Forum Discussion

Baradanikto's avatar
Baradanikto
Roku Guru
9 years ago

MRSS Feed Update Utility

Hi everyone....If you use the MRSS feed file, I'd like to let you know that I have written a program that makes it easier to create and maintain the feed file.  I wrote it to reduce the number of syntactical errors I was getting when I first started.  Additionally, it makes adding a new item much faster.  If you're interested, you can watch a screen cast at www.rokurowingchannel.com/Feed Updater.
Roku Direct Publisher

13 Replies

  • 37mediagroup's avatar
    37mediagroup
    Roku Guru
    9 years ago
    Cool, nice job. I was thinking something like that would come in handy when I was creating mine. A data entry field submission.

    Outside of language & syntax type stuff, is there much difference from json & MRSS?  They both seem roughly the same concept, sample feed & data entry replacement?
  • Baradanikto's avatar
    Baradanikto
    Roku Guru
    9 years ago
    Thanks.  You are correct in that the major differences between JSON (Java Script Object Notation) and the MRSS XML (eXtensible Markup Language) is the syntax.  JSON is the newer of the two frameworks.  Both are data interchange formats.  I chose MRSS because of the type of content I stream.  The content is not 'show' oriented with 'episodes'.
  • RokuTomC's avatar
    RokuTomC
    Community Moderator
    9 years ago
    JSON feeds include richer metadata. The two main benefits in a JSON feed over MRSS are:

    • Support for additional mediaTypes other than shortForm, such as series, seasons, and movies. These additional mediaTypes also exhibit different channel behavior, namely they launch into a springboard screen with additional information about the content before clicking into video playback.

    • Support for the "Continue Watching," "Most Popular," and "Recently Added" auto-generated categories
  • Baradanikto's avatar
    Baradanikto
    Roku Guru
    9 years ago
    RokuTomC, thanks for the further clarification.  But, can you also verify that JSON can be used for short videos (less than 20 minutes)?  If that's the case, I'll definitely try to update my code to support JSON sooner than later.
  • 37mediagroup's avatar
    37mediagroup
    Roku Guru
    9 years ago
    "Baradanikto" wrote:
    RokuTomC, thanks for the further clarification.  But, can you also verify that JSON can be used for short videos (less than 20 minutes)?  If that's the case, I'll definitely try to update my code to support JSON sooner than later.

    My site is predominantly shortform videos. Works fine with JSON.  The ads seem to only be preroll with RAF. I'm ok with it, but to answer your question JSON works with videos less than 20 minutes.
  • RokuTomC's avatar
    RokuTomC
    Community Moderator
    9 years ago
    "Pasnow" wrote:
    "Baradanikto" wrote:
    RokuTomC, thanks for the further clarification.  But, can you also verify that JSON can be used for short videos (less than 20 minutes)?  If that's the case, I'll definitely try to update my code to support JSON sooner than later.

    My site is predominantly shortform videos. Works fine with JSON.  The ads seem to only be preroll with RAF. I'm ok with it, but to answer your question JSON works with videos less than 20 minutes.

    Pasnow (and Baradanikto), only pre-roll ads will be served by default in a Direct Publisher channel. However, when using a JSON feed, you can include the optional adBreaks field to designate breakpoints for mid-roll ads. Note that this is another benefit of the JSON feed format over MRSS.
  • nabeards's avatar
    nabeards
    Visitor
    9 years ago
    "RokuTomC" wrote:

    Pasnow (and Baradanikto), only pre-roll ads will be served by default in a Direct Publisher channel. However, when using a JSON feed, you can include the optional adBreaks field to designate breakpoints for mid-roll ads. Note that this is another benefit of the JSON feed format over MRSS.

    We have the adBreaks key, but mid-rolls still never run for us.
  • RokuTomC's avatar
    RokuTomC
    Community Moderator
    9 years ago
    nabeards, what is the name of your channel? We are actively investigating a similar issue on other channels and can include you in a list of channels known to be affected.
  • nabeards's avatar
    nabeards
    Visitor
    9 years ago
    "RokuTomC" wrote:
    nabeards, what is the name of your channel? We are actively investigating a similar issue on other channels and can include you in a list of channels known to be affected.

    PCR On Demand (you may already have it on your list, not sure)
  • RokuTomC's avatar
    RokuTomC
    Community Moderator
    9 years ago
    Ahh yes, your issue is still under active investigation. We will followup with you via the ongoing thread with our Partner Success team. If there are any mandatory edits/updates required on your end (and, thus, on any publisher's end who's experiencing similar problems), then I will comment here as well for posterity.