Frequently Asked Questions

This is a video commerce platform where creators and organizations publish, sell, and stream video content. You can browse organizations, channels, and videos — and purchase access to premium content from the creators you love.

Content is organized in a hierarchy:

- **Organizations** are the top-level entities (like a sports league or media company)
- **Channels** belong to organizations and group related videos
- **Videos** are the individual pieces of content
- **Playlists** are curated collections of videos

You can browse by organization, channel, or discover individual videos directly.

It depends on the content. Some videos are free and available to everyone without an account. Premium content requires you to create an account and purchase access (buy, rent, or subscribe). Creating an account is free and only takes a moment.

Use the search bar in the top navigation to find videos, channels, organizations, and playlists by name or keyword. You can also browse by organization or channel to explore their full content libraries.

The platform works on any modern web browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge) on desktop, tablet, and mobile devices. Videos are delivered via HLS streaming, which is supported by all major browsers and devices.

An **organization** is the top-level entity that represents a creator, company, or brand. Organizations can have one or more **channels**, which are used to categorize content by topic, series, or theme. Think of an organization as a TV network and channels as individual shows or categories within it.

Click on any video thumbnail or title to open the video page. Free videos will start playing automatically. For premium content, you'll see the available purchase options (buy, rent, or subscribe) displayed below the player area.

The platform supports both **landscape** (widescreen, 16:9) and **portrait** (vertical, 9:16) videos. The player and video cards automatically adapt to the correct aspect ratio. Portrait videos are displayed with a constrained height so they fit comfortably on screen.

If captions are available for a video, you'll see a **CC** button in the player controls. Click it to see available languages and select the one you prefer. Creators can provide captions in multiple languages using AI-powered translation.

Yes! If you are logged in, your watch position is saved automatically. When you return to a video, it will resume from where you stopped. You can also see your watch history and "continue watching" list on your profile page.

After a video finishes, the **Up Next** queue suggests what to watch next. It prioritizes:

1. Other videos from the same organization
2. Content from channels you follow
3. Trending videos on the platform
4. Recently published content

If you're watching a playlist, Up Next follows the playlist order instead.

Free content may include advertisements (pre-roll, mid-roll, or post-roll) to support the creator. **Paid content** (content you've purchased or subscribed to) does not show ads by default. Ads help keep free content accessible to everyone.

Upcoming live streams appear on the organization and channel pages where they are scheduled. You can also follow channels to receive email notifications before a stream starts (24 hours, 1 hour, and 15 minutes before).

When a live stream is scheduled but hasn't started yet, you'll see a countdown timer showing how long until it begins. You can click **Notify Me** to receive an email reminder when the stream is about to start.

Yes! If chat is enabled for the stream, you can participate in real-time chat with the broadcaster and other viewers. You need to be logged in to send messages. Some streams may have slow mode or subscriber-only chat restrictions.

Yes. After a live stream ends, the recording is automatically converted to a regular video (VOD) that you can watch at any time. The original live chat is also preserved and plays back in sync with the video, so you can relive the experience.

When watching a recorded live stream, the chat messages appear in a sidebar synchronized to the video playback time. You can click on any chat message to jump the video to that moment. The chat scrolls automatically as you watch.

The platform uses AWS IVS for live streaming infrastructure, which supports large-scale audiences. You can see the current viewer count displayed on the stream page during the broadcast.

Click the **Sign Up** button in the top navigation. You'll need to provide your email address and create a password. After submitting, you may receive a confirmation email to verify your address. Once confirmed, you can start using all registered-user features.

On the login page, click **Forgot your password?** and enter your email address. You'll receive an email with a link to create a new password. The link expires after a set time for security.

Yes. Go to your account settings to update your email address. You may be asked to confirm the new email before the change takes effect.

Yes. Passwords are encrypted and never stored in plain text. Payment processing is handled securely through Stripe — we never see or store your full credit card details. All communications are encrypted via HTTPS.

If you need to delete your account, please contact support through the Contact Us form. Deletion is permanent and will remove your profile, watch history, favorites, and playlists. Active subscriptions will be canceled. Purchased content access will be revoked.

Your profile page is a personal dashboard with tabs for:

- **Organizations** you own
- **Channels** you manage
- **Playlists** you've created
- **Favorites** (videos, channels, and organizations you've favorited)
- **Following** (creators and channels you follow)
- **Watch History** (recently watched and continue watching)
- **Purchases** (your purchase history and active subscriptions)
- **Block List** (users and content you've blocked)

Every video you watch is automatically tracked. Your watch history shows two sections:

- **Continue Watching** — Videos you started but didn't finish, showing your last position
- **Recently Watched** — All videos you've viewed, in chronological order

You can clear your watch history if you prefer.

**Favorites** are like bookmarks — you can favorite videos, channels, or organizations to save them for quick access later. You can pin favorites to keep them at the top of your list.

**Follows** are for staying updated — when you follow a channel or organization, you may receive notifications about new content and upcoming live streams.

Go to your profile page and click the **Purchases** tab. You'll see all your transactions with status badges:

- **Active** — Currently valid purchase/subscription
- **Pending** — Payment processing
- **Expired** — Rental or access period ended
- **Canceled** — Subscription was canceled
- **Refunded** — Payment was refunded

Your profile is private to you. Other users cannot see your watch history, favorites, follows, or purchase history. Your username may be visible on comments you post and in live chat.

There are two ways:

1. **From your profile** — Go to the Playlists tab and click **Create Playlist**. Enter a title, optional description, and optional card image.
2. **From a video page** — Click the **Add to Playlist** button, then select **Create New Playlist** in the modal that appears.

Personal playlists are for your own use and are not searchable by other users, but you can share them with anyone by sharing the link.

On any video page, click the **Add to Playlist** button. A modal will appear showing all your playlists with checkboxes. Toggle the playlists you want the video to appear in. Changes are saved immediately.

Yes. Open your playlist and use drag-and-drop to rearrange the video order. The new order is saved automatically. You can also remove videos from the playlist by clicking the remove button on each video card.

When you open a playlist and click play, the first video starts playing. The **Up Next** queue follows the playlist order, and videos auto-advance when each one finishes. Your watch position is saved per-video, so you can resume where you left off. You can also shuffle the playlist for a random order.

Yes. Open the playlist and click the **Delete** button. This removes the playlist and all its video associations. The videos themselves are not affected — they remain available on the platform.

Creators can offer their content in several ways:

- **Buy** — One-time purchase for permanent access
- **Rent** — Time-limited access (e.g., 48 hours)
- **Pay-Per-View (PPV)** — One-time access to a specific event or video
- **Monthly Subscription** — Recurring monthly access to a channel or organization

Available options and pricing are set by each creator.

When you visit a premium video, you'll see the available offers displayed with pricing. Click the offer you want and you'll be redirected to a secure Stripe Checkout page to complete payment. After payment, access is granted immediately and you can start watching.

- **Tree access** — Purchasing an organization or channel subscription gives you access to ALL content within it, including videos added in the future
- **Grant-scoped access** — Access is limited to specific recordings that the creator has explicitly included in the offer

The offer details on the purchase page will indicate what content is included.

For rentals and PPV, your access window may not start immediately. Some offers include a **grace period** — for example, you might have 30 days to start watching, and once you press play, a 48-hour viewing window begins. Check the offer details for the specific terms.

Refund policies are managed by the platform. If you believe you are entitled to a refund, please contact support through the Contact Us form with your purchase details. Refunds for subscriptions, rentals, and one-time purchases are handled on a case-by-case basis.

Yes! Creators can mark individual videos, entire channels, or organizations as free. Free content is fully accessible without purchase. You can identify free content by the absence of pricing or purchase buttons — the player loads directly.

Go to your profile page and click the **Purchases** tab to see all your active subscriptions. From there you can view subscription details, change your plan, or cancel.

Yes. You can upgrade in two ways:

- **Change billing cycle** — Switch from monthly to yearly (or vice versa) for the same content
- **Expand scope** — Upgrade from a channel subscription to a full organization subscription to access all channels

When upgrading, you receive credit for unused time on your current plan. The upgrade takes effect immediately.

Yes. You can downgrade from an organization subscription to a channel subscription, or switch from yearly to monthly billing. When downgrading, you keep your current access until the end of your current billing period, then the new plan takes effect. You may receive a free trial period on the new plan to cover the transition.

Go to your profile > Purchases tab, find the subscription, and click **Cancel**. Your access continues until the end of the current billing period — you are not charged again. After the period ends, your access to the content will expire.

All payments are processed through Stripe, which supports major credit and debit cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, etc.) and other payment methods available in your region. Your payment information is handled securely by Stripe — we never store your card details.

Yes. Before confirming a subscription change (upgrade or downgrade), you'll see a preview page showing the price difference, any credits applied from your current plan, and the effective date of the change. You must confirm before any charges are made.

You can block users, organizations, channels, or individual videos. Look for the **Block** option in the menu on any profile, channel, or video page. Blocked content will no longer appear in your browsing experience.

Blocking an organization automatically hides all of its channels and videos from your view. This is hierarchical — you don't need to block each channel or video individually. However, if you've purchased content from that organization, you retain access to your purchases.

No. Blocking is completely private. The blocked user or organization receives no notification and has no way to know they've been blocked by you.

Go to your profile page and click the **Block List** tab, or navigate to **/blocks**. You'll see all blocked users and content. Click **Unblock** next to any entry to remove the block and restore that content to your browsing experience.

If you try to access blocked content by entering its URL directly, you'll be redirected to the home page. You must unblock the content first if you want to view it.

Scroll below the video player to the comments section. Type your comment in the text field and click **Post**. You must be logged in to comment. Comments support threaded replies (up to 2 levels deep), so you can respond directly to other users.

You can delete your own comments at any time. Deleted comments are removed from the discussion. Contact support if you need to edit a comment, as inline editing may not be available for all content.

During a live stream, a chat panel appears alongside the video. Type your message and press Enter to send. Messages appear in real time for all viewers. Some streams may have **slow mode** (limiting how often you can send messages) or **subscriber-only** mode (restricting chat to paying subscribers).

Content creators and their moderators can remove comments or chat messages that violate community guidelines. If your message was removed, it may have contained inappropriate content, spam, or violated the creator's chat rules. Repeated violations may result in a temporary or permanent chat ban.

Comments from users you have blocked are automatically hidden from your view. If you unblock the user, their comments will become visible again. Additionally, moderators may have hidden certain comments.

The affiliate program lets you earn commissions by sharing content you love. When someone makes a purchase using your unique affiliate link, you earn a percentage or fixed amount of the sale. There are two types:

- **Seller-sale affiliates** — Earn from individual creator/organization sales
- **Platform partner affiliates** — Earn from referring new organizations or users to the platform

Look for affiliate program listings on organization pages. Click **Join** and review the terms (commission rate, duration, etc.). You'll need to accept the legal agreement. Once approved, you'll receive a unique tracking link to share.

Each affiliate link contains a unique code tied to your account. When someone clicks your link and later makes a purchase, the platform uses **last-click attribution** — the most recently clicked affiliate link gets credit for the sale. Your link is valid for the attribution window defined in the bounty terms.

Commissions follow a lifecycle:

1. **Earned** — A purchase is made through your link
2. **Payable** — The commission clears the maturity period (typically 30 days)
3. **Paid** — The commission is transferred to your payout method

Commission amounts are determined by the bounty terms — either a percentage of the sale or a fixed amount. For subscriptions, commissions may recur for a set number of billing cycles.

Your affiliate dashboard shows all your active links, click counts, attributions, and commission history. You can track earned, payable, and paid commissions along with their status.

Yes. You can join affiliate programs from different organizations as well as platform-wide partner programs. Each program operates independently with its own commission terms and tracking links.

Navigate to your organization's dashboard and click **Upload Video**. Select a video file from your device — it will be uploaded directly to cloud storage. After upload, the video is automatically transcoded into multiple quality levels (HLS) for optimal playback on all devices. You'll receive a notification when transcoding is complete.

Videos belong to your organization but are placed into channels for browsing. After uploading, go to the channel where you want the video to appear and add it via the channel management page. A single video can appear in multiple channels — it's placed, not moved.

The platform accepts most common video formats (MP4, MOV, AVI, MKV, etc.). Uploaded videos are automatically transcoded to HLS for streaming. Both landscape (16:9) and portrait (9:16) orientations are detected and supported automatically.

Organization playlists are sellable collections of videos. Go to your organization dashboard and create a new playlist. You can add videos from your organization, reorder them via drag-and-drop, and optionally set up offers to sell the playlist as a bundle. Only videos belonging to the same organization can be added.

Yes. You can replace the video file while keeping the same URL, metadata, and purchase history intact. Navigate to the video's edit page and use the **Replace Video** option. The old version will be swapped out once the new file finishes transcoding.

Thumbnails are automatically generated from your video during transcoding. The platform creates sprite thumbnails (used for timeline preview scrubbing) and a poster image. You can also upload a custom thumbnail if the auto-generated one isn't ideal.

Go to the channel management page to see all videos placed in that channel. You can:

- Add or remove video placements
- Reorder content
- Edit channel details (title, description, images)
- Add playlists to the channel

Remember: removing a video from a channel doesn't delete it — it just removes the placement.

Open the video editor and navigate to the captions section. You can import captions by uploading a **WebVTT (.vtt)** file. The editor parses the file and displays each caption cue with its timestamp so you can review and edit individual entries.

The platform uses the **WebVTT** format (.vtt files). This is the web standard for video captions and is supported by all modern browsers. If you have captions in another format (like SRT), you can convert them to VTT using free online tools before uploading.

After importing captions in your original language, click **Translate** and select a target language. The platform uses AI (powered by OpenAI) to translate all caption cues automatically. Translation happens in batches in the background — you'll see real-time progress as each batch completes. The translated captions are stored and exported as a separate VTT file.

AI translation supports approximately 20 languages, including English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Arabic, Hindi, and more. The available languages are shown in the translation dialog.

Yes. After translation, the captions appear in the editor just like the originals. You can edit any cue's text, adjust timing, or re-translate if needed. Changes are saved when you export the updated VTT file.

When multiple caption languages are available, viewers see a language selector (via the CC button) in the video player. Each language loads its own VTT track.

Analytics are available at three levels: **video**, **channel**, and **organization**. Navigate to any of these and click the **Analytics** tab or link. You can filter data by date range (7, 30, 90, 365 days, or a custom range).

The analytics dashboard shows:

- **Overview** — Total views, unique viewers, total watch time, average completion percentage
- **Views over time** — Line chart of daily view counts
- **Retention curve** — Heatmap showing where viewers drop off (10-second segments)
- **Completion funnel** — Percentage reaching 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% of the video
- **Device breakdown** — Desktop, mobile, tablet, and other
- **Geographic breakdown** — Views by country
- **Referrer breakdown** — Direct, search, social, external, and UTM sources
- **Top videos** — Ranking by views (at channel/org level)

Analytics are processed in tiers:

- **Hourly rollups** — Updated approximately every hour
- **Daily rollups** — Updated approximately every 24 hours
- **Weekly recompute** — Full recalculation weekly

Raw event data is retained for 90 days. Aggregated rollup data is kept indefinitely.

The retention curve is a heatmap divided into 10-second segments. It shows the percentage of viewers who watched each segment of your video. High drop-off at specific points can indicate where viewers lose interest. Use this to optimize your content — strong openings and well-paced content improve retention.

Analytics data is currently available through the web dashboard. Each section loads independently for performance, so you can view specific metrics without waiting for the entire dashboard to load.

As a content manager, you can moderate comments on your videos and channels:

- **Hide** a comment to remove it from public view
- **Pin** a comment to keep it at the top of the discussion
- **Highlight** an important comment
- **Ban** a user from commenting on your content

Moderation actions are available via the menu on each comment.

During a live stream, you have moderator controls in the chat panel:

- **Delete** individual messages
- **Ban** users temporarily or permanently from chat
- **Enable slow mode** to limit message frequency
- **Enable subscriber-only** mode to restrict chat to paying subscribers
- **Pin** important messages to the top of chat

Banned users receive a notification that they've been restricted.

Viewers can flag content they believe violates community guidelines. When enough flags accumulate, the content may be automatically reviewed by Amazon Rekognition (AI moderation) and/or queued for manual review. Moderators can view flagged content, make decisions (approve or ban), and reverse previous decisions.

The AI moderation system (Amazon Rekognition) checks for 11+ categories including:

- Nudity and explicit content
- Violence and graphic content
- Drug use and paraphernalia
- Gambling
- Hate symbols
- Tobacco and alcohol

Content flagged as critical or high severity may be automatically removed. Medium severity items are queued for human review.

Yes. You can ban users at different scopes:

- **Recording-level** — Ban from commenting/chatting on a specific video
- **Organization-level** — Ban from all content across your organization

Platform-level bans are managed by platform administrators.

Click **Create Organization** from your profile or the navigation menu. Fill in the organization name, description, and upload branding images (card image, background, about image). Images should be PNG, JPEG, or WebP format, under 10 MB.

New organizations start in **probationary status** with certain limits until verified by the platform.

New organizations are placed in probation to prevent abuse. During probation, you may have limits on:

- **Daily upload count** — How many videos you can upload per day
- **Channel count** — Maximum number of channels
- **Offer count** — Maximum number of active offers

Probation is lifted automatically after your content passes quality checks (via Rekognition analysis), or manually by a platform administrator.

Verification can happen two ways:

1. **Automatic** — Upload content that passes AI quality/safety checks. Once enough content is verified clean, your organization is auto-promoted.
2. **Manual** — A platform administrator reviews your organization and grants verified status.

Verified organizations have their probation limits removed and gain full access to all features.

From your organization dashboard, click **Create Channel**. Enter the channel name, description, and optional image. Channels help you categorize content by topic, series, or theme. The number of channels you can create may be limited during probation.

Edit your organization profile to update:

- **Title and description** — Your organization's name and about text
- **Card image** — Thumbnail shown in listings and search results
- **Background image** — Hero banner on your organization page
- **About image** — Used in the about section

Images support PNG, JPEG, and WebP formats up to 10 MB. Recommended dimensions are provided on the upload form.

Organization owners can assign roles to manage their team:

- **Owner** — Full control over the organization (create/delete channels, manage offers, view financials)
- **Channel Manager** — Manage channel content and settings
- **Video Editor** — Upload and edit videos
- **Accounting Manager** — View financial reports, manage offers and discounts
- **Analytics Specialist** — View video analytics and performance metrics

Each role has specific permissions to keep your team organized.

Navigate to your organization dashboard and go to the Offers section. Click **Create Offer** and configure:

- **Recording** — Which content to sell (organization, channel, playlist, or video)
- **Offer type** — Buy, Rent, PPV, or Monthly Subscription
- **Price** — The amount to charge
- **Access type** — Tree access (all descendants) or Grant-scoped (specific items only)

New offers start as drafts. Activate them when you're ready to start selling.

- **Tree access** — Grants access to the recording AND all its descendant content. For example, an organization subscription gives access to all channels and videos. New content added later is automatically included.
- **Grant-scoped** — Grants access ONLY to recordings you explicitly add as grants. Use this for curated bundles or specific video packages.

You can manage grants from the offer's edit page.

For rentals and PPV, you can configure:

- **Grace period** — How long the buyer has to start watching (e.g., 30 days)
- **Viewing window** — How long access lasts once they press play (e.g., 48 hours)

The viewing window countdown begins when the buyer first plays the content, not when they purchase. If no grace period is set, the viewing window starts immediately at purchase.

Go to the Discounts section in your organization dashboard and click **Create Discount**. Set the discount code, amount (percentage or fixed), and optional restrictions. Discounts are organization-scoped — you manage them, and buyers apply them at checkout.

Note: Once a discount has been redeemed, certain fields cannot be changed to protect existing purchasers.

Yes, you can update the price of an active offer. However, you cannot change the **offer type** (e.g., from rental to subscription) or the **recording** it's attached to after creation. If you need a different type, create a new offer and archive the old one.

Archiving an offer removes it from public display and prevents new purchases. Existing purchasers retain their access — entitlements are not revoked. Active subscriptions continue until canceled by the subscriber. To reactivate, unarchive the offer.

When a purchase is made, the revenue is split between the platform and the seller (your organization). The split is 80% seller / 20% platform. You can view the exact split for each transaction in your Financial Reporting dashboard.

Go to your organization dashboard and click **Financial Reporting**. The dashboard has six tabs:

1. **Overview** — KPI cards (Gross Revenue, Net Earnings, Paid Out, Unpaid, Commission Costs, Avg Transaction), monthly revenue table, top recordings, recent settlements
2. **Revenue** — Breakdown by recording type, offer kind, and individual recording
3. **Content** — Per-recording performance (gross, net, transactions, discount impact, commission cost)
4. **Affiliates** — Commission costs, per-affiliate performance, bounty effectiveness
5. **Settlements** — Settlement summary, payout settings, payout history
6. **Discounts** — Discount impact analysis and per-discount performance

Filter by time period: 7, 30, 90, 365 days, or all-time.

- **Gross Revenue** — Total amount paid by customers before any deductions
- **Net Earnings** — Your take-home after platform fees, affiliate commissions, and discount impacts are subtracted
- **True Net** — Net earnings minus all costs (shown per recording in the Content tab)

The Overview tab shows all key financial metrics at a glance.

Revenue from sales flows to the platform first. Payouts to your organization happen according to your configured schedule:

- **Payout interval** — Weekly, biweekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly
- **Minimum amount** — Payouts only trigger when your balance exceeds this threshold
- **Payout method** — Configured in your organization settings (typically Stripe Connect)

Settlements have a 30-day maturity period before they become eligible for payout.

After a purchase is made, the settlement enters a 30-day maturity period. This protects against chargebacks and refund requests. After 30 days, the settlement becomes eligible for payout on your next scheduled payout date. You can see the maturity status in the Settlements tab.

Go to your organization settings and configure your payout preferences:

- **Stripe Connect** — Link your Stripe account to receive direct transfers
- **Payout interval** — Choose how often you want to be paid
- **Minimum threshold** — Set the minimum balance required to trigger a payout

Payouts are processed automatically on schedule. You can view payout history in the Financial Reporting > Settlements tab.

Yes. The Discounts tab in Financial Reporting shows:

- **Total discount impact** — How much revenue was reduced by discounts
- **Per-discount performance** — Each discount code's usage count, total discount amount, and affected revenue
- **Revenue with vs. without discounts** — Compare to understand the promotional effectiveness

This helps you evaluate whether your discounts are driving enough additional sales to justify the reduced pricing.

Go to your organization dashboard > Affiliates section > **Create Bounty**. Configure:

- **Commission type** — Percentage of sale or fixed amount
- **Commission rate/amount** — How much affiliates earn
- **Offer scope** — Apply to a specific offer or all offers
- **Duration** — For subscriptions, how many billing cycles the commission recurs
- **Optional discount** — Associate a discount code that gives the buyer a deal while the affiliate earns commission

You must accept the organization affiliate agreement before creating bounties.

- **Seller-sale bounties** — You create these as an organization owner. They reward affiliates for driving sales of YOUR content. Commissions come from YOUR revenue share.
- **Platform-partner bounties** — Created by platform administrators. They reward partners for referring new organizations or users to the platform. Commissions come from the PLATFORM's revenue share.

The same purchase can credit both types simultaneously from different funding sources.

You can only delete a bounty if no affiliate links have been created for it yet. Once an affiliate has generated a link for your bounty, it cannot be deleted — only deactivated. Deactivating a bounty stops new commissions but honors existing obligations.

The Affiliates tab in Financial Reporting shows:

- **Total commission costs** — How much you've paid in affiliate commissions
- **Commission by status** — Earned, payable, paid, and voided commissions
- **Per-affiliate table** — Each affiliate's link count, attributions, and total commissions
- **Bounty effectiveness** — Which bounties are generating the most sales

Use this data to optimize your affiliate program.

The platform has anti-double-dipping rules:

- **Same affiliate, same revenue pool** — If an affiliate qualifies for multiple bounties from the same funding source (e.g., two seller-sale bounties), only the highest-rate bounty is credited
- **Different affiliates or pools** — Independent affiliates and different funding sources (seller vs. platform) are credited independently

This ensures fair commission distribution without overpaying.

Before creating bounties, you must accept the affiliate agreement. This is a legal document that defines the terms and conditions of the affiliate program. Affiliates also accept terms when they join your program.

Content retirement is a graceful way to remove content from your organization. Unlike a ban (which is enforcement), retirement is an owner-initiated action. When you retire content:

- The content is hidden from public browsing
- Active offers are archived (no new purchases)
- Active subscriptions are canceled
- Existing paid users retain access during the **grace period** (default 90 days)

Retirement is reversible — you can un-retire content before the grace period expires.

Navigate to the content you want to retire (video, channel, playlist, or organization) and select **Retire** from the management options. A confirmation modal will show the impact:

- Number of active offers that will be archived
- Number of entitlements affected
- Number of subscriptions that will be canceled

Review the impact carefully before confirming.

Yes, as long as the grace period hasn't expired. Go to the retired content and click **Un-retire**. The content will be restored to public browsing. However, archived offers and canceled subscriptions will NOT be automatically restored — you'll need to reactivate offers manually.

After the grace period (default 90 days), the content is no longer accessible to anyone, including previous purchasers whose entitlements have been capped. A platform administrator can then permanently delete the content if desired. This is irreversible.

- **Retirement** — Owner-initiated, graceful removal with a grace period. Used when you want to remove your own content.
- **Banning** — Platform-enforced removal for policy violations. Immediate, no grace period. Managed by platform administrators.

Both hide content from public view, but retirement respects paid users with a transition period.

The platform supports video advertising with an inheritance model:

1. **Platform default** — Base ad configuration set by administrators
2. **Organization override** — Your organization can override the default
3. **Channel override** — Individual channels can override the org setting
4. **Video override** — Specific videos can override the channel setting

Each level can **inherit** (use parent setting), **enable** (show ads), or **disable** (no ads) advertising.

No. **Paid content automatically disables ads** unless explicitly overridden. If a viewer has purchased access to a video, channel, or organization, they will not see ads on that content. This is automatic — you don't need to configure anything. You can override this behavior if desired, but it's not recommended.

Three placement types are supported:

- **Pre-roll** — Plays before the video content
- **Mid-roll** — Plays during the video at configured intervals
- **Post-roll** — Plays after the video ends

For mid-rolls, you can configure the interval between ads and the maximum number of mid-roll breaks per video.

Ad configurations are cached for 5 minutes. Changes to ad settings (enabling, disabling, changing providers, etc.) may take up to 5 minutes to take effect for viewers.

From your channel or organization dashboard, click **Schedule Stream**. Set:

- **Title and description** — What the stream is about
- **Start time** — When the stream will begin
- **Estimated duration** — How long you expect to stream
- **Chat settings** — Enable/disable chat, slow mode, subscriber-only mode
- **Recording** — Whether to save the stream for VOD replay

Followers will be notified automatically as the stream approaches.

When it's time to stream:

1. Go to your scheduled stream and click **Go Live**
2. The platform provisions an AWS IVS channel and displays your **stream credentials**:
- **Ingest endpoint** — The server URL
- **Stream key** — Your unique authentication key
3. Enter these credentials in your broadcasting software (OBS Studio, Streamlabs, etc.)
4. Start streaming from your broadcaster — the platform detects the feed and begins playback

Viewers see a countdown timer that transitions to the live feed.

In OBS Studio:

1. Go to **Settings > Stream**
2. Set **Service** to "Custom"
3. Enter the **Server** URL from your stream credentials
4. Enter the **Stream Key** from your stream credentials
5. Click **OK** and then **Start Streaming**

Recommended settings: 1080p resolution, 30fps, 4500 kbps bitrate for optimal quality. The platform will transcode the stream for adaptive playback.

You can end the stream in two ways:

1. **Stop broadcasting** from your software (OBS, Streamlabs) — the platform will detect the disconnection and end the stream
2. **Click End Stream** on the platform — this signals the end and stops accepting the broadcast feed

After ending, the stream transitions to the "Ended" state. If recording was enabled, the VOD conversion begins automatically.

If recording is enabled, the live stream is automatically saved to S3 and converted to a regular Video after the stream ends. This VOD includes:

- Full video playback
- Chat replay synchronized to the video timeline
- Stream statistics (peak viewers, total views, duration)

The VOD appears in your channel like any other video and can be offered for sale.

The platform automatically sends email notifications to followers of your channel/organization at these intervals:

- **24 hours before** — "Stream coming tomorrow"
- **1 hour before** — "Stream starting soon"
- **15 minutes before** — "Almost time!"
- **Starting now** — "The stream is live!"

Notifications are deduplicated — each follower receives at most one notification per interval. Followers can opt out of stream notifications.

Yes. Before going live, you can edit the stream title, description, and start time. You can also cancel the stream entirely. Canceling removes any pending notification jobs so followers are not notified about the canceled stream.

After a stream ends, you can view:

- **Peak concurrent viewers** — Maximum number of simultaneous watchers
- **Total views** — Total unique viewers during the broadcast
- **Stream duration** — How long the broadcast lasted

These statistics are available on the stream summary page and in your analytics dashboard.