I have downloaded Flash 9 (twice), read what little advice I could find on the internet, mainly consisting of fiddling with the Active X security settings in Explorer Tools. I have done this, with no success and I have now reverted to the default. I've checked to try to see whether ZoneAlarm is somehow preventing the videos from downloading, but I don't think so, and I have also clicked to always allow popups on the Beeb website in case that made a difference. It didn't. It's hardly the most important problem in the world, but it is annoying, especially as the BBC say they hope to be running all their news video content in this format before too long, and I really do want to sort it out. I'd be so grateful for any help.

Thanks.

You didn't say which browser you're using, which may or may not help, but - if it's the 'Live' news feeds you're looking to watch, they don't use Flash. It's a choice of either Windows Media Player or Real Player for those feeds.

Here's the Help from the site (If it's not this video that you meant, can you supply a link or more info on which video is giving you problems, please?)

When I click on the link, the BBC News Player launches but no video or audio plays .........

You should confirm that you have one of the media player versions listed above and that you have chosen to access News Player with it (you can confirm/modify your preference via the "Preferences" link at the top right of the News Player window).

Media player pluggins are sometimes not available if you have installed or upgraded your browser since installing your chosen media player. In this instance reinstalling the latest version of your preferred media player and restarting your computer may help.

Alternatively, you may wish to seek technical support from your media player software vendor.

Hope that helps.

PS Other clips do use Flash, and I'm guessing those are the ones you refer to as 'All the other video content on the site' but if it's the other way 'round and those are the ones that aren't playing, let us know.

I can see both types of video in Opera, so I tried in IE and that worked as well. I'd say it's worth installing and trying an alternate browser (in addition to IE) if you can. Only to see whether the default settings of the new browser allow the Flash video to play. Then you'd know it's an IE setting that's causing the problem. But without listing every setting you use and someone matching yours, it's going to be hard to track down.

I had a similar problem a year or two ago and it turned out to be a pop-up blocker setting, even though the video display isn't considered a pop-up. Tracking that's tricky too because it could be blocked through your antivirus/firewall software package, the browser itself, or any of the 'helpful' toolbars and mini widget-type programs that get added with other downloads and installed as a 'service'.

These situations can be really frustrating. Sometime it's just down to the way the webmaster coded the site. Like in the case of treating video like a pop-up when it wasn't. Which could be why Flash works for you on some sites and not others. Some bit of javascript code to check your version of Flash plus other processes or something else that triggers the player is being stopped.

Sorry I can't be of more help, but I'd start at a test of a different browser then look to each other possible culprit in turn. Let us know if you manage to fix it.