Is it possible to check if livestream is streaming?

Question

i have a website with multiple streams and want to promote the ones that are currently streaming.

the only solution i've found was something with an hidden flash player, WICH I DO NOT WANT (flash is great but not everywhere and i fear about it draining my bandwith)

what's the most efficient way to check a livestream?

Feeds can be MMS or HTTP

Answer 1

This highly depends on the service. For quick reference, I've included examples to some popular streaming sites:

• own3d.tv: http://api.own3d.tv/liveCheck.php?live_id=[stream id]
• justin.tv/twitch.tv: http://api.justin.tv/api/stream/list.xml?channel=[channel]
• livestream.com: http://x[channel]x.api.channel.livestream.com/2.0/livestatus.xml

Requires API key:

• ustream.tv: http://api.ustream.tv/php/channel/[channel]/getValueOf/status?key=[your API key]

By polling these, you can see if they are online. I recommend you check out the terms for each of the APIs before using them tho.

I'm sure some, or maybe even most of these support JSON aswell.