Roku Direct Publisher

[jwebster]

We started experiencing an issue recently where our live HLS feeds are starting playback at the beginning of the stream, rather than at the current "live" point of the stream. This is in a Direct Publisher channel, using "liveFeeds" content. 

Has anyone else seen this begin to happen recently? Any ideas how to correct it? 

[ZachSchuster]

I am facing this same issue. Brand new to Roku and Direct Publisher. The JSON file looks correct... is there some special attribute in the JSON file I need to add to tell Roku to request the video "at live"?

[sattun]

Here is a sample JSON with liveFeeds that works:

{
    "providerName": "OTTfeed.com"
    , "lastUpdated": "2021-01-22T21:01:43+00:00"
    , "language": "en-US"
    , "liveFeeds": [{
        "id": "GCUGbgJZalE6XOuIzJVV"
        , "title": "OTTfeed"
        , "content": {
            "dateAdded": "2021-01-23T17:20:46+00:00"
            , "videos": [{
                "url": "https://playlist.ottfeed.com/live/master.m3u8?channel=GCUGbgJZalE6XOuIzJVV"
                , "quality": "FHD"
                , "videoType": "HLS"
            }]
            , "language": "en-US"
        }
        , "thumbnail": "https://ottfeed.com/GCUGbgJZalE6XOuIzJVV/OTTfeed-live-image.png"
        , "shortDescription": "All-in-one feed management system for Roku Direct Publisher, Roku Channel and custom OTT apps"
        , "longDescription": "OTTfeed: All-in-one feed management system for Roku Direct Publisher, Roku Channel and custom OTT apps. All Content Types, Management Tools & Advanced workflows. For more info go to https://OTTfeed.com"
        , "tags": ["ottfeed", "live"]
        , "rating": {
            "rating": "UNRATED"
            , "ratingSource": "USA_PR"
        }
        , "genres": ["technology"]
    }]
    , "categories": [{
        "name": "Latest"
        , "order": "most_recent"
        , "query": "live OR ottfeed"
    }]
}

Download the file: https://ottfeed.com/GCUGbgJZalE6XOuIzJVV/OTTfeed-RDP-liveFeed.json

[CARTOONBLAST]

I'M HAVING THE SAME PROBLEM TOO.. THE STREAM JUST STOP WORKING.

[sattun]

Hi @CARTOONBLAST ,

Try the sample JSON with the live feed I posted earlier.

Also, if you decide to switch to a custom Roku app (SDK), take a look at our state of the art turn-key solution, here are some of the features:

- Support all types of monetization
- Support all content types (movie, live, series, episodic, shot form, tv specials and Audio)
- Built-in real time video and ad analytics
- Built-in authentication & authorization
- Custom layouts and dynamic backgrounds
And much more, for more information about our custom Roku app, go to https://ottfeed.com/roku.

Thanks,

[CARTOONBLAST]

 hi, sattun

i tried the sample feed and it still not working. also i've been streaming for months now with no problems. so when i added a new live feed to my channels yesterday it suddenly stop working.

[jwebster]

For what it's worth, in our case, here's what we found.

Roku Direct Publisher apparently starts playback at the beginning of whatever live DVR window is enabled in the HLS, but provides no DVR controls to "catch-up" to live. This became an issue when our DVR windows became larger. 

We worked around it by using an alternate HLS stream, one with a much more narrow DVR window than what we provide to other platforms. 

[ZachSchuster]

I can concur with jwebster. We're using Azure Media Services and the only solution we found was to add a 1-minute rewind window filter so when viewers start watching they start 1 minute behind live. But there is no way to fast forward or rewind. For our purposes, this is acceptable.

I don't know if this solution will be beneficial to anyone other than those using Azure Media Services.

[tsornin]

This is still a problem in 2024. HLS DVR livestreams don't start at the current time, they start at the beginning of the stream.

One workaround seems to be to seek to a high number:

m.videoPlayer.seek = 99999999