24/7 channel automation,
people step in only when called.
Point Media Tech's 24/7 channel automation moves master control staff from watching screens all shift to handling alarms. Scheduling, playout, ingest and MAM run as one system operated by exception, and one playlist drives the SDI main channel, the OTT linear stream and the FAST sub-channels.
Illustrative: Point Playout master control
One playout core,
driving every output.
The cost bottleneck in multi-channel operations is staffing, because on-air obligations do not shrink as channels grow. 24/7 transmission, programme scheduling, ad insertion and emergency switching all still need someone on duty, and the legacy answer is to stack people: master control, sub-control, dayside and overnight rotation. Once a station grows from a handful of channels to dozens of OTT and FAST sub-channels, that staffing model stops holding up.
Point Media Tech's Master AI Scheduler hands the repetitive part of scheduling to the machine. Rights-window conflicts, ad-load balance, audience distribution and seasonal adjustments are drafted by the system, and only the conflicts that need judgment go to the traffic editor. It does not replace expertise; it frees expertise from repetition.
Point Media Tech drives the SDI main channel, the OTT linear stream and multiple FAST sub-channels from one playout core. Each output has its own encoding profile, SCTE-35 insertion points and caption languages. Run each channel on its own playout system and operating cost climbs with every channel, and every promo swap, breaking-news cut-in or sports overrun has to be changed in each system. With one core, the change is made once and every output follows.
Before · watching everything
- An operator watches every feed for a whole shift
- Faults are caught by eye, usually after they have aired
- Schedule changes need engineering
- SDI, OTT and FAST are scheduled separately
After · management by exception
- The system sweeps continuously and calls a human only on a fault
- Black frames, silence and signal loss alert automatically
- The editorial team adjusts the playlist itself
- One playlist drives all three distribution paths
From scheduling to ingest,
one core for the whole chain.
- Playout automation systemPoint Playout is a software-defined 24/7 playout engine with SCTE-35 ad triggers, graphics overlay, emergency takeover and main/backup redundancy.
- Broadcast DDR video serverA media server for mainstream broadcast formats such as IMX, ProRes, XAVC and H.264/265, acting as the asset engine behind the playout core.
- Master AI scheduling and master control automationMachine-learning-assisted programme scheduling across rights windows, ad balance and audience forecasting, with conflicts confirmed by the traffic editor.
- Media asset management (MAM)A single source of truth from capture, cataloguing and transcoding to archive, so playout and scheduling use the same library.
- Smart Ingest broadcast ingest systemCaptures satellite, terrestrial and file sources, then triggers transcoding and MAM archiving automatically.
Taiwanese cable operator × hotel IPTV
"Standing up a new hotel used to mean dispatching engineers to run cable. Now we confirm the network is up and we are on air in two days."
— Hotel IPTV case study (anonymized)
A Taiwanese cable operator runs hotel IPTV services across Taiwan on Point's OTT delivery architecture: 99.97% system availability, 60% less machine-room staffing, new hotel activation cut from weeks to two working days, and channel switching under one second. Bringing a new property on air now needs a working network, not an engineer on site pulling cable.
Read the hotel IPTV case studyFrequently asked questions.
How much duty staffing can 24/7 channel automation save?
It depends on channel count, outputs and rota; Point Media Tech moves duty staff from watching screens all shift to handling system alarms only. In an anonymized hotel IPTV case, machine-room staffing fell by 60%. The staffing plan for your channels is worked out during the technical evaluation.
Can one playout system feed SDI, OTT and FAST channels at the same time?
Yes: Point Media Tech drives the SDI main channel, the OTT linear stream and FAST sub-channels from one playout core and one playlist. Encoding profiles, SCTE-35 insertion points and caption languages are set per output, and a promo swap or emergency cut-in is changed once.
If automated playout fails, does the channel go off air?
Point Playout runs main/backup redundancy with emergency takeover, and black frames, silence and signal loss raise automatic alarms that call the duty operator. The overall system carries a 99.9% availability commitment.
Will AI scheduling replace the traffic editor?
No: Point Media Tech's Master AI Scheduler handles repetitive work such as rights windows, ad-load balance and seasonal adjustments, and conflicts that need judgment still go to the traffic editor. The editorial team adjusts the playlist itself, without engineering.
Can we keep our existing library and ingest workflow?
Yes: Point Media Tech's Smart Ingest captures satellite, terrestrial and file sources and triggers transcoding and MAM archiving automatically. The DDR handles broadcast formats such as IMX, ProRes, XAVC and H.264/265, and playout and scheduling share one MAM library.
Let the duty team handle only the exceptions.
A Point Media Tech solution architect will map your current playout chain and design a 24/7 channel automation architecture that runs by exception.
Need help planning, rolling out, or running it? Explore our broadcast systems integration services