Cast Programs allow you to build interactive, on-air experiences — like a Question of the Day quiz or poll — that display branded content on your broadcast and sync with audience participation via QR code or embed. This article walks through setting up a Cast Program from scratch.
Key Concepts
Programs vs. Experiences
A Cast Program pulls elements from a base experience and formats them for on-air display. You're not putting the raw experience on screen — the program extracts those elements so they render correctly in a broadcast environment.
Scenes
Each program has scenes. For a Question of the Day, you'll typically use two:
Scene 1 — The question with the QR code (for audience participation)
Scene 2 — The results (displayed after the question period)
You can disable the results scene if it's not needed.
Channel URL
Each channel has a static URL that never changes. Your technical/broadcast team (e.g., your studio operator or graphics system) will use this URL to pull the overlay into your broadcast system. If you need separate URLs for different shows or segments, you can create additional channels.
Step 1: Navigate to Cast Programs
Go to Cast → Programs and click Schedule Program to open the builder.
Step 2: Configure Program Settings
Program type — Select the appropriate type (e.g., Question of the Day Quiz or Question of the Day Poll)
Program name — Rename it to something descriptive, like "Western Playland Daily Trivia"
Channel — Select the channel associated with your broadcast setup
Airing date — Set the date this program will air
Start/end time — Typically 12:00 AM to 11:59 PM to make it available all day
⚠️ Note: Nothing goes live automatically. All scenes must be manually triggered by the studio operator.
Click Create Airing to proceed.
Step 3: Build the Experience (Question & Answers)
Header image — Upload a branded image for the top of the experience (e.g., a sponsor or show logo)
Question label — Enter the question text
Answer options — Add your multiple choice answers. You can format them as buttons, blocks, or pills, and optionally add images to answers
Sponsor image(s) — Upload sponsor logos to appear within the experience
Step 4: Add a Post-Answer Call to Action
After participants answer the question, you can display a text block. This is where you'd add a message like:
"Thanks for playing! Click here to enter to win."
Include a link to your sweepstakes or contest experience. This is important if you're running multiple daily quiz programs that all need to funnel into one sweepstakes — the CTA is what connects them.
💡 If the sweepstakes experience isn't built yet, you can come back and add this link later.
Step 5: Preview Your Program
Click into your program and use the eye icon to preview how it will look on screen, including the QR code. The QR code should point to the experience URL (not the generic site) — verify this before going live.
To make edits to the underlying experience, use the pop-out icon to open the full experience editor. Most edits can also be made directly in the program builder.
Step 6: Going Live (Studio Side)
Navigate to Cast → Studio. On the scheduled airing date, your program's scenes will appear here.
Load Scene 1 (question + QR code) into the preview
Hit Take Live when ready to broadcast
When the question period ends, hit Clear Live
Load Scene 2 (results) and hit Take Live — results update in real time as votes continue coming in
Hit Clear Live when done
💡 The studio URL can also be used with third-party tools (e.g., Ross Studio) to control the overlay without logging into the admin.
Embedding the Experience on Your Website
Each Cast experience has an embed code, allowing it to be placed on your website independently of your main contests page. This is useful for:
Keeping a sponsored Question of the Day experience separate from other contests
Enabling exclusive banner ad placement for a sponsor on a dedicated page
Building Multiple Programs (Weekly Setup)
If you're running one question per day across multiple days, repeat Steps 1–4 for each day. You can build them all in advance — they'll appear in your program list sorted by date.
Naming tip: Use consistent, descriptive names so your daily airings are easy to identify in the list.
Tips
Create a test airing (set to today's date) to practice going live and verify everything is working before your actual launch
Votes update in real time on the results scene — any late participants will still be reflected
If running multiple quiz programs tied to one sweepstakes, build the sweepstakes experience first so you can link the CTA immediately