How to Edit the ‘Off-Air’ Text on your Live Stream

“The live stream is paused and may resume shortly”

…is how the message appears to your viewers on the player after you have ended your live event. While this is still the default message, you can edit the off-air text to explain what is going on with your live stream and its status. Here’s how.

Steps to Edit the ‘Off-Air’ Text

You will first need to do what you usually do to go live. Set up a Channel! Go to ‘WpStream’ and then ‘Channels’.

 

Here you can create a free or Pay-Per-View channel. In this tutorial, I am creating a free channel but you can check out this article on how to create a Pay-Per-View channel.

Here, add your title, description, a featured image, tags, etc. Edit your channel as you would usually do. Once you are done with that, click on ‘Publish’

You now have to click on ‘Start Live Event’ and wait about 2 minutes for your channel to go up. Then, you will find the option to go live from your browser or through an external broadcaster. I am using OBS Studio for this so click on ‘Go Live with External Broadcaster’ and a Server and Stream Key will appear.

Go to OBS Studio and click on ‘Settings’ and then on ‘Stream’

Copy paste the Server and Stream Key from WpStream into the respective fields on OBS and then click ‘OK’.

You can now ‘Start Streaming’ and access your live stream by going to ‘View Channel’.

This is how your broadcast will look like on your page

If you go back to the back-end and click on ‘Live Metrics’, you will see that you are unable to edit the message yet because you are currently live

Go back to OBS Studio and ‘Stop Streaming’.

Your live stream would have ended and the default message appears

Now that you have ended the live stream, refresh your ‘Live Metrics’ and you will find that you can now change the text

Go back to the page with your live stream and you will now see the newly changed text

You are now ready to try it out for yourself! This small tweak in your player could make a huge difference in the way that your viewers perceive you and your content- it’s an extra flare of professionalism that can be done in just under a minute.

Examples of Situations that May Need the Text Edited

If you are taking a break and are planning to return later, you may keep the default message. However:

  • If you plan to come back at a certain time and don’t want to keep your viewers waiting cluelessly, you can add something like:

“The live stream will be back at 14:00 GMT”

  • If you are not planning to come back and the live stream has officially ended:

“The live stream has ended”

  • Planning to broadcast on another date?:

Join us next week- same time, same place”

  • Maybe you are in the process of going live but you want to have a few viewers before actually starting:

“The live stream is about to begin- Stay tuned”  

  • You are about to go live

“The Live Stream will Start at 14:00 GMT” 

Conclusion

Every one streams differently. There is no one way to do it right and many content creators are…creative. A streamer should never be limited and we continuously take steps to make your streaming experience with us the best possible. With just one text, have your viewers up to date with what you’re doing and keep them on their toes with the choice of words you display on the video player.

If you’re still not familiar with live streaming or want to know how WpStream, make sure you check out this article for more information.

Start your free trial with WpStream today and experience the ability to broadcast live events, set up Pay-Per-View videos, and diversify the way you do your business.

Beatrice Tabultoc

Beatrice Tabultoc

Beatrice is the digital marketing go-to at WpStream. She manages all things social media, content creation, and copywriting.

Start your free trial with WpStream today and experience the ability to broadcast live events, set up Pay-Per-View videos, and diversify the way you do your business.
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