How does a display decide what is playing?
Override before program entry before base program: the fixed order by which a display finds its content, and the placeholder when nothing is assigned.
3 minute readGetting startedUpdated: 10/25/2026
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Before you start
- For
- everyone who assigns programs or wants to know why a display shows something other than expected
- Prerequisite
- a paired display in your organization
- Where in the portal
- Displays › a display › Playback tab
Each display answers this question for every moment in the same fixed order. Once you know it, you can explain any surprising picture in a few seconds.
Three questions, always in the same order
First, the system checks whether an override is running right now: the manual intervention through the Show something else now card. If one is running, its content applies and nothing else. Neither a program entry nor the base program can overrule it. That is exactly why this card looks like an intervention in the portal and, as long as it is in effect, carries the heading Override is running.
If none is running, the display’s assignment counts. If a program is assigned to it, the program entry whose time window is currently running applies. If none applies, the base program runs. If several entries overlap, a fixed priority rule decides. If a scene, a playlist, or a media item is assigned to the display directly, however, that content runs continuously, without a weekly plan and without changes.
If nothing at all is assigned, the display shows the placeholder screen with your organization’s brand. The fleet then says Nothing scheduled, and the card in the Playback tab reports No program assigned. There is no organization-wide fallback content that steps in here: What a display should show, you tell it.
Finally, the content that was found is resolved. A scene runs directly. For a playlist, the element of the rotation that is due runs. For an automatic playlist, this is the sequence currently resolved from the source, not a stored order. That is why the content of a folder or a tag changes on the display without your doing. A media item runs in an endless loop. If the content is off air, the display stays blank as planned and states the time when it continues. That is a decision, not a fault.
Override beats program entry, program entry beats base program.
The same calculation as a timeline
The Playback timeline in the same tab shows this decision for a whole day as a bar, divided into Playing, Broadcast pause, and Nothing scheduled. A click on a section opens Period, Content, and the origin: from a program entry or from the base program.
Show composition unfolds the bar into What the sections are made of: the lanes Override, Program entries, and Base program stacked, with the lane Result below them. This tells you which layer won at which point.
What follows
- An unexpected picture almost always has one of three causes: a forgotten override, a missing assignment, or a program entry whose window is currently in effect.
- An override does not end on its own if you chose Permanent. It stays until someone clicks End override.
- A dark display is not automatically a defect. If Broadcast pause is shown with it, everything runs as planned.
- If two displays should show different things, they need two programs. A display carries exactly one assignment.
Related
Found what you needed? Then carry on in the portal — or set up an organization first.
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