www.cbs.com/shows/video/YxlqOUdP1zZaIs7FGXCaS1dJi7gGzxG_/

[debug] Command-line args: ['--verbose', 'cbs:YxlqOUdP1zZaIs7FGXCaS1dJi7gGzxG_']
[debug] Encodings: locale cp1252, fs utf-8, out utf-8, pref cp1252
[debug] youtube-dl version 2021.12.17
[debug] Python version 3.10.4 (CPython) - Windows-10-10.0.18363-SP0
[debug] exe versions: ffmpeg 2022-06-09-git-5d5a014199-essentials_build-www.gyan.dev
[debug] Proxy map: {}
[CBS] YxlqOUdP1zZaIs7FGXCaS1dJi7gGzxG_: Downloading XML
ERROR: YxlqOUdP1zZaIs7FGXCaS1dJi7gGzxG_: Failed to parse XML  (caused by
ParseError('no element found: line 1, column 0'))

same with assetType of StreamPack (not DRM):

https://paramountplus.com/movies/video/wQH9yE_y_Dt4ekDYm3yelhhY2KXvOra_

[debug] Command-line args: ['--verbose', 'cbs:wQH9yE_y_Dt4ekDYm3yelhhY2KXvOra_']
[debug] Encodings: locale cp1252, fs utf-8, out utf-8, pref cp1252
[debug] youtube-dl version 2021.12.17
[debug] Python version 3.10.4 (CPython) - Windows-10-10.0.18363-SP0
[debug] exe versions: ffmpeg 2022-06-09-git-5d5a014199-essentials_build-www.gyan.dev
[debug] Proxy map: {}
[CBS] wQH9yE_y_Dt4ekDYm3yelhhY2KXvOra_: Downloading XML
ERROR: wQH9yE_y_Dt4ekDYm3yelhhY2KXvOra_: Failed to parse XML  (caused by
ParseError('no element found: line 1, column 0'))

Description

looks like the issue is that these type URLs are now returning empty responses:

http://can.cbs.com/thunder/player/videoPlayerService.php?partner=cbs&contentId=wQH9yE_y_Dt4ekDYm3yelhhY2KXvOra_

I believe this started in the last day or two, not sure if temporary or permanent issue.

About this issue

Original URL
State: open
Created a year ago
Comments: 24 (11 by maintainers)

Most upvoted comments

Somewhat surprisingly no yt-dlp user has reported this. Could it be an artefact of the access network, eg if not in region or if using a blocked VPN?

If can.cbs.com means Canada, then it would make sense to try Canada VPN. I retried the PHP URL with United States and Canada, still failing.

and this test link https://www.paramountplus.com/movies/video/wQH9yE_y_Dt4ekDYm3yelhhY2KXvOra_/ says it’s DRM protected.

Several videos offer both DRM and non DRM streams. For example, the one you’ve commented on, both DASH_CENC (DRM) and StreamPack (not DRM) are offered. However in addition to the PHP error already discussed, another one has recently occured. If you make a StreamPack request, such as:

curl -v link.theplatform.com/s/dJ5BDC/media/guid/2198311517/wQH9yE_y_Dt4ekDYm3yelhhY2KXvOra_

You get an HLS URL, as expected:

https://cbsios-vh.akamaihd.net/i/temp_hd_gallery_video/CBS_Production_Outlet_VMS/video_robot/CBS_Production_Entertainment/2020/05/07/1735196227871/0_0_3436402_ful01_2588_503000.mp4.csmil/master.m3u8

but if you actually try to request the HLS, you get:

HTTP/1.0 400 Bad Request

so it appears that all StreamPack options are dead, either temporarily or permanent, with the cause being an accident or a purposeful action by CBS. So until something changes any StreamPack options are essentially DRM.

the same video at paramount + https://www.paramountplus.com/shows/video/YxlqOUdP1zZaIs7FGXCaS1dJi7gGzxG_/ works with yt-dlp & ytdl-patched but does not work with youtube-dl.

this is a Downloadable type, which might be the only non DRM type still available. Note that previously an HLS_CLEAR type was available as well, but I think those have been dropped, not sure.

Someone (OP perhaps?) will have to do some research, eg on how this works in region in a browser, to fix this.

I plan to work on this some more this weekend. I want to see what a web client is doing on the few non DRM options left, and also check Android client.

ghost on Mar 17, 2023

@dirkf regarding web clients, if you dont use Safari, or a Safari User-Agent, or another Apple specific browser (I dont know what those would be), then likely you are just going to be served DASH, either Widevine or clear. So using an Apple client, either desktop or mobile is an important point here, for any who might care about HLS formats. I didn’t make time for this over the last couple of days (busy with other stuff), but I will try to look at it this week, unless someone beats me to it.

ghost on Mar 20, 2023