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Producing Content for TV

  • Updated

Note: Make sure the OTT getting started steps have been completed

The NCS OTT app supports the following types of sections:

  • Live Streaming: URL to HLS .m3u8 file
  • Video On Demand (VOD): An RSS feed of HLS videos
  • Play Now: An RSS feed of HLS videos. If the "Play Now Edition" front page design is chosen, this feed will be highlighted on the front page of the app

All videos (live and VOD) must be HLS .m3u8 format.  This allows for high quality playback on all devices.

Live Streaming

If you wish to not display live streaming content in the app - if for example you don't have live video content at the moment - the live streaming .m3u8 URL should return a NON 200 HTTP response code.  Said another way, when the app starts, if it is unable to reach the Live Streaming URL the app will not display the Live Streaming assets in the app.

Requirements

  • HLS .m3u8 format
  • Must have streams > 1.5 Megabits per second - targeting 720p or higher
  • Closed captioning must be in-stream EIA-608/708
  • URL must be HTTPS

Examples

VOD Feeds

VOD feeds can contain .m3u8 HLS URLs that point to BOTH live streaming video AND pre-recorded video.  For example the 1st item could be a recorded video, and item 2 could be a live stream.  This gives you total control over the content of the video sections in app.

Requirements

  • Feed must be RSS version 2.0 format with MRSS for media assets (video and thumbnails)
  • Videos within the MRSS must be HLS .m3u8 format
  • Must have streams > 1.5 Megabits per second - targeting 720p or higher 
  • Thumbnails must be 16:9 aspect ratio
  • Video and Thumbnail URLs must be HTTPS
  • The content-type of the RSS media item must be application/x-mpegurl.For example:
<media:group>
  <media:content type="application/x-mpegurl" url="https://example.com/hls.m3u8">	
  <media:description>HLS URL</media:description>
  <media:thumbnail url="https://example.com/img.jpg" width="540" height="360" />
</media:group>


Examples

VOD feed example: http://feeds.mobilelocalnews.com/examples/VOD-Example.xml

Play Now Feed

This is just a VOD feed that is highlighted on the front page of the app. Same specs as VOD Feeds above apply.

Entering your content and branding into our backend

  1. Once you have signed the OTT contract, a “Labs” tab will be available on https://publish.newscyclemobile.com
  2. Open up the “Made for TV” section and fill in all the information. The tvOS app icon is a bit complex to create. We can help you make this if needed, just let us know.