With PlayIt Live’s track dayparting, you have the ability to set clear boundaries for when each track is played, and when it’s not. This means you can create a broadcast that’s tailored for every hour, every day. It’s ideal for keeping your programming suitable for all audiences, as well as automating changes like promos or show announcements as the week progresses.

What is Track Dayparting?

Track dayparting allows you to control when specific tracks are eligible to play on your station. By setting up dayparting rules, you ensure that only suitable music airs at the right times – for instance, keeping relaxed tunes for the early hours or holding back promos for a show until just before it’s on. In PlayIt Live, you can apply these settings to individual tracks, meaning your playlists will always suit the time of day and the needs of your audience, all without the need for manual rescheduling.

Practical Examples

Track dayparting in PlayIt Live can be used in a variety of practical scenarios to shape your station’s sound throughout the day. Here are some step-by-step examples:

Scheduling slow songs overnight: If you want more relaxed or low-energy tracks to play when most listeners are winding down, you can set these tracks to play only between 10pm and 6am. Edit the track, open the Dayparting tab, and mark the hours 22:00 up to and including 05:00 as ‘Y’. Leave all other hours as ‘N’ (or blank). These tracks will now only play overnight.

Restricting explicit tracks to evenings: To keep daytime programming family-friendly, you might wish to ensure that tracks with explicit lyrics only air after 10pm. Set their allowed hours in the Dayparting grid to ‘Y’ for 22:00 up to and including the 05:00 hour, and ‘N’ (or blank) for the rest. This prevents these tracks from being played when children or more sensitive listeners are likely to be tuned in.

Top-of-hour announcements: If you have a collection of station IDs or news intros that should play at the start of each hour, add each one to a Track Group called ‘Top of the Hour’. For each track, set its allowed hour – for example, only select the 12:00 hour for the midday announcement. The scheduler will then choose the correct track for the current hour, so your programming stays accurate and up to date automatically.

These are just a few common ways dayparting can help you keep your output professional, relevant and tailored to your audience at any time of day.

Try Track Dayparting Today

See the benefits for your station first-hand – with a free trial of the Advanced Scheduling module, you’ll be able to set up time-specific music, announcements, and promos. Just head to Help > Licensing Information in PlayIt Live and click on Start Trial against Advanced Scheduling. You’ll soon discover how simple it is to tailor your output for every hour, every day.

If you are new to PlayIt Live, you can get started via https://www.playitsoftware.com/Products/Live