We have implemented a custom S4M/Avatega asset scheduling process that reads data from the S4M data source and applies it to an Asset Schedule in Chameleon.

In 2025: Avatega replaces S4M for schedule data

The main pieces are

Read asset data
Create required assets
Schedule assets repeatedly and evenly through a 24 hour period.
1. but not during blackouts (scheduled in Flow)

S4M/Avatega Data Source

The data is stored in a SQL Server Database.

There are a couple tables that provide the data:

Materials:
- [COP_Uci].[uci].[available_s4m_spot_media]
Schedule
- 2025 Avatega: [WideOrbit_Schedule].[avatega].[playlist_adzone_events_vw]
- LEGACY S4M: [S4M_Schedule].[s4m].[dlevent]

We have built an ASP.Net Core minimal web API to access this data. This app is running in IIS. It has it’s own Application Pool (set to No Managed Code) and an Application in the Default Web Site. By using this type of access we can either pull the data live as json or use BLADE Runner to pull the data and post it somewhere else for access.

The published code is simply copied into the website folder to update it.

API Endpoints

Example endpoints using the new Avatega schedule view for 2025 Q3 to get the schedule

http://localhost/corusassets/schedule/event/CJBN?startDate=2025-04-09

To get the details for a material (data source unchanged from original)

http://localhost/corusassets/material/1011045

Example endpoint to get the BC1 station’s data for Jan 6, 2023:

http://localhost/S4M/schedule/event/BC1?startDate=2023-01-06

To get to the details for a material:

http://localhost/S4M/material/00032512

All materials in Ad Zones

http://localhost/s4m/material/

{	
	"dlhnumber":"01002051",
	"dlduration":450,
	"dldurationHmsf":"00:00:15:00",
	"dlspname":"9-GLOBAL TV TORONTO-Promotions Global",
	"spottype":61,
	"dleventtyp":19,
	"dlspotpriority":9,
	"dlspotproduct":"9-GLOBAL TV TORONTO-Promotions Global",
	"dlspotmediacode":"1002051_BC1_ADZONE1_HC_CTC_2022_AN_HOLIDAY_MOVIES_FRISATSUN",
	"order":801,
	"playoutCentre":"Calgary",
	"scheduleDate":"2022-12-09T00:00:00",
	"stationIdentifier":"BC1",
	"dlstart":"2022-12-09T10:01:00"
	}

{
	"onAirNumber":1002051,
	"filmNumber":1002051,
	"filmId":1002051,
	"filmName":"1002051_BC1_ADZONE1_HC_CTC_2022_AN_HOLIDAY_MOVIES_FRISATSUN",
	"filmLength":15,
	"commercialType":"Ad Zone 1",
	"commercialCode":"1002051_BC1_ADZONE1_HC_CTC_2022_AN_HOLIDAY_MOVIES_FRISATSUN",
	"accountType":"National",
	"advertiser":"GLOBAL TV TORONTO",
	"productName":"Promotions Global",
	"location":"Calgary",
	"status":"Available",
	"comment":null,
	"lastUsed":null,
	"createDate":"2022-12-01T17:59:08.597"
}

Asset Scheduler

Settings required include (with examples)

S4M Source Settings

Setting	Example Value	Notes

Setting	Example Value	Notes
Station Id	BC1
Live Url	http://localhost/corusassets/ http://localhost/s4m/	URL where the live data is accessible from
Use Live Url	true/false	True pulls data from the live URL False pulls data from the alt Url
Alternate Url	https://www.bannisterlake.com/dl/Global/S4M/BC1.json	Alternate location where a data file has been made available to use instead - same json format as the live URL (saved output)
Alternate Material Url	https://www.bannisterlake.com/dl/Global/S4M/adzoneMaterials.json	Alternate location where a data file has been saved with Material data pulled from the live URL.

Chameleon and Schedule Settings

Setting	Example Value	Notes

Setting	Example Value	Notes
First Hour of the Day	5	5:00 am
Repeat Count	40	Repeats each item this many times in the 24 hour period
Content Group Name	BC
Channel Name	BC1 Test
Media Bin Name	BC1 Zone Ads	Location of S4M media - named by the `dlhnumber`
Media Bin Content Group Name	BC
Project Content Group	Global
Project Name	L-Frame 2022 Ad Zones	Must have scenes named Ad Zone 1 Ad Zone 2 Ad Zone 3 Ad Zone 4
Media Field Name	media.media
Database User Id	Updater
Database User Password	password is set in an environment variable `FlowSettings__DatabaseUserWd`	Run as Admin: `setx FlowSettings__DatabaseUserWd "password" /M`
Flow Url	https://localhost/chameleon	URL of the Flow instance to populate the data into

Processing Steps