Live reads
A live read is a spot the presenter reads on the air. You sell and schedule it like any other spot. The presenter reads the copy in Cartwright and marks each one read on Liners. That mark is your proof it aired.
Making one
1. Open Spot Library and choose New spot. 2. Type the copy in the script field. 3. Do not upload any audio. That is what makes it a live read. 4. Add the spot to an order, like any other spot. Cartwright schedules it into the log.
There is nothing to stage. A live read never goes to the on-air PC, so the Spot Library shows not needed where a produced spot would show whether its audio has arrived.
Reading them on the air
1. Open Liners. Each paid read shows its copy in large text, easy to read from a second screen. Sponsorship billboards show here too. 2. Read it on the air. 3. Press Mark as read.
Pressed it by mistake? Press Undo straight away.
On Daily Log, any day with live reads also shows a Live reads card. It lists the time, the advertiser, the copy and the marks made so far.
Why live reads stay out of the automation
An automation system can only prove that an audio file played. A live read has no file, so the presenter's mark is the record that it aired.
That is why Cartwright leaves live reads and billboards out of the log it sends to your automation system.
Copy length
Copy can be up to 500 characters, about a :30 read. The field stops you at the limit, so the end of the copy is never cut off without you seeing it.
Still stuck?
Email hello@cartwright.fm. One person reads it, and you will get a real answer rather than a ticket number.
What we can help with: exactly what Cartwright did, and what your automation system said back — we read its import log and put it in plain words.
What we cannot do is set up another company's software for you. If the fix is a setting inside your automation system, that is a question for its support desk, and we will tell you so rather than guess.