Streams: scheduling #

Scheduling a stream ahead of match day lets fans see it in their listings before kickoff. This guide covers setting up an upcoming stream, its go-live and stop times, what fans see, and how to hide or remove a scheduled stream.

For linking your encoder and going live on the day, see Live setup.

Schedule a stream #

1. Create a new stream

   In the sidebar, under Your content, select Live Streams, then select Create on Create new video stream or Create new audio stream.

2. Add the match details

   On Details, choose Fixture for a match or Other for anything else. For a fixture, pick Your Team, League, Opposition Team and Home or Away, and enter the Stadium name, Fixture Date and Fixture Time. Then add a Title, Description and Stream Thumbnail. If your teams or leagues are missing, add them first under Settings > Channel > Teams and leagues (see Teams and Leagues & competitions).

3. Choose who can watch

   On Access & Monetisation, choose Plans and Pay-Per-View, Pay-Per-View only, Plans only or Free (see Plans & pricing). If the match cannot be shown everywhere, set the countries on the Rights management step before it (see Streams: country restrictions).

4. Set the go-live time

   On Scheduling, a fixture's go-live is set relative to kickoff, for example "30 minutes before fixture starts", or Custom. An Other stream takes a Stream live date and Stream live time. To use saved timings instead, pick a profile from "Select saved scheduling profile" at the top of the step (see Using a scheduling profile).

5. Set an automatic stop (optional)

   Switch on Enable automatic stop and set an interval or a set time for the stream to end.

6. Finish on the Complete step

   Choose Save as Draft, Publish or Publish and make visible. Only Publish and make visible puts the stream in front of fans straight away.

Home or Away is required for a fixture and has no default. You cannot continue past Details until you pick one. The error reads "Please select home or away".

Date and time pickers start in your channel's time zone, which you set under Settings > Channel > General > Time-zone.

Using a scheduling profile #

A scheduling profile saves a go-live time and an automatic stop so you can apply them in one go. You create and manage profiles under Settings > Stream > Profiles, on the Scheduling tab (see Streams: profiles and templates).

• On the Scheduling step, "Select saved scheduling profile" lists only the profiles that match the stream: profiles with For fixtures switched on for a Fixture stream, and the others for an Other stream.
• On a new stream, your default scheduling profile is applied for you, but only if its For fixtures setting matches the stream. A Fixture stream does not pick up a default made for Other streams, and the other way round. Once the step has saved timings, the default no longer changes them.
• To save the timings you have set on a stream as a new profile, select Save as new scheduling profile at the bottom of the step.

Key scheduling settings #

Fixture or Other choice Required

A fixture takes teams, league, home or away, stadium, date and time. An Other stream has none of these and can optionally be linked to teams and leagues.

Title text

The name of the stream. Naming the two teams makes a match easy to recognise.

Go-live time choice

For a fixture, relative to kickoff or Custom. For an Other stream, Stream live date and Stream live time.

Enable automatic stop switch

Ends the stream after an interval or at a set time.

Access choice

Plans and Pay-Per-View, Pay-Per-View only, Plans only or Free.

What fans see before kickoff #

Fans see a stream in their listings only when it is visible, not deleted, and upcoming or live. A draft, or a stream you published with Publish alone, does not appear.

To hold a match back until you are ready, finish with Publish. When you want fans to see it, select the eye icon on its row ("Make visible to fans"). Select it again ("Hide from fans") to hide it. The eye icon is disabled for drafts.

Read the status of an upcoming stream #

Each row on the Live Streams page shows a status. Upcoming streams sit in the Upcoming streams list. The statuses below are the ones you see before a stream goes live; the full list, including what happens after the broadcast, is in Streams: editing and reviewing.

Draft

Setup is not finished ("Setup incomplete"). The stream is not published and has no Live Studio button.

Live in (green)

A countdown to go-live. Green means the stream is ready to go live automatically.

Live in (amber)

A countdown to go-live. Amber means someone needs to go live manually in Studio.

Live in (red)

Either the feed is not arriving (the tooltip reads "Warning: No incoming video detected"), or the stream is set to manual go-live and its time has passed, so the countdown runs below zero.

M badge

Marks an upcoming stream that needs a manual go-live ("Manual go-live required").

Hiding or removing a scheduled stream #

• Hide it: select the eye icon on the row ("Hide from fans"). The stream stays in your list and you can make it visible again later.
• Remove it: open the row menu and choose Delete, then confirm in the Delete stream prompt. Deleting cannot be undone. Delete is not available while the stream is live or processing, and a stream fans have paid for cannot be deleted until those payments are refunded.
• Change it: click the stream's row to reopen the wizard with your saved values. See Streams: editing and reviewing.

How a scheduled stream goes live #

A stream set to go live automatically starts on its own at its go-live time. A stream set to manual go-live does not start on its own: open it with Live Studio and press GO LIVE, or switch GO-LIVE CONFIGURATION: to AUTO in Studio before the stream is live.

If a manual stream's go-live time passes, it stays under Upcoming streams for 4 hours with its Live Studio button, so you can still go live. After that it moves to Past streams as Not live.

Going live does not change visibility. A stream you published with Publish stays hidden until you make it visible. If Make available On-Demand is on, the replay is shown to fans after the stream is processed; use the eye icon on its row to hide it. The full process is in Live setup.