DocumentationAnalyticsStreaming media services guide

First air date

Last update: June 8, 2026

CREATED FOR:

  • Developer

This page covers data collection for the First air date variable. See First air date for the corresponding reporting dimension.

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The first air date variable is the date the content first aired on television. Any date format is accepted but Adobe recommends YYYY-MM-DD for consistency. Use it to compare engagement on new releases vs. catalog content.

Property
Value
Context data variable
a.media.airDate
XDM collection field
xdm.mediaCollection.sessionDetails.firstAirDate
Audience Manager trait
c_contextdata.a.media.airDate
Required
No
Sent with
Session start, session close
Web SDK

Set firstAirDate inside xdm.mediaCollection.sessionDetails when calling sendEvent:

code language-javascript 
alloy("sendEvent", {
  xdm: {
    eventType: "media.sessionStart",
    mediaCollection: {
      sessionDetails: {
        firstAirDate: "2016-01-25"
      },
      playhead: 0
    }
  }
});
iOS

Pass the first air date as a metadata key in the HashMap argument to trackSessionStart. Use MediaConstants.VideoMetadataKeys.FIRST_AIR_DATE.

code language-swift 
var metadata: [String: String] = [:]
metadata[MediaConstants.VideoMetadataKeys.FIRST_AIR_DATE] = "2016-01-25"

tracker.trackSessionStart(info: mediaObject, metadata: metadata)
Android

Pass the first air date as a metadata key in the HashMap argument to trackSessionStart. Use MediaConstants.VideoMetadataKeys.FIRST_AIR_DATE.

code language-kotlin 
val metadata = HashMap<String, String>()
metadata[MediaConstants.VideoMetadataKeys.FIRST_AIR_DATE] = "2016-01-25"

tracker.trackSessionStart(mediaInfo, metadata)
Roku Edge

Use createMediaSession to set firstAirDate inside sessionDetails:

code language-brightscript 
m.aepSdk.createMediaSession({
    "xdm": {
        "eventType": "media.sessionStart",
        "mediaCollection": {
            "sessionDetails": {
                "firstAirDate": "2016-01-25"
            },
            "playhead": 0
        }
    }
})
Media Edge API

Call the sessionStart endpoint with firstAirDate inside xdm.mediaCollection.sessionDetails:

code language-json 
{
  "events": [{
    "xdm": {
      "eventType": "media.sessionStart",
      "mediaCollection": {
        "sessionDetails": {
          "name": "video-123",
          "length": 128,
          "contentType": "vod",
          "playerName": "HTML5 Player",
          "channel": "Sports",
          "firstAirDate": "2016-01-25"
        },
        "playhead": 0
      }
    }
  }]
}

Legacy implementation types (Analytics-only)

Media SDK JS 3.x

Pass the first air date in the contextData object using ADB.Media.VideoMetadataKeys.FirstAirDate:

code language-javascript 
var contextData = {};
contextData[ADB.Media.VideoMetadataKeys.FirstAirDate] = "2016-01-25";

tracker.trackSessionStart(mediaInfo, contextData);
Chromecast

Use ADBMobile.media.VideoMetadataKeys.FIRST_AIR_DATE to set the first air date in the StandardMediaMetadata property of the media object before calling trackSessionStart:

code language-javascript 
var mediaInfo = ADBMobile.media.createMediaObject("My Video", "video-123", 128,
  ADBMobile.media.StreamType.VOD, ADBMobile.media.MediaType.Video);
var standardMetadata = {};
standardMetadata[ADBMobile.media.VideoMetadataKeys.FIRST_AIR_DATE] = "2016-01-25";
mediaInfo[ADBMobile.media.MediaObjectKey.StandardMediaMetadata] = standardMetadata;
ADBMobile.media.trackSessionStart(mediaInfo, null);
Roku 2.x

Use MEDIA_VideoMetadataKeyFIRST_AIR_DATE to set the first air date in the standard metadata of the media object before calling mediaTrackSessionStart:

code language-brightscript 
adb = ADBMobile()
mediaInfo = adb_media_init_mediainfo("My Video", "video-123", 128.0, adb.MEDIA_STREAM_TYPE_VOD, adb.MEDIA_TYPE_VIDEO)

standardMetadata = {}
standardMetadata[adb.MEDIA_VideoMetadataKeyFIRST_AIR_DATE] = "2016-01-25"
mediaInfo[adb.MEDIA_STANDARD_MEDIA_METADATA] = standardMetadata

adb.mediaTrackSessionStart(mediaInfo, invalid)
Media Collection API

Include media.firstAirDate in the params object:

code language-json 
{
  "playerTime": { "playhead": 0, "ts": 1699523820000 },
  "eventType": "sessionStart",
  "params": {
    "media.firstAirDate": "2016-01-25"
  }
}

See the Media Collection API sessions reference for the full request structure.

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