How can I schedule syndicated programs, like my weekly Oldies show?
Typical syndicated show may have 5 segments an hour and maybe it is a 3 hour show; so, 15 segments. In M1, create one Category for it.
Add 15 Cards, each with the approximate length of the segment, each with the specific Cart / UID / Filename. Line them up in rank/scheduling order. There is functionality in most playout systems whereby each week’s new segments are imported to overwrite the previous week’s segments. So, Cart/UID 123456 which may be Segment 2 is always Segment 2.
Some automation systems do it with a single Card in M1. The M1 category has one card in it, that card has the ‘command text’ entered into the card’s “Cart” field. This one is often called a “rotator cart”. In this case, M1 delivers the same, single “rotator” Cart/UID/Filename for every one of the segments. M1 schedules that unit 5 times each hour. The playout system then selects and plays the segments in order.
Create one Clock, adding to it the Category five times. The Clock is clicked into the correct three hours on the Dayformat.