Systems and methods for automation fallback for retrieving and playing content

1. A playout system for providing failure recovery, comprising:

a network interface configured to receive a hierarchical automation schedule comprising a plurality of nodes distributed in a plurality of tiers, each node associated with at least one other node in a different tier in a parent-child relationship; and

a router configured to:

identify, from the hierarchical automation schedule, a first item of content indicated for playback at a first time in a first node of the hierarchical automation schedule, the first node associated with a broadcast region served by the playout system;

determine that the first item of content is available for playback responsive to one of successful receipt of an input media stream comprising the first item of content or a presence of the first item of content in a storage device of the playout system;

connect, at the first time, a corresponding one of the input media stream or a decoder decoding the first item of content to an output of the playout system, so as to output the first item of content;

identify a second item of content indicated for playback at a second time in the first node of the hierarchical automation schedule;

determine that the second item of content is not available for playback responsive to one of an unsuccessful receipt of a second input media stream comprising the second item of content or an absence of the second item of content in the storage device of the playout system;

iteratively search each parent node of the first node in the hierarchical automation schedule for a node identifying a third item of content, responsive to the determination that the second item of content is not available for playback;

determine that the third item of content is available for playback responsive to one of successful receipt of a third input media stream comprising the third item of content or a presence of the third item of content in the storage device of the playout system; and

connect a corresponding one of the second input media stream or a decoder decoding the third item of content to an output of the playout system, by the router, so as to output the third item of content.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the router is further configured to iteratively search each parent node of the first node by identifying a parent node of the first node corresponding to a region comprising the broadcast region served by the playout system and at least one additional broadcast region, the parent node indicating playback of the third item of content at the second time.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein a parent node of the first node identifies a different item of content for playback at the first time.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the network interface is further configured to receive a first automation schedule comprising the identifications of the first item of content and the second item of content in the first node, and a second automation schedule comprising the identification of the third item of content in a second node identified as a parent of the first node; and

wherein the router is further configured to aggregate the first automation schedule and the second automation schedule to generate the hierarchical automation schedule.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the router is further configured to iteratively search each parent node of the hierarchical automation schedule by:

identifying a first parent node of the first node identifying a fourth item of content, responsive to the determination that the second item of content is not available for playback;

determining that the fourth item of content is not available for playback; and

identifying a second parent node of the first node identifying the third item of content, responsive to the determination that the fourth item of content is not available for playback, wherein the second parent node is a parent of the first parent node in the hierarchical automation schedule.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the router is further configured to iteratively search each parent node of the hierarchical automation schedule by:

identifying a first parent node of the first node, responsive to the determination that the second item of content is not available for playback;

determining that the first parent node is not associated with an identification of an item of content for playback; and

identifying a second parent node of the first node identifying the third item of content, responsive to the determination that the first parent node is not associated with an identification of an item of content for playback, wherein the second parent node is a parent of the first parent node in the hierarchical automation schedule.

7. A playout system for providing fallback recovery, comprising:

a storage device storing a hierarchical automation schedule comprising a plurality of nodes distributed in a plurality of tiers; and

a router configured to:

determine that a first item of content is not available for playback, the first item of content identified in a first node of the hierarchical automation schedule;

iteratively search the hierarchical automation schedule for a parent node of the first node identifying a second item of content, responsive to the determination that the first item of content is not available for playback,

provide the second item of content for playback responsive to locating the parent node; and

identify the first item of content indicated for playback in the first node of the hierarchical automation schedule, with the first node being associated with a first broadcast region served by the playout system,

wherein the parent node is associated with a second broadcast region containing the first broadcast region as a subregion.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the router is further configured to identify an absence of the first item of content in the storage device; and wherein the determination is based on the identification.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein the router is further configured to identify unsuccessful receipt of an input media stream comprising the first item of content at a time corresponding to playback of the first item of content; and wherein the determination is based on the identification.

10. The system of claim 7 , wherein the router is further configured to retrieve the second item of content from the storage device.

11. The system of claim 7 , wherein the router is further configured to retrieve the second item of content from a remote storage device via a network.

12. The system of claim 7 , wherein the router is further configured to receive an input media stream via a network, the input media stream comprising the second item of content.

13. The system of claim 7 , wherein the router is further configured to:

identify a first parent node of the first node identifying a third item of content, responsive to the determination that the first item of content is not available for playback;

determine that the third item of content is not available for playback; and

identify a second parent node of the first node identifying the second item of content, responsive to the determination that the third item of content is not available for playback, wherein the second parent node is a parent of the first parent node in the hierarchical automation schedule.

14. The system of claim 7 , wherein the router is further configured to:

identify a first parent node of the first node, responsive to the determination that the first item of content is not available for playback;

determine that the first parent node is not associated with an identification of an item of content for playback; and

identify a second parent node of the first node identifying the second item of content, responsive to the determination that the first parent node is not associated with an identification of an item of content for playback, wherein the second parent node is a parent of the first parent node in the hierarchical automation schedule.

15. The system of claim 7 , further comprising a network interface configured to receive, from an automation server, a first automation schedule comprising the identification of the first item of content in the first node, and a second automation schedule comprising the identification of the second item of content in a second node identified as a parent of the first node; and

wherein the router is configured to aggregate the first automation schedule and the second automation schedule to generate the hierarchical automation schedule.

16. A system for automated playback, comprising:

a storage device storing a hierarchical automation schedule comprising a plurality of nodes distributed in a plurality of tiers; and

a router, associated with a first node in the hierarchical automation schedule, configured to provide an alternate item of content identified via iteratively searching parent nodes of the first node in the hierarchical automation schedule for playback, responsive to a determination that a primary item of content is not available for playback,

wherein the first node is associated with a first broadcast region served by the playout system, and a parent node of the parent nodes is associated with a second broadcast region containing the first broadcast region as a subregion.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the router is further configured to:

iteratively search the hierarchical automation schedule for a parent node of the first node identifying the alternate item of content, responsive to the determination that the first item of content is not available for playback.

18. The system of claim 16 , wherein the hierarchical automation schedule comprises a plurality of nodes distributed in a plurality of tiers, each node associated with at least one other node in a different tier in a parent-child relationship.

19. The system of claim 16 , wherein the router is further configured to determine that the primary item of content is not stored in a storage device of the playout system.

20. The system of claim 16 , wherein the router is further configured to determine that a media stream comprising the primary item of content has not been received by the playout system.

21. The system of claim 16 , wherein the router is further configured to identify a lowest tier node within the hierarchy comprising the identification of the primary item of content.

22. The system of claim 16 , wherein the router is further configured to identify a lowest tier node within the hierarchy corresponding to a broadcast region served by the playout system.

23. The system of claim 16 , wherein the router is further configured to provide the alternate item of content from a storage device of the playout system.

24. The system of claim 16 , wherein the router is further configured to retrieve the alternate item of content from a remote storage device via a network.

25. The system of claim 16 , wherein the router is further configured to receive a media stream comprising the alternate item of content via a network and provide the media stream for playback.

26. The system of claim 16 , wherein the router is further configured to:

identify a first parent node of the first node identifying a third item of content, responsive to the determination that the primary item of content is not available for playback;

determine that the third item of content is not available for playback; and

identify a second parent node of the first node identifying the alternate item of content, responsive to the determination that the third item of content is not available for playback, wherein the second parent node is a parent of the first parent node in the hierarchical automation schedule.

27. The system of claim 16 , wherein the router is further configured to:

identify a first parent node of the first node, responsive to the determination that the primary item of content is not available for playback;

determine that the first parent node is not associated with an identification of an item of content for playback; and

identify a second parent node of the first node identifying the alternate item of content, responsive to the determination that the first parent node is not associated with an identification of an item of content for playback, wherein the second parent node is a parent of the first parent node in the hierarchical automation schedule.

28. The system of claim 16 , wherein the router is further configured to aggregate a plurality of automation schedules associated with a corresponding plurality of nodes to generate the hierarchical automation schedule.