Live

A live channel monetizes a linear stream or a live event. Breaks are placed on the live timeline, and players watching the stream — at the live edge or behind it in the DVR window — receive them through the channel's Break Manifest.

Set up a live channel

A channel is live by default. Choose the timebase that matches the timing information in your stream:

• wallclock — breaks start at a UTC timestamp, matched against the stream's own wallclock timeline (EXT-X-PROGRAM-DATE-TIME in HLS, the segment timeline in DASH). This is the recommended timebase.
• pts — breaks start at a presentation timestamp on the encoder's timeline.

curl -X POST 'https://us.ads.optiview.dolby.com/api/v1/channels' \
  -u "$ADS_API_KEY:$ADS_API_SECRET" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -H 'X-Org-ID: <org-id>' \
  -d '{
    "name": "Sports main",
    "streamType": "live",
    "timebase": "wallclock"
  }'

The DVR window, live offset, and ad prefetch window settings tune which breaks the Break Manifest contains at any moment.

How breaks are created

On a live stream, breaks can be created in three ways, and you can combine them on one channel:

• Scheduled — create a break with a start time, ahead of time or on the spot. See Scheduling.
• Punched — prepare a break without a start time, and fire it when the moment comes, for example from your production control room. See Break punching.
• Detected — add your stream as an origin, and OptiView Ads turns the ad markers in the stream, such as SCTE-35 signals, into breaks. See Break detection. This replaces the ad breaks already in your stream (Dynamic Ad Replacement).

Events let you prepare the breaks of a live event, such as a match or a show, upfront. Templates store a break configuration once, so scheduling becomes a one-liner.

Besides breaks on the timeline, a live channel can carry event-triggered breaks: a pre-roll when the viewer starts watching, a pause ad, and a post-roll.

How players receive the breaks

The SDK polls the Break Manifest during the whole session. A break appears in the manifest shortly before it starts — within the ad prefetch window — so the SDK can prepare the ads, and it stays there while viewers in the DVR window can still reach it. Changes to a break, such as an earlier end, reach the players on the next poll.

Choose an ad source

Each ad source has its own page with everything you need for live: the break setup, what your app needs, the supported layouts, and troubleshooting. Live channels support both delivery modes of the hybrid platform:

Ad source	SGAI	SSAI
Static assets	Yes	No
Your ad server (VAST)	Yes	No
Google Ad Manager	Yes, with Google Pod Serving	Yes, with Google DAI

Related resources

Resource	Description
Getting started	Create a live channel and play your first break end to end.
Channels	Timebase, DVR window, live offset, and prefetch settings.
Breaks	Scheduling, punching, layouts, and the asset model.
Break detection	Turn the ad markers in your stream into breaks.
VOD	Monetize on-demand assets instead.