Putting It All Together: Automating Your Station
Most stations running Cablecast start the same way: someone manually builds the schedule each week, places shows one by one, and sends Autopilot before signing off. That works — but Cablecast has tools that can take a lot of that work off your plate.
This article gives you a high-level look at how three tools — Autoschedule, Workflows, and Autopilot — can work together to run a leaner, more consistent operation. Each tool has its own dedicated article with setup details. This one shows you the big picture first.
The Full Automation Chain
For stations that also use the Producer Upload Portal, automation can start even earlier — before content ever lands in your schedule. Producers submit files directly through a branded upload link, and Cablecast creates the Show Record automatically once you approve the submission. From there, Autoschedule can pick it up, Autopilot puts it on air, and Workflows clean up the file when it's no longer needed.
The webinar at the bottom of this article walks through exactly this workflow end-to-end.
The Three Tools at a Glance
Autoschedule
Autoschedule fills your schedule automatically based on rules you define. You choose a fill type — such as pulling the top or a random result from a Saved Search, copying from an existing Show Record, or airing a single specified show — and set which time blocks each rule applies to. When you run it, Cablecast places shows in your schedule according to those rules — no manual scheduling required.
Autoschedule is best for stations that air recurring programming on a predictable rotation: public access submissions, council meetings, community announcements, and similar content.
Before you use Autoschedule, make sure you're comfortable with Saved Searches. Autoschedule relies on them to know which shows to pull from your library.
Workflows
Workflows handle what happens to your files automatically — on a schedule or when certain conditions are met. Common uses include archiving older content to a NAS, backing up files to a secondary location, deleting files that have aired a certain number of times, and restoring archived content when it's needed again. Mirroring is also available for stations running a shadow server configuration, where a second identical server replicates the primary and keeps the channel on air if the primary goes offline.
Think of Workflows as your behind-the-scenes file manager. You set the rules once, and Cablecast keeps your storage organized without you having to intervene.
Autopilot
Autopilot is the final step that puts your schedule on air. Once your schedule is built — whether manually or with Autoschedule — Autopilot commits it to playout by writing the event tables that tell your server what to play, when to record, and how to route signals.
You still need to send Autopilot even when Autoschedule builds your schedule. Autoschedule fills in the schedule view; Autopilot is what makes it happen on air.
Autopilot can be configured to send automatically at a set time each day, but this is intended as a safety net — not a replacement for manual sends. If Autopilot doesn't get sent during the day, the automatic send ensures it still goes out. For most stations, a manual send after reviewing the schedule remains the primary workflow. See Autopilot Settings and Email Notifications for setup details.
How They Work Together
These three tools form a natural sequence for automated station operations:
Autoschedule populates your schedule based on your programming rules.
Autopilot commits that schedule to air.
Workflows manage your file library in the background — archiving, cleaning up, and keeping storage healthy — so there's always content available for the next scheduling cycle.
A station running all three can go from an empty schedule to on-air programming with minimal manual intervention. Autoschedule fills the week, Autopilot sends it, and Workflows keep the library in order.
What You Still Control
Automation doesn't mean hands-off entirely. You'll still want to:
Review your schedule before sending Autopilot, especially around live events or one-time programming that Autoschedule doesn't know about
Set up and maintain your Saved Searches so Autoschedule pulls the right content
Configure Workflow rules to match your storage setup and content retention policy
Handle any gaps or conflicts that Autoschedule flags
The goal is to reduce repetitive manual work — not to replace your editorial judgment.
Watch: Putting Cablecast on Autopilot
This webinar walks through the full automation chain — from producer uploads and Autoschedule rules to automated Autopilot sends and Workflow-based cleanup — using a real station scenario.
Putting Cablecast on Autopilot: Automating Ingest, Scheduling, and Cleanup
In this practical support and training webinar, we’ll walk through how to dramatically reduce day-to-day scheduling workload in Cablecast by building a fully automated workflow—from content submission to playback. Learn how to use Producer Uploads to securely collect programming directly from churches, government agencies, and recurring producers, while capturing clean metadata and enforcing content policies. We’ll cover when to use auto-approval, how to configure branding and agreements, and how to ensure files are ready for air with minimal staff intervention. From there, we’ll demonstrate how to combine Saved Searches and Auto Schedule rules to automatically play the latest episode in a recurring timeslot—perfect for weekly services, meetings, and series programming. Finally, we’ll show how to use Smart Asset Management (SAM) workflows to clean up old files you no longer need, and how to configure automatic Autopilot sends so your schedule commits reliably every night. By the end of this session, you’ll have a blueprint for putting routine channel operations on autopilot—freeing your staff to focus more time on community engagement, training, and content creation.
Where to Go Next
Ready to set these tools up? Each one has a dedicated article:
Note: If you haven't worked through Level 2 yet, start there. Autoschedule depends on Saved Searches, and Autopilot builds on a solid understanding of how scheduling works in Cablecast.