radiodungog
Member
Dmitry,
It's been a long time since I've posted anything here - which means everything has been running very well at our end. Thanks !
For the last 2 years I've been using the RadioBOSS Scheduler to run some DOS batch files which move some playlist.m3u files around. Two techniques I've used have been:
1. Using a daily DOS batch file to rename 12 playlist.m3u files so that there is a progression of the 12 playlist.m3u files each day. These 12 playlist.m3u files each contain a block of adverts and the rotation allows the adverts to be broadcast at a different time each day. The RadioBOSS scheduler is set to broadcast each playlist.m3u file at a given time (or times) every day - and by renaming the playlist.m3u files we are able to change the content automatically without having to change any of the scheduler times. It's very simple and very reliable and has been doing this job now for just over 2 years.
2. About 8 months ago we started to use a new technique of shuffling playlist.m3u files for our Community Notice Board broadcast. This time we used a structure of playlist.m3u files set out in days and weeks - in fact 7 days for week 1, and 7 days for week 2. The daily content goes to air every day on the correct day - then on Sunday night at midnight we do the "shift register" operation and move all of the week 2 content over to week 1. This has proven to be very successful because it allows us to pre-populate the playlist.m3u files with content a week or two weeks in advance - and eliminates the need for a person to be there on the day to change content.
Item 2 has been so successful with the Community Notice Board material that we intend using the same "shift register" technique for all of of daily programs so that the playlist.m3u files can be pre-populated 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 weeks in advance. For us this is a HUGE advantage because it allows us to do this work when we have some spare time - and it never gets left to the last minute - and the shows go to air on time every time without any stress to the scheduler person (and that's me) !
Does all of that information above make sense to you ? If not please ask me some questions and I'll answer them for you.
None of the above relies upon dates of the month - the whole lot is defined by weeks and days like this:
cnb_000_today.m3u
cnb_101_monday.m3u
cnb_102_tuesday.m3u
cnb_103_wednesday.m3u
cnb_104_thursday.m3u
cnb_105_friday.m3u
cnb_106_saturday.m3u
cnb_107_sunday.m3u
cnb_201_monday.m3u
cnb_202_tuesday.m3u
cnb_203_wednesday.m3u
cnb_204_thursday.m3u
cnb_205_friday.m3u
cnb_206_saturday.m3u
cnb_207_sunday.m3u
As I said above, we intend rolling out this "shift register" strategy so we can pre-populate all of our daily content in advance - things like:
1. Daily shows
2. Daily adverts (so a new advert can replace an old one on a given day)
3. Daily station promos (so station promos can be more relevant to the day they are being broadcast)
4. Daily show promos (so show promos are more specific to the shows being broadcast on each day)
5. Daily Community Notice Board broadcasts (so that events cease to be broadcast when the event has been run)
6. Daily emergency alerts like Bushfire Warnings and Alerts (so that they can be pre-scheduled to start at midnight and run for the 24 hour period and then expire at midnight)
The BIG benefit of this "shift register" approach is that we set up the RadioBOSS Scheduler only once and it continues forever. The ONLY thing we have to do after that is to pre-load the playlist.m3u files with the content and it changes automatically.
So, question time:
1. Is there any standard feature within RadioBOSS that does all of the above already ?
2. Sometimes changing the playlist.m3u at midnight every day is not adequate and it needs to be changed more frequently than that on some days but not others.
Example: On the Community Notice Board the local movie theatre might have a movie showing on Saturday morning at 10am. Our Community Notice Board is broadcast on the hour every day from 6am to 6pm. To continue to promote that movie after 10am on Saturday morning is a waste of time AND very annoying to listeners. Can you think of a better way to do this so that it's more adaptive without making it overly complicated ?
Thanks, Jamie C.
It's been a long time since I've posted anything here - which means everything has been running very well at our end. Thanks !
For the last 2 years I've been using the RadioBOSS Scheduler to run some DOS batch files which move some playlist.m3u files around. Two techniques I've used have been:
1. Using a daily DOS batch file to rename 12 playlist.m3u files so that there is a progression of the 12 playlist.m3u files each day. These 12 playlist.m3u files each contain a block of adverts and the rotation allows the adverts to be broadcast at a different time each day. The RadioBOSS scheduler is set to broadcast each playlist.m3u file at a given time (or times) every day - and by renaming the playlist.m3u files we are able to change the content automatically without having to change any of the scheduler times. It's very simple and very reliable and has been doing this job now for just over 2 years.
2. About 8 months ago we started to use a new technique of shuffling playlist.m3u files for our Community Notice Board broadcast. This time we used a structure of playlist.m3u files set out in days and weeks - in fact 7 days for week 1, and 7 days for week 2. The daily content goes to air every day on the correct day - then on Sunday night at midnight we do the "shift register" operation and move all of the week 2 content over to week 1. This has proven to be very successful because it allows us to pre-populate the playlist.m3u files with content a week or two weeks in advance - and eliminates the need for a person to be there on the day to change content.
Item 2 has been so successful with the Community Notice Board material that we intend using the same "shift register" technique for all of of daily programs so that the playlist.m3u files can be pre-populated 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 weeks in advance. For us this is a HUGE advantage because it allows us to do this work when we have some spare time - and it never gets left to the last minute - and the shows go to air on time every time without any stress to the scheduler person (and that's me) !
Does all of that information above make sense to you ? If not please ask me some questions and I'll answer them for you.
None of the above relies upon dates of the month - the whole lot is defined by weeks and days like this:
cnb_000_today.m3u
cnb_101_monday.m3u
cnb_102_tuesday.m3u
cnb_103_wednesday.m3u
cnb_104_thursday.m3u
cnb_105_friday.m3u
cnb_106_saturday.m3u
cnb_107_sunday.m3u
cnb_201_monday.m3u
cnb_202_tuesday.m3u
cnb_203_wednesday.m3u
cnb_204_thursday.m3u
cnb_205_friday.m3u
cnb_206_saturday.m3u
cnb_207_sunday.m3u
As I said above, we intend rolling out this "shift register" strategy so we can pre-populate all of our daily content in advance - things like:
1. Daily shows
2. Daily adverts (so a new advert can replace an old one on a given day)
3. Daily station promos (so station promos can be more relevant to the day they are being broadcast)
4. Daily show promos (so show promos are more specific to the shows being broadcast on each day)
5. Daily Community Notice Board broadcasts (so that events cease to be broadcast when the event has been run)
6. Daily emergency alerts like Bushfire Warnings and Alerts (so that they can be pre-scheduled to start at midnight and run for the 24 hour period and then expire at midnight)
The BIG benefit of this "shift register" approach is that we set up the RadioBOSS Scheduler only once and it continues forever. The ONLY thing we have to do after that is to pre-load the playlist.m3u files with the content and it changes automatically.
So, question time:
1. Is there any standard feature within RadioBOSS that does all of the above already ?
2. Sometimes changing the playlist.m3u at midnight every day is not adequate and it needs to be changed more frequently than that on some days but not others.
Example: On the Community Notice Board the local movie theatre might have a movie showing on Saturday morning at 10am. Our Community Notice Board is broadcast on the hour every day from 6am to 6pm. To continue to promote that movie after 10am on Saturday morning is a waste of time AND very annoying to listeners. Can you think of a better way to do this so that it's more adaptive without making it overly complicated ?
Thanks, Jamie C.
