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NextGen Live redundancy and external monitoring

  • October 14, 2025
  • 2 replies
  • 51 views

Jon Elvaker
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Using the new NextGen Live streaming module with redundancy, I’ve encountered a workflow issue that I’d like some input on.

With the Live 1.0 module and redundancy you got the following:

  • A top level video ID you published to the audience, automatically handling switching between streams.
  • A Master video ID
  • A Backup video ID

All three of these video ID’s could have a short link URL published (i.e. https://bcove.video/12aBCd3 etc), which could then be shared with the producer or others on site for external monitoring. They would then be able to see how the Master and Backup video stream performed for the audience directly.

Using the NextGen Live streaming module, this three way separation is gone. All you get is the top level video ID that automatically handles switching. This means the only way to monitor the “end product” the audience sees for Master and Backup is to be able to log in to Video Cloud Studio and monitor in the Live module. Our producers on site are not meant to do this task as well, since we run the Live module with a tech team that knows Brightcove.

Is there currently a way to effectively be able to share a direct link to Master and Backup separately? I’ve been toying with the idea of inspecting the m3u8 playlist of the top level video ID to extract playlist URLs for Master and Backup and create new Remote asset videos for them, but that’s a very cumbersome workflow.

2 replies

Aurelio Galvan Martinez
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Hi Jon,

Thank you for describing your workflow so clearly — that context is really helpful.

You’re correct that with the NextGen Live module, the previous setup with separate Master and Backup video IDs (each with their own shareable short links) has changed. The new design intentionally consolidates everything under a single top-level video ID that automatically manages redundancy and failover. This behavior is expected in the current NextGen Live architecture.

That said, I completely understand the need to monitor Master and Backup streams separately — especially for production teams who aren’t directly accessing Video Cloud Studio. There’s already an enhancement request open for this capability, and our engineering team is evaluating options based on similar feedback from other customers.

If you could please share your account ID, I’d be glad to open a support case on your behalf so we can associate your account with the request and provide updates as it progresses.

Thank you again for raising this — feedback like yours helps us continue improving the NextGen Live experience.

Warm regards,
Aurelio
Brightcove Support


Jon Elvaker
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  • Author
  • New Participant
  • November 13, 2025

Hi Aurelio and thanks for reaching out.

I also sent an email to support in October to discuss this topic, and Sandhya created an enhancement ticket covering the following topics:

- Playback URLs for both Main and Backup Jobs
- Showing an On-air job in the Control Room
- Replacing the Thumbnail preview with Transmuxed stream preview
 

I guess that covers everything for now and we’ll have to wait and see if others reach out for similar reasons.

That being said, the stability and video quality of the NextGen Live module is great, especially when following the recommended 9 Mbps input stream settings on the encoders. Thankfully we’re also free of the 30 minute job creation/streaming window and can create/start/stop/restart live channels when it suits us. 🙂

Best regards,
Jon