BLADE - Program Guide Generator

BLADE - Program Guide Generator

This is currently under development and is an early release beta version for preview and testing.

Use the Program Guide URL Generator to assemble the direct query URL for the program schedule content. This output is intended to meet the requirements of the AWS Program Guide. (Prime Video Linear Partner Integration Specification)

Setup

The following steps must be done before executing the program guide request so that the information is available to be included.

Channels

Assign the following dynamic fields to each channel

Field Name

Sample

Notes

Field Name

Sample

Notes

Guide Image Path

https:/site.ca/mmx/Channel1/images

The URL must be accessible to the AWS service to access them for use with the guide

Guide locale

en-CA

Identifies the language and territory of the related text (name, description, synopsis etc)

A list of valid locales may be found here: https://github.com/unicode-org/cldr-json/blob/main/cldr-json/cldr-core/availableLocales.json

TimeZone

Eastern Standard Time
Pacific Standard Time

It must be a valid Time Zone ID.
A Flow Admin user can find a copy of this list in the User Import module. Click the Valid ID Values button to view the list.

Programs

Assign the following dynamic fields to each program

Field Name

Sample

Notes

Field Name

Sample

Notes

genre

av_subgenre_talk_show_variety_news

Enumerated values are listed in the Video Central Genres https://videocentral.amazon.com/home/help?topicId=GGUTLEAY9WXZQD8C&ref_=avd_sup_GGUTLEAY9WXZQD8C (Global Genres) one ring code.
Up to three genres may be used per program.

keyword

News, Weather, Traffic, Sports

May be used as a search term for the program.

hero art

select an image/media item

Hero is without burned in title text.

cover art

select an image/media item

Cover is with burned in text.

box art

select an image/media item

Box art is studio created artwork.

title art

select an image/media item

Title is used in place of title text on detail pages

catalog type
(optional)

movie
other
TBA

Used by programs that are not a series. Programs that are a series will use a TV Episode type within a Series and Season.

catalog type
(optional)

auto-series

Used for programs like newscasts that don’t have episodes defined in the system so the program guide will auto-generate episode and season information.

description format
(optional)

{description} for {start:M}

{start:D} - {description}

Used with auto-series programs.

The M represents a “Month Day” date format; for more options see Standard date and time formats

synopsis format
(optional)

{synopsis} for {start:M}

{start:D} - {synopsis}

Used with auto-series programs.

The M represents a “Month Day” date format; for more options see Standard date and time formats

Auto-series Programs

The use of the auto-series catalog type is useful for News programs or other programs that are used repeatedly within a schedule but do not have explicit Episodes defined for them. To trigger the automatic creation of seasons and episodes from a program schedule you need to

In the program record

  • assign a dynamic field named catalog type with the value auto-series

  • assign a description format to automatically append appropriate date based text if desired.

  • assign a synopsis format to automatically append appropriate date based text if desired.

See the above Dynamic Fields table for more info on these fields.

image-20250718-191451.png

Dynamic Field Groups

You may want to define a dynamic field group to make it easier to assign the necessary fields to programs. Here is an example of what that might look like.

image-20250718-191708.png

Here’s a sample of how those fields would appear for easy selection and use in the Dynamic Field editor:

image-20250718-191935.png

And then when they’ve been applied to program they appear in the Used section

image-20250718-192047.png

 

Images

The images are expected to be in one of these aspect ratios:

  • 16:9

  • 4:3

  • 3:4

  • 1:1

Program Ratings

Assign the Rating System codes to existing ratings. There was a new field added for this purpose in 16.12.5.2.

Steps to Generate a URL

  1. Specify URL parameters, as defined in the following table.

  2. Click Generate to produce the query string in the specified format based on the parameters you set.

  3. Click Test to generate data in the specified format in a new browser tab based on the parameters you set. Use the Test function to view the format of the output with the current data available for your selections.

  4. Copy and paste the Query String generated in your platforms as needed.

 

image-20250115-152303.png

URL Parameter

Description

URL Parameter

Description

Format

Select the data format. XML only

Channel

Select a specific channel

Date

The date to produce the schedule for
- Report Start Date (select using the date controls in the Report Dates section below)
- Today (the current day when the blade request is made)