Alternative 'News Cart' automated News method (recommended)

As well as the timing method described elsewhere, you can also use hardware attached to a Cart to switch IRN (and other external services) on and off. To do this, you need to record a Cart that consists of an introduction and then either a 'bed' or silence for the duration of the news. You can also have a 'news out' section on the Cart if you wish. You then set the Hook section to cover the period that the news covers. Finally you set the News Hardware Line to be 'set' at the beginning of the Hook and then 'clear' at the end of the Hook. So the Cart may be something like this:

The first thing we need to do is create this News Cart similar to the example below (see News Cart Example Image).

If you are starting from scratch then you will need to find a blank Cart Slot and record the audio in the normal way setting the Description and Extro as usual. If you have already recorded the Cart on to the Audio Wall then highlight that Cart and click on the Edit button (Myriad v3).

Once you are in SmoothEdit Screen, set the Hook Start and End to be at the start and end of the 'bed' section as appropriate.

Then switch to the Hardware tab and set the appropriate hardware line to switch on at the Hook Start and off again at the Hook End.

Make sure that the Hardware Event at the Hook Start is set to Set (switch on) the appropriate Hardware Channel and that the Hardware Event at the Hook End point is set to Clear (switch off) the news hardware line.

Alternatively, if you are using Myruad v2, highlight the Cart you want to use and then click on Edit Cart (or use the right click menu option).

In here, you can type in the start and end position for the Hook, which should be the part of the Cart that will be playing during the News (this could be silence). Alternatively, you can click on the Set button beside the Hook Start and Hook Ends to set them accordingly.

Next, use the drop down Hardware (H/W) lists to the right of the Hook Start and Hook End to select the Hardware Line that is used to switch your News service on and off, set the Hook Start HW to 'Set' and the Hook End HW to 'Clear'.



Now, whenever this Cart is played in Myriad, it will automatically switch on the selected Hardware Line (which is the news switch in this example) at XX seconds in, and then switch it off again after 3 minutes and XX seconds. This will happen regardless of whether it is played manually or as part of scheduled automation.

Now that we have this Cart, all that remains is to schedule it to play at the right time. In AutoTrack, this is done very easily by adding the following sequence to the end of any Running Orders / Clocks (in AutoTrack v3) that you want to automatically play the news.

Make sure the Running Order is set to Run To Time as an Automation hour, then add the following entries to the end of the hour.


Absolute Time 59:40.00 - In our example, the news in is exactly 20 seconds.

Cart XXXX - Select the News Cart we set up earlier.


And that is it! The news Cart will start at exactly 20 seconds to the top of the hour, after 20 seconds, the News Hardware Line will be switched on and the Cart continues for another 3 minutes at which point the News Hardware Line is switched off and the Cart continues on to the Extro. In this way, the News Out can also be included in this Cart (but after the Hook section) meaning your entire automated news is handled by this one Cart.

WARNING - Playing this Cart will automatically open the news feed so you must make sure that it is well labeled and that your presenters are aware of what it does. Also, you should be aware that if you eject the Cart during the Hook section (i.e. when the news is switched on) then the News will not be automatically switched off (as the end of the Hook is never reached). If this does happen, simply play the Cart again and the News will be switched off in the normal way.


Search key words: IRN, INN, Sky News, automation, news, harwdare, external source, absolute time, back timed, top of hour.

Liam Burke - Broadcast Radio Ltd

Email: liamb@broadcastradio.com

Telephone: +44 1482 383700