The Programmer serves to create a program plan by scheduling program versions according to editorial and licence-relevant guidelines. As no trailers, commercials or design elements can be scheduled in the Programmer, a finished program plan will still contain remaining times (gaps) between the scheduled programs. These will be resolved in the Planner which represents the second scheduling application within the CreateCtrl Suite. To make the selection and the start times of the program versions easier and to support a commercial scheduling, a predefined slot template may be utilized in the Programmer. Slot templates are created in the Scheme. Although a slot template defines fixed start times, these can be modified and edited during the scheduling process. The Programmer also supports the allocation of material to each scheduled event. After completion, the program plan can be exported to various suppliers, media services, etc. and the air time planners can start working with this plan in the Planner.

Reference to ContentExplorer, Scheme and Planner

ContentExplorer: All programs that are scheduled in the Programmer are created and administered in the ContentExplorer. Thus it makes sense for the program planner to have reading or writing rights for the ContentExplorer. Here, the programs which are designated for being scheduled at a certain time/for a certain channel can be put into folders. These folders can be made available in the Programmer. In addition, all information on material sets, assets, licenses, contracts and commercials are mostly administered in the ContentExplorer in various dialogs. These, too, can be opened and used in the Programmer and Planner.

Scheme: The Scheme is an application for creating and editing a reusable slot template which can be used to support the scheduling process in the Programmer. The use of slot templates is very useful for the scheduling of series channels as they support the automated scheduling of series. Slot templates are also useful for the scheduling of commercials as they support the application of commercial breaks, of commercial price schedules and slot price modules.

Planner: Since a program plan is completed in the Planner and it often comes to subsequent changes during the scheduling process, it also makes sense for the program planners to have at least reading rights for the Planner.

Notice:

It is possible to open the same schedule within the Programmer and the Planner at the same time. However, when a schedule is open in one Application, it will only open in reading mode in the other Application; it is blocked for editing. As soon as a broadcast plan has been modified, the Programmer will display this by the event state In Planner. The work should be coordinated between the Programmer and the Planner.

Phase	Activities	Results
ContentExplorer	Creating contracts and licenses Creating and administering programs, series, etc. Administering material (material sets, assets, asset positions etc.) Administering commercials, Trailers, design elements etc.	Content management for use in the scheduling applications
Scheme	Creating and editing a slot template to prepare the scheduling of series Placing slots and slot strings with sequel and rerun connectors Planning of commercial breaks Applying a commercial price schedule	Reusable slot template
Programmer	Loading and applying a slot template Scheduling program versions for a certain period and channel Scheduling commercial breaks	Program plan with events for a certain period and channel
Planner	Scheduling on the basis of an existing program plan (Programmer) Import and export of ad breaks Filling the remaining times Scheduling of secondary events and layouts Ad sales overview / Ad check Export of the broadcast schedule	Frame-precise and complete broadcast plan, creation of a playlist, generating reports

Administering Program Plans and Plan Variants

A program plan can either be saved to the (default) overall planning on the database or it can be saved as plan variant under a certain name.

Administering program plans

A finished program plan is exclusively defined by the channel (service) and the date from/to as being a section from the overall planning. It is not saved by an optional name for each program planner but is saved directly to the database and can be opened by anyone with the respective reading/editing rights.

Administering plan variants

As the name plan variant already implies, a variant is an alternative schedule of the program plan that can be created and saved in addition to the program plan. It is saved to the database by naming it individually. By saving a plan variant as program plan the actual plan will be overwritten and the plan variant will receive the program plan status. The program planners thus have the option to create an individual program plan that will not come into conflict with the scheduling activities of other planners.