Introduction

crWebBB is designed to capture XStudio, DCS or Maestro system information pertaining to what's playing on the air right now and send it to a web site and/or to an RDS/RBDS encoder.

Capture Start Play Information

The serial data stream or TCPIP data stream, whichever is available from the audio delivery system, is used to capture the information. Connection to the host DCS or Maestro is made either with a direct serial connection or via our rcServer product, which makes the direct connection to the host machine and then "relays" the data to other applications using TCPIP. For XStudio, a TCPIP connection is used.

Decide What to Post

Once the identity (cart number) of the item that is playing is known, several methods can be used to determine what kind of information, if any, will be "posted" for further processing by an external application, with the end result being this information appears on a web site in the form of a "What's Playing Now" billboard and/or is sent to an RDS encoder. Methods include direct information (from Maestro), cart number lookup from the audio system's inventory, a music database contained within crWebBB (and imported from your music scheduling system), and "alternate messages" that are matched to a particular cart category.

For instance, when the application detects the start of play of, say, cart number M100, it can determine what audio type (or "category") this cart falls into - music, promo, jingle, commercial (or whatever else you care to define) - and then determine what kind of information to make available for a web billboard. In the case of a song, the information would a "slug line", song title and song artist. In the case of a commercial, it could be an "alternate message" that the user has created (3 lines worth) that instead says something like "listen to our radio station for the latest in what's happening at the stores". In the case of a promo, it could be something like "Join our morning crew at the auditorium this Thursday for the big giveaway".

Alternate Messages = Maximum Flexibility

Each audio type (or "category") may have as many alternate messages as desired. Each may have a start date and end date. Messages in a given category are rotated equally among those valid for a given date, with items not valid for a given date being skipped. If desired, you could even define messages that are linked to one specific cart number only - a way to have a message that is specific to one advertiser, for instance.

This scheme extends the possibilities beyond just posting information to the web that relates to a given song title and artist. With crWebBB, you can be creative about information to appear on your web site or RDS encoder for all of the non-music content!

 

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