Publishing a Live Event to Facebook

In this topic you will learn how to publish a live event to Facebook using Brightcove Social.

The Brightcove Live to Social Media feature can be used to schedule and then broadcast a live event to Facebook all from within the Social module. To do this, the following tasks will be completed:

Scheduling a Facebook live event

Scheduling a Facebook live event in advance allows you to publicize the event to your Facebook audience before the event begins. Before a live event can be scheduled, a publishing destination for the Facebook site you are going to stream the event to must be created. For information on creating publishing destinations, see Creating Social Media Publishing Destinations.

To schedule an upcoming Facebook live video, follow these steps.

  1. Open the Social Module.
  2. From the Published page, click Create Live Event.
  3. Select the destination the event will be streamed to and then click Continue.
  4. On the Schedule a Live Event page, optionally, enter a Title and Status Message. These values will appear in the Facebook post announcing the live stream.
  5. In the Schedule section, use the calendar and clock controls to set the Event Date & Time for the event.
  6. Select the appropriate Time Zone.
  7. In the Live Settings section, configure the Facebook Live Video Settings as appropriate.
    • Allow embedding - If checked, video can be embedded on third-party sites
  8. Configure the Target and Rights sections as needed. Note that the Rights section will only appear if the connected account has access to the Facebook Rights Manager.
  9. Click the Add Custom Image link at the top of the page.
  10. Click Select Image to browse and select an image or drag and drop an image to use. This image will appear in the Facebook post announcing the live event. The preview image will update to display the new image.
  11. Click Ok, Got It.
  12. Click Schedule Event to schedule the event in Facebook.
  13. Click the View on Facebook link at the top of the page to view the post on Facebook.

Creating a live event

Before you can start streaming a live event, a live event must be created using the Live module. Live events created in the Live module will be available to broadcast using the Social module.

When creating an event in the Live module, keep the following points in mind:

  • If you create a recurring event, you can create the event ahead of time and activate it when you are ready to start streaming to Facebook.
  • If you create a regular event (non-recurring), the live event must be started within 30 minutes of the event being created. If you are using a regular event, it should be created right before you are ready to go live on Facebook.

For detailed information on creating live events using the Live module, see Creating and Managing Live Events using the Live Module.

To create a new live event, follow these steps.

  1. Open the Live module.
  2. Click Create Event. The Create Live Event page will open.
  3. Enter the Event Name and any required fields.
  4. For the Streaming to Social Media option, select Allowed.
  5. Select a Live Ingest Profile.
  6. Click Stream Options and select the Region closest to where your encoder is located.
  7. If you wish to create a recurring event, in the Advanced Options section, select the Create this as a recurring event using a Static Entry Point (SEP) option.
  8. Click Create Event. The Control Room page will open and display a Streaming Endpoint (RTMP URL) and Stream Name which will be used by your encoder.
  9. To connect a live event to a scheduled social event using the Live module, click Connect to Social Media in the left navigation. Note that the live event can also be assigned using the Social module.
  10. Click on an event and then click Connect.
  11. Click the Control Room link in the left navigation to return to the control room.

The Streaming Endpoint (RTMP URL) and Stream Name values will be used by your encoder. Start the live stream and confirm it appears in the Control Room.

Assigning a live event to a scheduled social event

If the live event wasn't assigned to a scheduled event using the Live module, the live event to use must be selected in the Social module. To assign a live event to a scheduled event using the Social module, follow these steps.

  1. Return to the Social module and edit the scheduled event. The scheduled event will appear on the Published page with a status of Live Scheduled.
  2. Click the Connect Video Source link at the top of the page.
  3. Select the live event from the Select Video Source dropdown list.
  4. Click Connect Source.

Previewing and broadcasting the live stream

Before previewing the event in the Social module, the live event should be started and should be visible in the Live module.

To preview and broadcast the live stream, follow these steps.

  1. If the event was assigned using the Live module, return to the Social module and edit the scheduled event.
  2. Confirm the stream preview appears. This is a preview from the Social module.
  3. Click the Preview Live Stream link at the top of the page and then click Preview. Click the Play button to preview the Facebook live stream. This is the stream that Facebook will broadcast so confirm it is as expected.
  4. To broadcast the live stream to Facebook, click the Broadcast to Viewers link and then click Broadcast Stream. The preview will update to show the number of viewers.

Click the Switch to Facebook player link under the player to view the Facebook player.

The live stream will also be viewable on your Facebook page.

As Facebook comments are added by viewers, they can be viewed inside of the Social module by clicking on the Comment Feed tab.

Ending the live stream

To end the live stream, follow these steps.

  1. Return to the Social module and edit your scheduled event.
  2. Click the End Social Live Event link at the top of the page and then click End Live Event.
  3. Return to the Live module to end the event and make sure to stop your encoder.
  4. If you were using a recurring event, return to the Live module and deactivate the event.

Completed events will appear in the Social module on the Published page. Clicking the delete icon () will remove the event from Facebook.