MY NIS4 SCHEDULE PLANNING WORKFLOW

As a channel Schedule Manager, I am responsible for planning the programme schedule for my channel. I need to have all the tools at hand to easily review and copy part of all of existing schedules, create new programmes, move programmes and import playlists from external systems, such as our on-air sales system. And as my schedule is completed, I want to be able to transfer it to other external systems such as our EPG system and our news playout system. NIS4 gives me these tools and much more…

GETTING STARTED
When I want to work on a programme schedule, possibly months in advance of the on-air date, I first log into NIS4 and select which platform I wish to work on – television, radio, web, teletext or other. I select the Guide from the menu and the day I wish to work on, and a grid display is presented with programme titles, types of programmes, start and end times, under and over-runs etc. Easily identifiable icons also help me, such as letting me know if some programmes have run orders attached or are present on the EPG listing.

BUILDING AND MODIFYING THE SCHEDULE
Creating new programmes in NIS4 is as easy as clicking on “New Programme” and entering programme details into the TV Program window that opens. This includes title, type (live, disc etc), category (new, sports), timing and duration, templates and any descriptive text. On occasion I also want to copy or move programmes from other days. Again, NIS4 makes this easy and even includes automatic mechanisms for scheduling re-runs and complete series. NIS4 enables me to import schedules from external systems at the station, including airtimes sales, music scheduling, traffic systems and management systems. It’s just so flexible.

EXPORTING
And when I’ve finished my work on the schedule NIS4 I can export it to our various playout systems, such as our EPG system, our newsroom automated playout system and our management system. Alternatively, rather than the manual exports I prefer to initiate, NIS4 can be configured to perform these exports automatically every time I make a change, at the end of my work session or a set time before on-air.

From my perspective, NIS4 makes my schedule planning extremely efficient and reliable. Clear colour systems and icons communicate all the information I need to know, and creating, moving or copying schedules and programmes is simple.