[livesupport-dev] advert automation
  • dear livesupport dev list,

    the best outcome from the armenian visit was to analyse their advertisment
    procedure. how are they collected, scheduled, charged and what does the
    customer receive as a proof of broadcast, or media plan as they call it.

    i am currently writing a document describing this process. this will go
    onto the list for discussion.

    before this is finished i would already like to pop a question on the list
    to the developers:

    little use scenario: the ad department is collecting advertisments and
    there will be some kind of mechanism to build playlists based on the sold
    packages. there will be some kind of mechanism by which uploaded ad clips
    will find their way in ad playlists.

    but... how will these playlists find their way into the day to day radio
    process? it seems to me that there are two main problems with the advert
    playlists.

    a) live mode (ls studio) - the dj needs to see if and when adverts MUST be
    played to fullfill the contracts with advertisment partners. so there might
    need to be an extra window with ad playlists in the waiting and alert
    blinking when they MUST be played.

    b) scheduled (ls station) the ad playlists will all come in different
    length and shapes. changes in the ad department must find their way into
    the scheduled programmes. so the playlists need to react flexibly to the
    advert playlists. either:
    a) smart playlists will need to *fill* the space between ad breaks with
    content or
    b) playlists can be scheduled ON TOP OF other playlists so that the
    programme will fade out, the ad starts and after the ad break the programme
    fades in again.

    what are the developer ideas of such necessities?

    thanks,

    Micz Flor - micz@mi.cz

    content and media development http://mi.cz
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  • 5 Comments sorted by
  • Micz Flor Wrote:
    > dear livesupport dev list,
    >
    > the best outcome from the armenian visit was to analyse their advertisment
    > procedure. how are they collected, scheduled, charged and what does the
    > customer receive as a proof of broadcast, or media plan as they call it.
    >
    > i am currently writing a document describing this process. this will go
    > onto the list for discussion.
    >
    > before this is finished i would already like to pop a question on the list
    > to the developers:
    >
    > little use scenario: the ad department is collecting advertisments and
    > there will be some kind of mechanism to build playlists based on the sold
    > packages. there will be some kind of mechanism by which uploaded ad clips
    > will find their way in ad playlists.
    >
    > but... how will these playlists find their way into the day to day radio
    > process? it seems to me that there are two main problems with the advert
    > playlists.
    >
    > a) live mode (ls studio) - the dj needs to see if and when adverts MUST be
    > played to fullfill the contracts with advertisment partners. so there
    > might
    > need to be an extra window with ad playlists in the waiting and alert
    > blinking when they MUST be played.
    >
    > b) scheduled (ls station) the ad playlists will all come in different
    > length and shapes. changes in the ad department must find their way into
    > the scheduled programmes. so the playlists need to react flexibly to the
    > advert playlists. either:
    > a) smart playlists will need to *fill* the space between ad breaks with
    > content or
    > b) playlists can be scheduled ON TOP OF other playlists so that the
    > programme will fade out, the ad starts and after the ad break the
    > programme
    > fades in again.
    >
    > what are the developer ideas of such necessities?
    >
    > thanks,
    >
    > Micz Flor - micz@mi.cz
    >
    > content and media development http://mi.cz
    > -----------------------------------------------------------------
    > http://www.campware.org -- http://crash.mi.cz -- http://sue.mi.cz
    > "I will be very direct, because we have no time to waste."
    > (Sava Tatic)
    > -----------------------------------------------------------------
    >
    >

    a) The standard is to have one log file that has all of the advertisements
    (hereafter referred to as "spots") scheduled per contracts previously
    agreed upon with the advertiser. There is normally a separate "Traffic"
    system that contains all of the contracts and generates this log based on
    a user-defined template. This template breaks up a 24 hour day into time
    slots that are allotted for music, news/weather updates, advertisements
    etc.

    The Traffic system is also responsible for tracking the exact date and
    time each spot airs and generates a monthly bill that reflects the time,
    date and rate of each spot which is then mailed out to the advertiser for
    payment.

    In "Live Mode" it is the DJ's responsibility to follow the log and ensure
    each spot airs according to the log. Depending on the sophistication of
    the automation system, the DJ is also responsible for noting the exact
    times each spot airs and the following day someone else is responsible for
    updating the Traffic system with these exact times.


    b) There are several ways to accomplish this. One is to have a Traffic
    system generate a template that includes the spots and what times are
    available for music. Whatever system you have to schedule music should
    then be able to use this template and fill in the areas that are allotted
    for music, liners, etc. with the appropriate audio pieces.

    The point is, all of your advertisements (or "spots") have to be treated
    in the same manner as every other piece of audio in your system. They
    need to be assigned unique numbers (normally referred to as "Cart
    Numbers") to ease in tracking, scheduling and production. They also need
    to be scheduled along with all other audio pieces based on your
    pre-defined template for the day.

    If you would like LS to be a fully functioning automation system, you must
    find a way to either incorporate your own Traffic system or make LS
    compatible with existing Traffic systems.


    Thank You,

    Dan S. Johnson
    trafficKing@amellus.com
  • Hi Dan,

    Thank you for the detailed description. I'm pretty sure a lot of that will
    go into the spec; I'll keep you posted on our progress with it.

    Please keep feedback like this coming. It definitely helps us to improve
    the system. This kind of 'distributed intelligence' is one of the ways an
    open source development model really shows its advantages.


    doug

    =============================================
    Media Development Loan Fund
    =============================================
    Douglas Arellanes
    Head of Research and Development
    Center for Advanced Media--Prague (CAMP)
    Na vinicnich horach 24a/1834, 160 00 Prague 6
    Czech Republic
    Tel: + 420 2 3333 5356, Fax: +420 2 2431 5419
    Mobile: +420 724 073 364
    http://www.mdlf-camp.net
    http://www.campware.org
    =============================================
    http://www.mdlf.org
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    "Dan S. Johnson"
    09/20/2005 10:52 PM
    Please respond to livesupport-dev


    To: livesupport-dev@campware.org
    cc:
    Subject: Re: [livesupport-dev] advert automation



    Micz Flor Wrote:
    > dear livesupport dev list,
    >
    > the best outcome from the armenian visit was to analyse their
    advertisment
    > procedure. how are they collected, scheduled, charged and what does the
    > customer receive as a proof of broadcast, or media plan as they call it.
    >
    > i am currently writing a document describing this process. this will go
    > onto the list for discussion.
    >
    > before this is finished i would already like to pop a question on the
    list
    > to the developers:
    >
    > little use scenario: the ad department is collecting advertisments and
    > there will be some kind of mechanism to build playlists based on the
    sold
    > packages. there will be some kind of mechanism by which uploaded ad
    clips
    > will find their way in ad playlists.
    >
    > but... how will these playlists find their way into the day to day radio
    > process? it seems to me that there are two main problems with the advert
    > playlists.
    >
    > a) live mode (ls studio) - the dj needs to see if and when adverts MUST
    be
    > played to fullfill the contracts with advertisment partners. so there
    > might
    > need to be an extra window with ad playlists in the waiting and alert
    > blinking when they MUST be played.
    >
    > b) scheduled (ls station) the ad playlists will all come in different
    > length and shapes. changes in the ad department must find their way into
    > the scheduled programmes. so the playlists need to react flexibly to the
    > advert playlists. either:
    > a) smart playlists will need to *fill* the space between ad breaks with
    > content or
    > b) playlists can be scheduled ON TOP OF other playlists so that the
    > programme will fade out, the ad starts and after the ad break the
    > programme
    > fades in again.
    >
    > what are the developer ideas of such necessities?
    >
    > thanks,
    >
    > Micz Flor - micz@mi.cz
    >
    > content and media development http://mi.cz
    > -----------------------------------------------------------------
    > http://www.campware.org -- http://crash.mi.cz -- http://sue.mi.cz
    > "I will be very direct, because we have no time to waste."
    > (Sava Tatic)
    > -----------------------------------------------------------------
    >
    >

    a) The standard is to have one log file that has all of the advertisements
    (hereafter referred to as "spots") scheduled per contracts previously
    agreed upon with the advertiser. There is normally a separate "Traffic"
    system that contains all of the contracts and generates this log based on
    a user-defined template. This template breaks up a 24 hour day into time
    slots that are allotted for music, news/weather updates, advertisements
    etc.

    The Traffic system is also responsible for tracking the exact date and
    time each spot airs and generates a monthly bill that reflects the time,
    date and rate of each spot which is then mailed out to the advertiser for
    payment.

    In "Live Mode" it is the DJ's responsibility to follow the log and ensure
    each spot airs according to the log. Depending on the sophistication of
    the automation system, the DJ is also responsible for noting the exact
    times each spot airs and the following day someone else is responsible for
    updating the Traffic system with these exact times.


    b) There are several ways to accomplish this. One is to have a Traffic
    system generate a template that includes the spots and what times are
    available for music. Whatever system you have to schedule music should
    then be able to use this template and fill in the areas that are allotted
    for music, liners, etc. with the appropriate audio pieces.

    The point is, all of your advertisements (or "spots") have to be treated
    in the same manner as every other piece of audio in your system. They
    need to be assigned unique numbers (normally referred to as "Cart
    Numbers") to ease in tracking, scheduling and production. They also need
    to be scheduled along with all other audio pieces based on your
    pre-defined template for the day.

    If you would like LS to be a fully functioning automation system, you must
    find a way to either incorporate your own Traffic system or make LS
    compatible with existing Traffic systems.


    Thank You,

    Dan S. Johnson
    trafficKing@amellus.com
  • At 22:52 20.09.2005, you wrote:
    >If you would like LS to be a fully functioning automation system, you must
    >find a way to either incorporate your own Traffic system or make LS
    >compatible with existing Traffic systems.

    hi dan,

    thanks for the explanation. could you point us towards a traffic system
    that you like to work with?

    i have been following a station in armenia in the office and taken their
    "social" workflow and management of advertisment clients as a blueprint of
    the way in which a software for ad management should sit between
    livesupport, the radio station and the ad clients. in fact, a lot of web
    banner functionality could be in place, i.e. external clients planning
    their campaigns over the internet to some extent (if they want to) and only
    THEN contacting the radio management for budget issues and finalising the
    campaign deal.

    will post this soon. (problem being that i wiped the document from my other
    laptop when reinstalling windows after virus related HD crash. grrrrr. hope
    i have it somewhere.)

    Micz Flor - micz@mi.cz

    content and media development http://mi.cz
    ------------------------------------------------------------------
    http://www.campware.org -- http://www.redall.de -- http://suemi.de
    ------------------------------------------------------------------
  • Micz Flor wrote:
    > thanks for the explanation. could you point us towards a traffic system
    > that you like to work with?

    I have experience with products from
    http://www.wicksbroadcastsolutions.com. If you search "Radio Traffic and
    Billing" you will find many more companies that offer Traffic systems, but
    none that I have found to be open source.

    All of these programs billing software customized for radio stations, with
    the addition of being able to create and output the log file to an
    automation system. I believe this is a standard process, as most "Traffic
    Systems" claim to be compatible with all Radio Automation systems. I
    believe this only means they are able to customize a Log File that is sent
    to an Automation system. I would be happy to provide an example of a log
    file if you are interested in seeing one.

    Thank You,

    Dan S. Johnson
    trafficKing@amellus.com
  • >as most "Traffic
    >Systems" claim to be compatible with all Radio Automation systems. I
    >believe this only means they are able to customize a Log File that is sent
    >to an Automation system. I would be happy to provide an example of a log
    >file if you are interested in seeing one.

    yes, please. i don't know if there are open standards for such log files in
    existence. for video editing for example you have the EDL (edit decision
    list, i think) that allows to migrate in and out markers and transitions
    between editing suites.

    so, yes, if you could provide one that would be the open swing door to
    reverse engineering Wink


    Micz Flor - micz@mi.cz

    content and media development http://mi.cz
    ------------------------------------------------------------------
    http://www.campware.org -- http://www.redall.de -- http://suemi.de
    ------------------------------------------------------------------