Last week we introduced a new parameter to the Visual Explorer that allows referencing a specific thumbnail frame in a broadcast to jump directly to that timecode. Today we are introducing a similar parameter designed to jump to a specific time offset from the start of a broadcast. Now you can simply use the URL parameter "&offset=" to jump to the specified number of seconds into a broadcast.

For example, to jump 12 minutes (720 seconds) into this House of Representatives debate from yesterday, just add "&offset=720" to the end of the URL like this:

https://api.gdeltproject.org/api/v2/tvv/tvv?id=CSPAN_20230522_200400_U.S._House_of_Representatives_U.S._House_of_Representatives&offset=720

When the page loads, the URL will be automatically rewritten to the Visual Explorer's internal native absolute Unix timestamp, allowing applications to simply jump to specific broadcast segments through offsets, rather than having to calculate timestamps themselves. This new feature will allow us to more closely integrate the TV Explorer and Visual Explorer interfaces moving forward – stay tuned for an exciting announcement later this week!