Scheduling: Playlists vs shows separately
  • Hi. I have been working in a project for an online radio, it is not launched yet. I would like to hear opinions of you, people with more experience. For me would be much easier create an unique playlist, for each day of the week, with all shows inside. I am thinking of it because if I need to schedule the shows separately i spend so much time more.... 

    What do you think of the pro and cons on doing that? What would be the difference for the listeners?

    Thanks! 
    Post edited by Leonardo Correa at 2014-05-18 23:25:53
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  • Vote Up0Vote Down Voisses TechVoisses Tech
    Posts: 1,423Member
    You mean like one  24/7 playlist (24 hours playlist repeat for the 7 days).

    I used to do something like that.



    I think I would do 2x12
     
    but I also think if you contact the folks over at pro,They could more make suggestions
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  • IMO depends on how your shows stack up.  If you have shows starting at TOTH then a scheduled item for each show would make more sense otherwise you are going to be spending a lot of time ensuring you are running on time with 1x 24 hour playlist.  If your shows are all music with no specific TOTH needs then go for it... if your shows are prerecorded then watched folders and replacing them weekly is a fast way to replace content... got to be honest, in all the years of radio i have never run a 24 hr playlist... even using pro playour software in studio the days are usually broken into 24 clocks but all depends on your exact programming...  if you can make the templates and then use either segmented shows that are replaced through a watched folder or smart blocks to generate the content each week then IMO its well worth the initial setup time and after that its a doddle!
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  • Thanks a lot Voisses and Mike.

    Voisses, my idea is 24 x 7 but with different 24h playlists (MONDAY-WED, TUE-FRI, THU-SAT and SUN). 

    Mike, your advices helped a lot as well. My programs are all pre-recorded. I think I will make playlists of 6h e repeat it 4 times every 24h. 

    At the end of the week I need to change the content of each program so i think this way would be more realistic to work (because I work alone on it). 

    Thanks a lot my friends for all help!
  • If your content needs to repeat then thats all doable.  I still prefer the idea of hourly to keep the week in check, sure its a pain to set up but its a one off and you can set hours to repeat daily, weekly etc so there isnt as much work as appears.  If you make sure the meta data is identical for replacement shows and upload them to a watched folder then it is as simple as that.  I personally would use FTP... so if you have "top 40 chart" it may be 1 or more segments but build your playlist for that hour or 2 or 3, whatever that show is, repeat it every week... if it goes out twice a week duplicate it to the 2nd spot and set to repeat again.  Then with FTP to a watched folder make sure that your filename AND meta data are identical each week and simply upload new files (telling your ftp client to overwrite duplicates) and hey presto... a few minutes a week and your shows are up.  

    For random music shows and filler hours use the smart blocks and then the content will change depending on your filters each time the block repeats.

    Another reason I recommend a playlist per hour (or a playlist per show if yoru shows go over an hour) is that often shows are not the exact same run time each week.  If you build a playlist that runs to include the show segment(s) and then go over the hour with some random songs (or a smart block to randomize it) then if your show comes in under the hour one week it will "top up" with music. If you run 6 hours and some weeks your pre recorded shows are under or over you could end up with either empty space or shows cutting and so you will need to manually check each day or week.
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