Breaks, and why times move

A spot logged for :20 can air at :29. That is normal, and this page explains why.

A break time is a label, not a promise

Most automation clocks are a running order, not a timetable. A break starts whenever the songs before it finish, so the real air time can move by several minutes from one hour to the next.

The minute shown next to a break is how Cartwright and your automation system agree on which break a spot belongs in. It names the break. It does not promise the minute it airs.

So a spot logged at 20 past that airs at 29 past has not gone wrong. It aired in the right break.

Different hours can have different breaks

Your station's hours do not all have to look the same. A morning show often has its breaks at different minutes from the rest of the day.

Cartwright follows each hour's own breaks. A spot is only scheduled into a break that hour really has. If you compare two hours side by side and the times do not line up, this is usually why.

Your streaming service's time is not yours

If your stream carries network ads, your streaming service owns part of every hour, and that time is not yours to sell. Cartwright takes that time out before it schedules your spots. Set it in Settings.

Reserve the time the service is owed, not the time it usually uses. It can use all of its time whenever it wants. If you only reserve what it usually uses, you can end up selling more time than the hour has.

Daily Log counts that time separately from your own spots. It hides those breaks by default, because there can be many more of them than your own spots. The totals still include them.

Break order

Inside a break, the order is always the same:

Local spot ← yours, from the traffic log Z-Buffer Network spot ← your streaming service Rejoiner

Your local spots always play before the buffer and the network ads.

Why an hour can run long

Nothing cuts a break short. A break is as long as whatever is in it.

If a break is too full, the hour runs long. The top of the next hour arrives late, and real programming gets pushed off the end.

That is why Cartwright lists a spot as unplaced instead of squeezing it in. An unplaced spot is a makegood you can settle later. An overfull hour takes something off the air.

Reconciliation

After a day airs, Cartwright reads the as-run (your automation system's record of what really played). It matches what played against what was scheduled, allowing for the drift described above.

By default, a spot that played within 10 minutes of its logged time counts as aired. One that played further away than that is worth a look.