The "Catchup" service allows users to watch broadcast content for a limited amount of time after it has aired on a channel providing the catchup service. Catchup works similarly to recordings, in the sense that it is on-demand video that has been recorded from the live stream, but the service is licensed separately to users, it is available without specific input from the user, its availability is more limited, and catchup content does not count towards the user's recording storage quota.
Catchup availability
Each channel has its own catchup availability window configured (if the catchup service is available at all). The window is configured as a catchup "length", indicating for how long a program is supposed to be available as catchup after it has aired. A program is available as catchup from the point when its live broadcast ends for the amount of time indicated by the channel's catchup length. This means all programs are available as catchup for the same amount of time regardless of the length of the program.
Endpoints overview
| Endpoint | HTTP method | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
/api/catchup/v4/channels/{channel_id}/broadcast_slots | GET | Get a list of catchup content available for a given channel. |
/api/catchup/v4/ | GET | Get a list of the most watched catchup content available across all channels. |
Viewing Catchup per channel
A list of available Catchup content can be retrieved using the get catchup by channel endpoint. The amount of content returned depends on the channels configured catchup length. All aired content since current time minus the channel's catchup length is returned, except for individually blacklisted broadcast slots.
The endpoint includes the series resources in the response, allowing for convenient grouping of the content by series.
Viewing most popular Catchup
A list of popular Catchup content across all channels can be retrieved using the most popular catchup endpoint. The endpoint returns the top 100 most watched Catchup content currently available. The popularity metrics are updated once per hour.
The series are included in the response, allowing for convenient grouping of the content by series.
This API uses data posted to the playback info API to calculate catchup popularity. Therefore catchup playback information must be reported to the playback info API correctly by the clients or else there will be no popularity data.
Stream API Endpoint
| Endpoint | HTTP method | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
/api/v1/catchup/<broadcastSlotId>/relationships/streams | GET | Get information about playback streams which belong to a Broadcast Slot |
Use the catchup streams endpoint to get the playback streams for a catchup asset.
Migration from legacy
The legacy endpoint /api/user/guest/recording/catchup/group and /api/user/guest/recording/catchup/group/<groupId> is replaced by the get catchup by channel endpoint.
The legacy endpoint /api/user/guest/recording/catchup/group with param sort=catcup_play_count_desc is replaced by the most popular catchup endpoint.
The endpoint returns the set of broadcast slots as well as their related series. The series objects can be used to implement the same type of grouping as was available from the legacy API.