How to set up a streaming event
TicketCo Media Services provides you with a paywall and authentication wall for your streaming events. For more information about this product, see our sales pages here. This guide will give you a good overview of how to connect your broadcast to TicketCo, but if you are after a more thorough walkthrough, please check out our TMS Welcome Pack.
Paywall
In order to view a TicketCo stream you first need to purchase a ticket. After having purchased a ticket you'll get a ticket via email and/or SMS with a link to join the stream. This ensures that only those with a ticket can actually watch the stream.
Authentication wall
The link you receive after having purchased a ticket contains proof that a ticket was purchased. The email and SMS also contains a reference number which can be used to open the stream on our TV app.
Getting started
In other to get started you'll need the following:
- A TicketCo account with streaming feature activated (if you are unsure whether this is activated, send us an email to support@ticketco.net).
- Broadcasting software of your choice that supports the RMTP protocol. We recommend OBS and you can find our guide for this software at the bottom of this article.
- Your own video and audio hardware
- A stable 12 Mbps upload connection. It's recommended that you have dedicated line for this as other devices and users on the same network can lead to reduced quality and lag on your stream.
- A computer connected to the network via ethernet. If you attempt to stream using a WiFi connection this can lead to severe lag and buffering times.
- A producer*
*On having a producer:
You will need someone to produce your stream. This means collecting all the the different video and audio feeds in a broadcasting software and putting it together into a single feed that you show your audience via TicketCo. This task is not to be taken lightly as it is one of the biggest contributors to the quality of your stream. You might have someone in-house that can do this for you or you might have to bring in outside help, but having someone in a producer role is not something you can skip.
Setting up your streaming event
- Get access to your TicketCo account if you have not done so already.
- Set up an event with ticket types. If you are new to TicketCo you should check out this article on how to set up your event.
- You can initially set up your ticket types with Category: Ticket, but note you will change this setting a little later.
- Go to Technical information and click on Create. If your event is longer than 4 hours, you will have to ask us to activate this for you, so send us an email to support@ticketco.net
- Go back to your ticket types and change the CATEGORY to Live stream. This is crucial as this is what gives your ticket buyers access to the stream. If you do not do this, your customers' tickets will not give them access to the stream.
Technical information
Under this tab, once you have created your streaming channel, you will find a video player and some different fields. You can monitor your stream on this video player - this will show you what your audience can see.
The Check Stream Link is the link directly to your stream, and the Producer Link is a link you can share with your production team which will give them access to this page.
When you activate your Start for 30 min test, you will see that the Primary and Backup Endpoints will contain the URL and Stream keys which you will need to input into your streaming software. Once the 30 minute test is over, these URLs and keys will expire, and the fields will show "not available yet" as above.
These fields will repopulate one hour before your event start time. Note that the Stream key and URL for your actual event will differ from your 30 min test.
You can add in your producers' contact information on this page if you wish, meaning that we know to contact if we notice anything that might need changing with your stream.
The ticket buyer journey
Once you have published your event and added the link found under Event details to your homepage and Facebook-event, people will start buying tickets. The purchase journey is straight forward and works the same way as with regular events.
When someone has completed a purchase they will receive a text message and/or an email that looks something like this:
For more information on how to view the stream they can click the "How does it work" button or go to this link: https://start.ticketco.events/uk/ticketco-ppv/
We would like to take this opportunity to remind you that we also have a TV app that your audience can download. More information can be found on the link above.
Broadcasting software
We recommend the OBS broadcasting software as a free alternative you can use to produce your stream. Please refer to our guide to the OBS software for more information on what settings to use, and we recommend sharing this with your producer. We would also recommend reading through the Production sections in our Welcome Pack which give you a thorough description of how to set up your broadcasting hardware and software.
Restricting who can view your stream
It's also important to consider who will be watching your stream, and you may want to restrict which countries your audience can view from. Remember to only select the countries where you have the rights to distribute the content. You will be able to add countries under the Geo-restrictions tab found next to Technical information.
Ready to stream
The stream will open 1 hour before the event start date/time set under Event details. This means that you can do some final testing at this time, and you can preview the stream under Technical information. You should also use the Stream Health tab to monitor your stream. Check out this article for more information about the Stream Health tab.
When you get to the event start date/time, those who have purchased a ticket will be able to join the stream. If someone tries to open the stream before the event start date/time they will see a message like this:
The screen on the left is the waiting screen with a countdown clock to when the event starts. The one on the right is an image we added to the broadcasting software to be shown when the event starts. This is to make the end of the countdown less abrupt and also to make sure you are completely ready before the stream starts.
It's recommended that you start streaming from your broadcasting software 15 minutes before the stream goes live.
Break a leg!
Webinars
We’ve also conducted several webinars on this and related topics. Especially worth mentioning is our webinar on the legal implications of streaming. Feel free to check them out here: https://start.ticketco.events/uk/tv/webinars/