Scheduling system VS BMS: What is the right choice for you?

What is the difference between a scheduling system and a Business Management system? Which one should you choose and why one is more expensive than the other? In this article, we will try to answer these commonly asked questions keeping the tone simple and non-technical.

The best way to start is by describing what the two system does:

• A scheduling system is a software used to create a daily 24 hours playlist or a non-linear playlist starting from programs (movies, TV Series, live events and others).
• A Business Management System (BMS) is a software used to handle a daily 24 hours playlist or a non-linear playlist starting from the rights and contracts linked with specific content (movies, TV Series, live events and others).

The ultimate goal of the 2 systems is the same: send a playlist to a playout system or for online distribution.

The main differences between these systems are 2:

1. The trigger point: The scheduling system is content driven, while the BMS is driven by deals. This is the main and most important difference: does your company have agents and a sales group to handle contract linked to the content you broadcast? Yes? Then probably you need a BMS. On the other hand, if your content is mainly self-produced it might be enough for you a simple scheduling system that permits to slot the content in a 24 hours timeline or in a list ready for OTT (Over The Top) platforms.

2. The planning needs: How do you plan your playlist and what is the timeframe? Do you define a playlist monthly or quarterly by knowing what is the exact content that will be on air (e.g. The Avengers, Arrow)? In this case might be enough a scheduling system.

On the other hand, if you have 2 different teams, one normally planning quarterly or yearly by category (e.g. Movie. TV series) and not by exact content and the other team (frequently called Traffic team) taking care of the content only on a later stage, then you need a BMS.

To conclude, we can see a Scheduling system normally used in small-medium entities, were the Traffic team is the one taking care of the entire daily playlist. A scheduling system is standard and does not differ much in functionalities comparing different broadcasters.

A BMS is normally necessary in bigger entities, where there are multiple teams with different permissions that works on parts of the chain (and one of these parts is the scheduling itself). A BMS has a standard base but is a software that has customized features to adapt to the workflow of the broadcaster, so each company will have a “unique” BMS that fits their way of working.

Keep in mind that there are many other points that have to be analyzed (like advertising, EPG, secondary events, billing, etc) but with these 2 simple directions now you know where to point your attention.

Now is your turn, do you have anything to add? Do you see these needs in your organization and how do you face them?