Franchises

Overview

A Franchise is the brand or parent of a series that does not have any episodes of its own but can include unlimited previews and clips. Some examples of franchises include:

• Masterpiece
• Ken Burns
• Digital Studios
• This Old House

Shows belonging to a Franchise are displayed on PBS.org via Curate, a PBS curation tool used to surface some content on PBS.org. If no shows are manually added via Curate, four of the most recently updated shows are added to PBS.org in a static carousel layout at the top of the franchise page. Check it out!

Viewers of your website can access Franchises by using the search feature, by viewing a show, or by clicking the Shows link in the top navigation menu. 

To request a Franchise, please submit a support ticket.

How to add a Franchise

Franchises can only be created by PBS. To have a franchise created, please submit a support ticket and include information where the "Required for Create" value in the table below is Y. (For the fields where the value is "Y" and there is a default setting, you do not need to include this information, unless you do not want the default value.)

Core Data

• Most of the fields in the Core Data tab cannot be edited by the Editor role. Editors may change:
  • Short descriptions
  • Long description
  • Genre
  • Availability to the Viral Player
• If you do make changes to the Core Data tab, be sure to click Save before leaving the page.

Figure 1

The following items are pre-filled and cannot be edited. You must contact PBS to request changes.

• Title
• Sortable Title
• Slug
• PBS Content ID
• NOLA
• Affiliation
• Created
• Updated

See the Glossary for field definitions

Additional Data

Additional Data is added to a Franchise in the same way it is added to a show. Please refer to the Additional Data section on the Show page for instructions.

Images

The images section holds all of the images that are associated with your franchise, including poster images and logos. These images appear on PBS.org, devices such as Apple TV and Roku, and apps.

Check out the image style guide to determine what image sizes you should use.

How to add images to your franchise

• Click the blue Choose button to browse for an image file on your computer and add it (Figure 1.1).
• Click the Select Profile dropdown menu and click the profile that is associated with your image (Figure 1.2). Only one profile type is allowed per franchise.

Figure 1

• The file name and profile display (Figure 2.1).
• When finished, click Save (Figure 2.2).

Figure 2

• When finished, all image links and thumbnails display. To view an image at full size, click the image URL (Figure 3).

Figure 3

How to edit an image

• Click the pencil icon to the right of the image you want to edit (Figure 1).
• Click the blue Change button.
• Select an image from your computer.
• The new image displays and the profile carries over from the old image.
• Click Save.
• The new image link and thumbnail displays.

Figure 1

How to delete an image

• Click the trashcan icon to the right of the image you want to delete (Figure 1).

Figure 1

• Click Yes, I'm sure to delete the image (Figure 2).

Figure 2

Availability

The Availability section controls user access to PBS videos depending on geo-location and the platform on which a video is being viewed. Editors are able to assign the geo-location at the Franchise level but should submit a support ticket to request platform availability changes. Privacy and Platform permissions can only be assigned by PBS at the Franchise level. Editors can make all Availability assignments on Franchise Extras. 

• Click the Availability tab (Figure 1.1).
• Click the Geo Availability dropdown menu and click the geographic area where this franchise should be available or not available for viewing (Figure 1.2). If the geographic area you are looking for is not listed, please submit a support ticket and specify the area to which you want the franchise to be available or not available.

Figure 1

• In the Privacy & Platforms section, click the toggle to display ON to prevent your Franchise content from being seen on platforms such as PBS.org. Click the toggle so that it displays OFF to make your Franchise available for viewing on all platforms (Figure 2).
• When finished, click Save.

Figure 2

Relationships

The Relationships section is where you can keep track of which shows are associated with your franchise and any producers and distributors affiliated with your franchise's content.

• The Associated Shows section lists all shows that are associated with a particular franchise (Figure 1.1). These assignments are made in the Associated Franchise field in the Core Data tab in a Show. This section provides an easy way to review shows that are associated with a franchise and ties all related to shows to the franchise, which is helpful when people search for a show on PBS.org. 
• The Producers and Distributors sections provide a place to keep track of all producers and distributors that are or have been associated with your franchise (Figure 1.2). This information is not mandatory and is mainly for your own record keeping. It will not appear in the Media Manager API.
• When you've finished making changes to the Relationships tab, click Save (Figure 1.3).

Figure 1