Channels

Setup #

• Live Slicer: Verify that the slicer ID defined in the desired live channel is a case-sensitive match to the one defined in the Live Slicer configuration file (/etc/uplynk.conf). This allows the Live Slicer’s output to be automatically added to the live channel’s timeline.
• API: Add pre-encoded content and/or live content from multiple Live Slicers to a live channel via our Channel API.

• Stream a feed by pointing a media player to the live channel’s playback URL. Additionally, quickly embed a media player within a web page by leveraging a live channel’s HTML code.
• Test playback by leveraging a restriction-free media player associated with a live channel.
• Secure a live linear feed by setting up whitelisted domains, a digital signature, and/or blackout within your live channel configuration.
• Slate is played in a loop when a live channel’s timeline is missing content or during blackouts. Define the type of slate that will be played within a live channel’s configuration.
• By default, a live channel trails the live horizon by ~60 seconds. See Playback Latency for reduced-latency options.
• Set up Live Slicer failover to ensure uninterrupted playback of your live stream. Learn more.

Create a Live Channel #

1. Navigate to the Live Channels page via Channels from the main menu.
2. Click + Channel.
3. In the Channel Name option, type the name by which this live channel will be identified.
4. In the Slicer ID (Optional) option, type the unique alphanumeric ID by which the Live Slicer will identify this live channel.
5. Optional: Set channel options:
   • Check the Enabling Scheduling option to use the advanced scheduling interface and the latest channel APIs.
   • Tick the Edit after creation box to open the record after submitting.
6. Click Create.

Change the Default Playback Latency #

• Default: ~60 seconds
• Low: Low 20s, 5+ second buffering, Missing Content Slate (MCS) is possible
• Lower: Upper teens, 2+ seconds buffering, MCS is possible
• Lowest: As low as 15 seconds, minimal buffering, no MCS

Delete a Live Channel #

1. Navigate to the Live Channels page via Channels from the main menu.
2. Tick the box on the live channel’s tile, then click Delete Channel at the bottom of the pane.
3. When prompted to confirm, click Delete.

Assign a Failover Group to a Live Channel #

1. Navigate to the Slicers page via Slicers from the main menu.
2. If you are trying to reassign a live channel to a different failover group, perform the following steps to remove the live channel from its current failover group:
   • Click on the desired failover group.
   • From the Channels using Group section, mark the desired live channel.
   • Click Remove.
   • Click Save.
3. Click on the failover group that will be assigned to the live channel.
4. Click Add Channel Mapping.
5. From the Channels option, select the desired live channel and then click the red Add arrow.
6. Click Update Channel Mapping(s). The selected live channel will now be listed within the Channels using Group section.
7. Click Save.

Ad Breaks and Content Replacement #

• Schedule: Add an entry (i.e., an asset, ad break, or Live Slicer) to the live channel’s schedule to schedule content replacement or an ad break.
• Manual Override: Manually override a live channel’s source to another Live Slicer.
• Live Slicer Commands
  • Ad Break Command: Use either the Live Slicer API’s replace_pod or pod_start endpoint to add dynamic ads to your live stream.
  • Content Replacement Command: Use the Live Slicer API’s replace_content endpoint to replace live content with an asset.

Schedule Ad Breaks and Assets #

Enable Scheduling #

Schedule Entry Components #

• Type: A schedule entry replaces the live feed with either an ad break, an asset, or the live feed from a different Live Slicer.
• Start Time: A schedule entry’s start time identifies the date and time at which either an ad break or an asset will start.
  Prior to scheduling ad breaks and content replacement, adjust the time zone to reflect your programming’s time zone. Upon selecting a different time zone, the time slot for your existing entries will shift to reflect your selection.
• Duration:
  • Ad Break and Live Slicer: Manually specify the duration for an ad break or Live Slicer schedule entry. View syntax.
  • Asset: The schedule entry’s duration is determined by the duration of its asset and all of the ad breaks that have been associated with that asset. View syntax.
  A schedule entry’s duration cannot exceed 12 hours.
• Content: A schedule entry’s content varies by type:
  • Ad Break: During playback, an upcoming ad break will trigger your player to issue a request for ads. An ad decision server may then serve dynamic ads which are automatically inserted into the scheduled ad break.
  • Asset: This type of schedule entry consists of an asset and the ad breaks that have been inserted into it. Dynamic ads may be inserted into those ad breaks during playback as described above.
    View an asset’s ad breaks from the Ad Breaks tab. The Offset column indicates when each ad break will start relative to the start of the asset. For example, an offset of 00:10:30 indicates that the ad break will start 10 minutes and 30 seconds into the asset.
    Insert ad breaks into an asset while encoding it. For example, use the break parameter to insert one or more ad breaks when encoding content via the Slicer.
  • Slicer: This type of schedule entry consists of the live feed from a specific Live Slicer. You may only schedule another user’s Live Slicer if it is streaming to a library shared with your account.

Add an Entry to Live Channel Schedule #

1. Navigate to Live Channels: Click the desired live channel. Click the Schedule tab.

   Live channels created without scheduling enabled have a History tab and no scheduling functionality.
2. Optional. Adjust the time zone as needed.
3. Navigate to the desired date and then click on the time slot to which the entry will be scheduled.
   Select a more precise time slot by zooming in. Zoom in by sliding the Zoom option to the right.
   You may set a start time that is precise to the second via the Start Time option. Please see the next step for more information.
4. Schedule an asset, ad break, Live Slicer, or playlist by performing one of the following procedures:
   • Replace the live feed with an asset
   • Insert an ad break
   • Replace the live feed with a live feed from another Live Slicer
   • Insert a playlist’s assets and ad breaks
5. If our service detects a conflict with one or more previously scheduled entries, then you will be required to resolve it before being allowed to proceed. Resolve a conflict by performing one or more of the following steps:
   • Adjust the entry’s start time from within the Start Time option.
   • If you are adding an ad break, adjust the entry’s duration from within the Total Duration option.
   • From the Conflicts tab, you may instruct our service to remove conflicting entries or to trim the entry being added.
   • If you would like to remove previously scheduled entries that conflict with the entry being added, then you should select the Remove conflicts option. If you would like to trim the beginning of the asset to fit within the current scheduling gap, then you should select the Autofit new entry by trimming it from the beginning option.
     For example, selecting this option when scheduling a 20 minute asset within a 15 minute scheduling gap would trim the first 5 minutes of that asset. This means that playback of this entry will start 5 minutes into the asset.
   • If you would like to trim from the end of the asset to fit within the current scheduling gap, then you should select the Autofit new entry by trimming it from the end option.
     For example, selecting this option when scheduling a 20 minute asset within a 15 minute scheduling gap would trim the last 5 minutes of that asset. This means that viewers will only be allowed to play the first 15 minutes of this entry.
     Trimming an asset can affect the number of ads served. Specifically, we will not serve ads for an ad break positioned within a portion of the asset that is trimmed.
   • Click Cancel if you no longer wish to add this entry to your live channel’s schedule.
6. Click Add Asset, Add Ad Break, Add Slicer, or Add Playlist to apply the above change(s).

Modify a Schedule Entry #

1. Navigate to the Schedule tab for the desired live channel:
   • Go to Live Channels.
   • Click the desired live channel.
   • Click the Schedule tab.
2. Click on the desired entry and then click Edit Asset, Edit Ad Break, Edit Slicer.
   If the entry has a short duration, hover over it to expand it. If it is still too small, zoom in to the schedule by sliding the Zoom option to the right.
3. Perform one of the following steps:
   • Asset: Modify the asset’s start time and ad break durations as needed.
   • Ad Break: Modify the ad break’s name, start time, or duration as needed.
   • Live Slicer: Modify the Live Slicer’s ID, start time, or duration as needed.
4. Click Update Asset, Update Ad Break, or Update Slicer to save your changes.

Replay Schedule Entries #

1. Navigate to the Schedule tab for the desired live channel:
   • Go to Live Channels.
   • Click the desired live channel.
   • Click the Schedule tab.
2. Click on an empty time slot in the future and choose Replay from the list of options. This will launch the Replay window.

   

3. Fill out the Details tab for the replay:
   • Name: This title will appear in the schedule.
   • Start Time: The time the replay should begin playing.
   • Duration: The length of time of this replay.
   • Source - Start Time: The start time of the content you want to be replayed.
   • Source - End Time: The end time of the content you want to be replayed.
4. Click Add Replay at the bottom left to save this entry and add it to the schedule.

Reorder Schedule Entries #

1. Navigate to the Schedule tab for the desired live channel:
   • Go to Live Channels.
   • Click the desired live channel.
   • Click the Schedule tab.
2. Click on the entry to drag and drop to the new time slot or hold down the Shift key, click, and drag the entry over another entry to magnetize them together.
3. The update is confirmed with a pop-up in the top right corner.

Delete a Schedule Entry #

1. Navigate to the Schedule tab for the desired live channel:
   • Go to Live Channels.
   • Click the desired live channel.
   • Click the Schedule tab.
2. Click on the desired entry and then click Edit Asset, Edit Ad Break, or Edit Slicer.
   If the entry has a short duration, hover over it to expand it. If it is still too small, zoom in to the schedule by sliding the Zoom option to the right.
3. Click Delete.
4. When prompted, confirm the deletion by typing DELETE and then clicking Delete.

Export a Schedule #

1. Navigate to the Schedule tab for the desired live channel:
   • Go to Live Channels.
   • Click the desired live channel.
   • Click the Schedule tab.
2. Select the export option from the top right corner.
3. In the Schedule Export window, select the start and end dates of the schedule to export.

   

4. Check the box for the fields to export. Certain fields are selected by default, and you can include other fields to customize the data exported:
   • Asset Id: The ID of the asset/ad/slicer.
   • Entry Type: The type of the entry (asset/ad/slicer).
   • Start Time: The time the entry starts based on its position in the schedule.
   • Duration: The total duration of the asset (including ads).
   • External Id: The external ID of an asset, if applicable.
   • Ad Breaks: The duration of each break measured in seconds.
   • Created At: The timestamp (in ISO) when the entry was added.
   • End Time: The timestamp (in ISO) when the entry ends.
   • Description: A description of the asset, if applicable.
5. Click Export to save the csv file to your system’s default location.

Import a Schedule #

1. Open the .csv file you exported and update the fields for the new schedule:
   • id: The ID of the content that should reflect an asset, an ad, or a slicer.
   • type: The classification of the content. The available options are asset, ad, or slicer.
   • start_time: The time you want the asset to start playing.
     If you want the first asset to start at a specific time, and then the following asset to start at the end time of the previous asset, leave the start_time field empty for the subsequent asset.
   • duration: The length of time the content plays, including its ad breaks (e.g., If the asset is 30 minutes long and has two ad breaks, and you set the duration to one hour, each duration will be 15 minutes long).
2. Save your changes to the .csv file.
3. Navigate to the Schedule tab for the desired live channel:
   • Go to Live Channels.
   • Click the desired live channel.
   • Click the Schedule tab.
4. Select the import option from the top right corner.
5. Drag your .csv file into the window or click Browse Files to find and open the file to upload.
6. Optional: Fix any errors indicated in the Status column.

   

   • Hover over the error indicator to see the error description.
   • Close the Schedule Import window.
   • Correct the errors in the .csv file and save the changes.
   • Import the file again.
7. Select Import, then click Import again to acknowledge the overwrite notice.
8. Optional: Pause or cancel import.
   • Pause/Resume: Once the import has started, you can suspend or continue the upload by toggling the Pause/Resume button at the bottom right of the list.
   • Cancel: Click Cancel to stop the import with no impact on your existing channel content.
9. Close the Schedule Import window when the import is complete. Upon completion, the status of all assets is marked as successful, and the channel’s schedule is updated with the imported entries.

Adjust the Time Zone #

1. Select a time zone that corresponds to your core audience.
   Your viewer’s time zone determines the programming that will play out. For example, if you schedule an entry for 10:00:00 PDT, then it will play out in New York at 13:00:00 EDT and in Paris at 19:00:00 CEST.
2. Adjust the current time zone by clicking on the current time zone, selecting the desired time zone, and then clicking Save.
   Upon selecting a different time zone, the time slot for your existing entries will shift to reflect your selection.

Replace the Live Feed with an Asset #

1. Click Asset.
2. Optional: Select the library corresponding to the desired asset from within the Library option.
3. Optional: Search for the desired asset by typing a keyword directly to the right of the Library option and then click the search icon.
4. Select the desired asset.
5. Optional: In the Start Time option, adjust the asset’s start date and time.
6. Optional: If the asset contains ad breaks, determine the duration of each ad break by performing the following steps:
   • Click the Ad Breaks tab.
   • Set the duration for each ad break by performing one of the following steps:
     • Locked:
       • Set the Total Duration Type option to Locked. Upon updating the asset’s total duration, time in excess of the asset’s duration is distributed evenly among all of its ad breaks.
       • Type the desired duration for all ad breaks.
       • Click Set All Durations.
       • Adjust the duration for each ad break as needed.
       • Upon updating an ad break’s duration, the entry’s total duration will be automatically calculated by summing the duration of the asset and all of its ad breaks.
     • Unlocked:
       • Set the Total Duration Type option to Unlocked.
       • From the Total Duration option, define the amount of time that will be set aside for the asset including all of its ad breaks. For example, if your asset’s duration is 21 minutes, the Total Duration option is set to 30 minutes, and the asset contains 3 ad breaks, 9 minutes will be evenly distributed between the 3 ad breaks. This means that the duration for each ad break will be 3 minutes.
7. Perform either of the following steps:
   • Save your changes by clicking Add Asset.
   • Save your changes and add another asset by clicking Add and Select Another Asset.

Insert an Ad Break #

1. Click Ad Break.
2. In the Name option, assign a name to the ad break.
3. Optional. In the Start Time option, adjust the ad break’s start time.
4. In the Total Duration option, type the duration of the ad break.
5. Click Add Ad Break.

Replace Live Feed with a Live Feed from Another Live Slicer #

1. Click Slicer.
2. In the Slicer ID option, identify a Live Slicer by the ID defined within the SlicerID setting of its Live Slicer configuration file.
   Shared Live Slicer
   You may schedule another user’s Live Slicer if it is streaming to a library shared with your account. However, you must also identify the user that owns the Live Slicer through the following syntax: {User ID}:{Live Slicer ID}
3. Optional. In the Start Time option, adjust the asset’s start date and time.
4. In the Total Duration option, type the duration of the Live Slicer’s live feed that will be scheduled within your live channel.
5. Perform either of the following steps:
   • Save your changes by clicking Add Slicer.
   • Save your changes and add another Live Slicer by clicking Add and Select Another Slicer.

Insert a Playlist’s Assets and Ad Breaks #

1. Click Playlist.
2. In the Playlists option, select the desired playlist.
3. Optional. In the Start Time option, adjust the start time at which all of the playlist’s assets and ad breaks will be inserted in sequential order.
4. Perform either of the following steps:
   • Save your changes by clicking Add Playlist.
   • Save your changes and add another playlist by clicking Add and Select Another Playlist. Use this option to add another playlist’s assets and ad breaks immediately after the last schedule entry generated from the playlist selected in step 2.

Time#

Restrictions #

• Blackout or reverse blackout
• Channel API or the replace_content endpoint

Source Override #

Manually Override a Live Channel’s Source #

1. Load the desired live channel.
2. From the right-hand pane, set the Override Content option to the case-sensitive ID of the Live Slicer that will serve as the live channel’s new source.
3. Click Yes, Override to confirm that you would like to override the live channel’s source.

Stop Overriding a Live Channel’s Source #

1. Load the desired live channel.
2. From the right-hand pane, click Return to Schedule.
3. Click Yes, Return to confirm that you would like to return to regularly scheduled programming.

REST APIs #

• Live Slicer API
  The Live Slicer exposes an HTTP-based API for marking ad breaks, blackouts, and content boundaries. A Live Slicer’s configuration file identifies a port and IP address where the Live Slicer should listen for these API calls. The API commands sent to the Live Slicer can take effect immediately, or within a few seconds. They cannot be used to specify where ad and content boundaries will occur in the future.
• Slicer API
  Use the Slicer API to schedule Live Slicer behavior. This allows you to:
  • Schedule future ad breaks and content boundaries (e.g., blackouts)
  • Specify when new assets should be created
  • Assign metadata to assets
• Live Channel API
  Use the Live Channel API to retrieve and manage a live channel’s schedule entries.
  You must determine whether a live channel may leverage schedule entries upon its creation. You cannot enable or disable the scheduling feature on existing live channels.

Syndication Publishing #

Set Up Syndication Publishing #

1. Create a publishing target for each desired social media or content distribution platform.
2. Publish to the desired platform(s) by associating the desired publishing target(s) with your live channel.

More Information #

• Live Slicer Setup
• Latency
• Media Player Setup