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Content on TV is primarily focused on time management: broadcast news shows are a prime example of the balancing act of presenting the most important topics for the day while constrained by time. Some topics you naturally want to cover more, while others take a backseat and are relegated to being featured for less than a minute.

All of this extends to the entire TV industry as a whole, and Ontime is a free and open-source solution that is mainly about smoothing out production through a variety of tools to facilitate rundowns and event timers, displaying the necessary data in different layouts for any relevant parties involved: the production team, the performers, the operators, and the public.

The software addresses the organizational need of production teams in various TV productions for efficient coordination. Its interface adopts a modern, yet practical approach, enabling users to carefully manage events as needed.

A good example of this is the Eurovision template, which outlines the program’s strength in facilitating planning. Events can be created to segue from one contestant to the next, guide performers along backstage, while also informing the public about what’s next in the competition.

It’s also worth appreciating how the interface is designed to offer users all the required information at a glance. The prior, ongoing, and future events have sections of their own on the interface, each with their own set of notes, subtitles, and presenters.

Teams can stay up to date with their events by accessing Ontime via a localhost or Ethernet address. This web view has several ways of displaying data, from simple event timers and countdowns to the Studio Clock view. Interfaces for those backstage and the audience are likewise available, among others.

Cuesheets is a functionality that can be particularly useful for those needing to import custom event data from Excel, which the program will recognize and automatically integrate.

Ontime is a solution that was designed to offer production teams a dependable event management tool. Providing all such functionality in a free and open-source package is something that you don’t see quite often, making this a viable tool for amateur and professional teams alike.