How do I ensure my news bulletin always starts exactly at 30 minutes past the hour?

To ensure your news bulletin starts exactly at 30 minutes past the hour in PlayIt Live, you need to use a Hard Fixed Time Marker in your clock template.

Setting up the Fixed Time Marker: Go to Manage > Clocks and edit the clock that runs during your news hour. Add a Fixed Time Marker and set it to exactly 30:00 (30 minutes past the hour). Choose the Hard type rather than Soft or Not Before - this is crucial as a Hard Fixed Time Marker will cause any currently playing items to immediately fade out and stop at the specified time, ensuring your news bulletin starts precisely on schedule.

Example clock structure: Here's what your clock should look like:

Fixed Time Marker - Hard, 00:00 (top of hour)
Track Group - Jingles (station ID)
Track Group - A Rotation (song)
Track Group - B Rotation (song)
Track Group - Jingles (presenter link)
Track Group - A Rotation (song)
Track Group - B Rotation (song)
Track Group - Jingles (news intro)
... (add more tracks as needed to fill 30 minutes)
Fixed Time Marker - Hard, 30:00 (exactly 30 minutes past)
Track or Remote URL - News Bulletin (your news audio file or live news stream)
Track Group - A Rotation (song to follow news)
... (continue with content for remainder of hour)

Important timing consideration: You should include enough content before the 30-minute Fixed Time Marker to fill approximately 30 minutes of airtime. If you don't have enough items in your clock, PlayIt Live will automatically use your Playout Pattern to fill the remaining time until the Fixed Time Marker is reached.

Key points: The Hard Fixed Time Marker guarantees that regardless of what's playing before it, playback will stop at exactly 30 minutes past and move to your news bulletin. Any track playing when the marker is reached will immediately fade out and stop.

Scheduling the clock: Once your clock is configured, schedule it via Manage > Clock Schedule for the appropriate hours when you want news bulletins. The Fixed Time Marker ensures perfect timing every time without manual intervention.