Roku Direct Publisher

[mattjarvis]

Hi, I am trying to put our community TV channel on the Roku platform, and thought I had followed the instructions well. At first I tried adding the HLS stream as instructed with this URL, which we generally use for streaming out our content: http://tv.sheffieldlive.org/hls/main.m3u8 or the more easily editable http://tv.sheffieldlive.org/SheffieldLive.m3u - but I got the error: "The server returned an unsupported content type. Was expecting 'application/rss+xml', 'text/xml', 'application/xml' or 'application/json' but received 'application/vnd.apple.mpegurl'."

So I went on into the dev docs and tried to create a JSON file to host the stream: 

{
	"providerName": "SheffieldLive!",
	"language": "en-UK",
	"lastUpdated": "2020-03-15T02:01:00+02:00",
	"liveFeeds": {
		"id": "00112233445566",
		"title": "SheffieldLive!",
		"content": {
			"dateAdded": "2020-10-27T22:21:37+00:00",
			"videos": [{
				"url": "http://tv.sheffieldlive.org/hls/main.m3u8",
				"quality": "SD",
				"videoType": "MP4"
			}],
			"duration": 3600,
			"captions": "",
			"language": "en"
		},
		"language": "en",
		"thumbnail": "http://tv.sheffieldlive.org/sheffliveident.jpg",
		"brandedThumbnail": "http://tv.sheffieldlive.org/sheffliveident.jpg",
		"shortDescription": "SheffieldLive!",
		"longDescription": "SheffieldLive! TV Stream",
		"tags": [
			"linear",
			"news",
			"local"
		]
	}
}

But when I submit this, I get the error: "There was a transport-level error - (Unknown ERROR)."

Now, I know I ain't a great coder, so I probably rushed this and missed something out- can anyone spot what I did wrong?

Does someone maybe, perhaps, have a template file for adding a new live stream to Roku, or a simple explanation of how it should be done? Our community station would appreciate it, as am sure many, many more would too! 

Many, MANY thanks - stay safe and don't get too down in these testing times! 

[AaronMSpelling · Accepted solution]

Hi @mattjarvis  , in Roku Direct Publisher you can use only json or xml files.

the liver stream you want to show can be included in both but the "end file" must be one of this 2.

You need to compile your - let's say json file  , put the json on a hosting  then provide the link in the Roku channel set up.

If you search the forum you can find some samples for json files with videos ( you can use the same just use the live stream url for the video url )  , or you can use a software to compile the file ( there are some easy to use software's around) 

Also i saw in your example the SD video quality , maybe try a minimum of HD  ; the video format you used in your example is mp4  - the m3u8 format is HLS so you might want to use the proper data in your feed also.

Hope it helps.

[mattjarvis]

Many thanks @AaronMSpelling - I now have the live stream turning up ok! 

However, I don't get why now, the recorded programme (MP4) I want to add to the channel is not turning up in the channel.. Can anyone point to what I might have got wrong here? 

{
	  "providerName": "SheffieldLive!",
	  "lastUpdated": "2021-02-03T19:41:00+02:00",
	  "language": "en-UK",
	  "liveFeeds": [
		{
		  "id": "0c791280b5dd496cba324acaff630d68",
		  "title": "SheffieldLive!",
		  "shortDescription": "SheffieldLive! TV Stream",
		  "language": "en",
		  "thumbnail": "http://tv.sheffieldlive.org/sheffliveident.jpg",
		  "brandedThumbnail": "http://tv.sheffieldlive.org/sheffliveident.jpg",
		  "longDescription": "SheffieldLive! brings you the latest news and entertainment from the Sheffield, Rotherham and Doncaster region.",
		  "genres": [
			"news"
		  ],
		  "tags": [
			"linear",
			"live",
			"news",
			"local"
		  ],
		  "releaseDate": "2021-02-03",
		  "content": {
			"dateAdded": "2021-02-03T22:41:00+02:00",
			"videos": [
			  {
				"url": "http://tv.sheffieldlive.org/hls/main.m3u8",
				"quality": "SD",
				"videoType": "HLS"
			  }
			],
			"duration": 3600,
			"captions": [],
			"language": "en"
		  }
		}
	  ],
		"shortFormVideos": [
			{
			  "id": "0d33588befda16b0613a611307a50472",
			  "title": "The Mid Week Mix",
			  "content": {
				"dateAdded": "2021-02-03T23:27:51+00:00",
				"videos": [
				  {
					"url": "http://tv.sheffieldlive.org/replay/programmes/2021-02-03-2100.mp4",
					"quality": "SD",
					"videoType": "MP4"
				  }
				],
				"duration": 3600,
				"language": "en-GB"
			  },
			  "credit": [],
			  "genres": [
				"special"
			  ],
			  "tags": [
				"local",
				"music"
			  ],
			  "thumbnail": "http://tv.sheffieldlive.org/midweekmix.jpg",
			  "releaseDate": "2021-02-03T23:41:00+02:00",
			  "shortDescription": "DJ Adam H with fresh new sounds",
			  "longDescription": "Every Wednesday from 9-11pm Presenter and DJ, Adam H will be providing you with fresh new sounds over the airwaves... This show specialises in remixes of the tracks you love, guest DJs performing every week, from current celebrities, to up and coming artists. Tune in for that weekend feeling, Midweek. Message the show on facebook:themidweekmix or @DJAdamH on Twitter, for shout outs or requests."
			}
		  ],
		  "playlists": [
			  {
				"name": "misc",
				"itemIds": [
				  "0c791280b5dd496cba324acaff630d68"
				]
			  },
			  {
				"name": "short-form",
				"itemIds": [
				  "0d33588befda16b0613a611307a50472"
				]
			  }
			],
	  "categories": [
		{
		  "name": "LiveTV",
		  "query": "sheffield OR live OR radio",
		  "order": "most_popular"
		}
	  ]
	}

TV just has the live link option and not the other shortFormVideo. I have tried everything I can think of, and would really like to add weekly catch up of various shows to this if I can get it working. 

Any ideas?

[Baradanikto]

You haven't specified a category for the short form video. You'll need to define a category that uses the tags you specified for the short form.