A "pigtail" is an audio file that must always follow the main ad to announce, for example, a sales period or special offers. The pigtails are always periodic, and can be different every day, or have weekly cadences or a broadcast period from / to. To add a pigtail we don't even have to use MB SPOT, it is sufficient that the standard ad is normally scheduled in MB SPOT as explained here: MB SPOT - PROGRAMMING AN ADVERTISING SPOT and that the pigtails are stored in the same folder as the main ad and that they are named with a certain method.

ONLY MB STUDIO PRO supports pigtails

To automatically broadcast a pigtail, simply deposit in the same folder as the standard ad, an audio file with the same name followed by a double underscore __ and followed by one or more of these values:

DATE

__date of the broadcast day in the format ddmmyy or ddmmyyyy

Example: Maurizio__25122026.mp3 will be broadcast only on December 25, 2026

NAME OF THE DAY

__name of the day of the week or more days of the week in the format first three letters of the day Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat or full name.

Example: Maurizio__sat.mp3 or Maurizio__saturday.mp3 will be broadcast on Saturday, Maurizio__mon__wed.mp3 or Maurizio__monday__wednesday.mp3 will be broadcast on Monday and Wednesday

MONTH

__mm name of the month or more months (first three letters of the month or full name of the month)

Example: Maurizio__mmfeb.mp3 will be broadcast aired only in the month of February, Maurizio__mmfeb+jun.mp3 will air both in the month of February and in the month of June.

You can also specify a range separated by - : for example Maurizio__mmfeb-apr.mp3 means that it will air from February to April.

You can specify multiple ranges separated by + : for example Maurizio__mmfeb-apr+sep-dec.mp3 means that it will air from February to April and from September to December.

You can also use the full name of the month: Maurizio__mmseptember.mp3 will air only in the month of September

NUMBER OF THE DAY

__dd day number (1-31)

Example: Maurizio__dd4.mp3 will air only on the fourth day of the month, Maurizio__dd4+18+23.mp3 will air on days 4, 18 and 23 of the month.

You can also specify a range separated by - : for example Maurizio__dd5-10.mp3 means that it will air from day 5 to day 10 of the month.

You can specify multiple ranges separated by + : for example Maurizio__dd2-9+23-29.mp3 means that it will air from day 2 to day 9 and from day 23 to day 29 of the month

START DATE AND END DATE

__start date__end date in the format ddmmyy or ddmmyyyy

example Maurizio__030926__280926.mp3 or Maurizio__03092026__28092026.mp3 will be broadcast from September 3 to 28, 2026

TIME OF DAY

__hh time of day (0-23)

Example: Maurizio__hh10.mp3 will be broadcast only in the time sequences between the hours 10:00 and 10:59, Maurizio__hh4+18+23.mp3 will be broadcast in the time sequences scheduled between 4:00 and 4:59 and between 18:00 and 18:59 and between 23:00 and 23:59.

You can also specify a range separated by - : for example Maurizio__hh5-10.mp3 means that it will be broadcast in the time sequences scheduled between 5:00 and 09:59

You can specify multiple ranges separated by + : for example Maurizio__hh2-9+19-21.mp3 means that it will be broadcast in the time sequences scheduled between 2:00 and 08:59 and between 19:00 and 20:59

EXAMPLES

in the advertising schedule of MB SPOT we have an ad called Maurizio.mp3

We put the pigtails in the same folder as the main ad and with the same extension (in this example .mp3)

If we want the standard ad to be automatically followed by a pigtail, we must put the pigtail in the same folder as the main ad with the name in the format name__code__code__code etc etc

Maurizio__25072026.mp3  <-- this file will be broadcast only on July 25, 2026

Maurizio__25072026__31082026.mp3  <-- this file will air from July 25, 2026 to August 31, 2026

Maurizio__25072026__31082026__mon__wed__fri.mp3 <-- this file will air from July 25, 2026 to August 31, 2026 but only on Monday, Wednesday and Friday

Maurizio__25072026__31082026__mon__wed__fri__hh9-13.mp3  <-- this file will be broadcast from July 25, 2026 to August 31, 2026 but only on Monday, Wednesday and Friday in the time sequences scheduled between 9 am and 1 pm

Maurizio__25072026__31082026__mon__wed__fri__hh9-13__mmjan-apr.mp3  <-- this file will be broadcast from July 25, 2026 to August 31, 2026 but only on Monday, Wednesday and Friday in the time sequences scheduled between 9 am and 1 pm and only from January to April

Maurizio__hh9-13__mmjan-apr.mp3  <-- this file will be broadcast only in the time sequences scheduled between 9am and 1pm and only from January to April

Maurizio__25072026__31082026__dd1-15__mmjan-apr.mp3  <-- this file will be broadcast from July 25, 2026 to August 31, 2026 but only from day 1 to day 15 of the months from January to April

IMPORTANT NOTES

1) the pigtails only affect audio files programmed in MB SPOT which, in the properties, have the stats set to Commercial

 

2) the pigtails are broadcast only if the standard ad is regularly scheduled in MB SPOT and has an active calendar.

3) the pigtails are loaded only when the time sequence is entered into the broadcast playlist.

4) The management of the pigtails is active only in MB STUDIO PRO.

5) It is mandatory to activate the display of file extensions in Windows: https://lazyadmin.nl/win-11/show-file-extension-windows-11/