SCTE-35
The ad-insertion and content-boundary signalling standard m-cdn must preserve byte-for-byte across a switch.
What it is
SCTE-35 is the standard for signalling splice points in a stream — ad breaks, programme boundaries, blackout windows. In HLS these arrive as cue markers in the manifest; downstream systems (ad servers, players) rely on them landing at exactly the right segment.
Why it matters
Ad insertion is where a lot of live-video revenue lives. If a CDN switch or a manifest rewrite drops or shifts an SCTE-35 marker, an ad break can be missed or misplaced — a direct revenue and compliance problem. The markers must survive everything the orchestrator does.
How m-cdn handles it
m-cdn detects SCTE-35 markers and preserves them across CDN switches with sticky handling, so a mid-stream switch never lands in the middle of a splice. SCTE-35 awareness is a first-class behaviour of the live path; the orchestrator passes these markers through intact rather than re-interpreting them. (Ad-insertion logic itself belongs to your ad server and packager — m-cdn's job is to not break the signalling.)
Standards & references
- SCTE-35 — Digital Program Insertion Cueing Message