To create a continuous YouTube podcast stream with a scrolling episode list, build the picture in OBS: play a looping episode or an ordered set of files, put a text list over the video, and apply OBS’s Scroll filter to that text. Then connect OBS to a YouTube encoder stream and check the whole scene in the Live Control Room before you make it public.
The scrolling list is a visual you create in your broadcast scene. It is not a native YouTube podcast feature, and YouTube does not provide a built-in scrolling episode list for this workflow. Viewers see an encoder live stream with your on-screen episode information.
Plan the episode ticker and media layout
Decide first what the viewer should see and hear. A simple layout might have a full-frame video from the current episode, a narrow ticker along the bottom with episode numbers and titles, and the episode audio as the only audio source. For a devotional or study channel, the list could include the current track or lesson and the next few items. For a talk podcast, it might identify the episode being replayed and the order of the next recordings.
There are two different playback plans. With one media file, OBS can repeat that file. With separate files, a playlist source can play them in sequence. In either case, the ticker is a separate visual source: OBS will not infer what is playing and update the titles just because the video changes. If you want the list to name the current episode accurately, you need to edit its text as part of preparing the scene, or build and maintain a separate mechanism to update it.
Sketch the screen before adding sources. A ticker across the bottom is easy to understand, but it can cover subtitles or important details in the video. A band at the top may avoid subtitles, though it can compete with episode graphics. Leave a margin at the edges, use strong contrast, and choose a font that remains readable in a small player on a phone. Long episode titles need more room or shorter wording; a fast crawl is not a substitute for legible text.
Write the ticker as information rather than decoration. For example: “Now: Episode 12 — Planning a home shrine | Next: Episode 13 — Morning practice.” Keep punctuation and separators consistent so the line is easy to scan. If the full list is longer than the visible strip, decide which entries matter most. A compact current-and-next list is often more useful than making every title fly past too quickly to read.
Also decide whether the audio and video are meant to remain paired. If every episode has its own audio in the video file, sequential playback keeps those elements together. A separate background visual with a playlist of audio-led episodes can be a different scene design, but it needs a deliberate audio setup and a clear indication of which episode is playing. The ticker alone does not control playback.
Create or schedule an encoder stream
In YouTube Studio, open Live Control Room and create or schedule a stream using an encoder. If live streaming has not previously been enabled on the account, YouTube says first-time enablement can take up to 24 hours. Plan that step before a planned launch rather than discovering it when you are ready to go live. The YouTube encoder setup guide explains how to create an encoder stream and use its stream settings.
A scheduled stream gives you a destination to prepare for, while an unscheduled stream may suit a test or a broadcast you are starting immediately. Follow the choices shown in the current Live Control Room interface. The important result is that you have the stream URL and stream key that OBS needs; these are the connection details for sending the encoder output to YouTube.
Treat the stream key like a password. Do not place it in a text source, desktop capture, tutorial recording, or screenshot you intend to publish. Enter it only in OBS’s stream settings. If it is exposed, use YouTube’s current controls to replace or reset it rather than assuming that deleting a scene has invalidated it.
Before settling on one long broadcast, consider how long you actually need the stream to run. YouTube’s encoder guidance says streams under 12 hours are automatically archived. That is useful to know if you want a replay, but it does not establish that an indefinitely long stream will remain available as a complete archive. Check current YouTube guidance if your plan depends on the archive, and plan restart or archive handling around the duration you need.
Add the episode media source
Create or select an OBS scene for the broadcast. Add a Media Source for a local episode video and point it at the file you intend to play. OBS’s Media Sources documentation describes the source options, including Loop. Enable Loop if you are using a single file and want it to start again when it reaches its end.
If episodes are separate video files and should play in a particular order, add a VLC Video source and build its playlist in that order. Enable Loop Playlist if the sequence should begin again after its final item. OBS documents that VLC Video requires VLC to be installed, so check that dependency before relying on this source. The OBS playlist repeat troubleshooting guide is useful if a sequence does not behave as expected.
A single looping file and an ordered playlist are not interchangeable. A looping file repeats one episode or visual; an ordered playlist moves through multiple files. If a title list scrolls through several episodes while the media repeats only one, viewers may reasonably assume they are hearing the listed sequence. Make the on-screen wording match the actual playback plan.
Check the media before going further. Confirm the right file plays, its audio is present, the image fills the intended canvas, and the end of the file behaves as expected. For a playlist, verify both the order and the transition to the next file. A short local test will not prove how a stream behaves over a full day, but it can reveal a missing file, an incorrect playlist order, or a loop setting left off.
Keep source files in a stable location while OBS is using them. Renaming, moving, or disconnecting a file can leave a media source unable to play. If you plan to switch between scenes or update the episode sequence, make the change deliberately and check it in preview before it reaches viewers.
Place the text list above the media
Add a text source in OBS and enter the episode titles, numbers, or short descriptions you want viewers to read. Use the text source settings to choose a font, size, colour, and outline or background treatment that remains distinct over the episode image. A translucent band behind the text can help when scenes have bright or changing backgrounds; test it over the actual video rather than a blank canvas.
In the Sources list, put the text source above the media source. OBS renders higher sources on top of lower ones, so a text layer beneath a full-screen video will be hidden. The OBS Sources guide explains how source order and visibility affect the scene. If the ticker is obscured, check the layer order before changing its colour or size.
Keep the list concise enough to read. You might include episode number, title, and one short descriptor, but a paragraph of show notes will move too quickly and become visual clutter. Avoid putting important text at the very bottom edge, where player controls or display cropping may compete for space. Preview the scene at the size viewers are likely to use, including a narrow phone screen.
A text source is normally a prepared piece of scene content, not a connection to your media playlist. Editing the media playlist does not necessarily revise the text, and the Scroll filter does not identify the current file. If episode order changes, revise the visible list as well. If a dynamic ticker is essential, treat that as a separate feature to design and test rather than assuming OBS or YouTube supplies it automatically.
Think about accessibility and viewing conditions. Strong contrast, a readable typeface, and enough time for a title to cross the screen help people who are watching on a small display or from a distance. Do not encode meaning with colour alone. If a title must be read precisely, consider displaying a stationary current-episode label alongside a slower scrolling list, so viewers are not required to catch one brief pass.
Apply OBS’s Scroll filter
Select the text source, open its filters, and add the Scroll filter. OBS describes the filter as making a source image scroll in a direction. Choose horizontal or vertical movement to fit your layout, then set the direction and speed. A horizontal crawl along the bottom is familiar, but it can be difficult to read if the text moves too quickly or contains long titles.
Start with a restrained speed and inspect the result in the OBS preview. If a title is unreadable before it leaves the screen, slow the movement, shorten the wording, or give the text a wider area. If there are only a few titles, scrolling may add motion without adding much information; a fixed list or current-title card may serve viewers better. The goal is a list that can be read, not movement for its own sake.
Limit the visible width or height of the text source to create a ticker window. The precise controls available depend on how you configure the source and filter, so test the crop and movement together. Make sure text does not appear outside the intended band or pass over episode subtitles. If the list loops visually, check the end-to-start transition for a gap or awkward blank section.
The text is not automatically synchronised to playback. A manually prepared line might say “Now playing” for an episode that has already ended if the playlist advances and the text does not. You can avoid that mismatch by using neutral wording such as “Episodes in this stream” or by limiting the list to titles that remain accurate throughout the sequence. Only describe the list as live-updating if you have implemented and verified a separate update method.
For a more detailed playlist layout, you may find the guide to streaming podcast episodes on YouTube useful when deciding how to organise the episode material. Keep the decision tied to your own files and scene: the ticker is part of the broadcast picture, while the media source determines what OBS plays.
Connect OBS using the stream URL and key
In OBS, open Settings and select the Stream section. Choose YouTube as the service if it is available in the current version, or use the custom stream settings and enter the stream URL and key supplied by Live Control Room. Interface labels can change, so use the values presented for the specific YouTube stream you created rather than copying an address from an old setup.
Check the stream output settings before connecting. YouTube’s streaming tips recommend leaving upload bandwidth headroom beyond the total stream bitrate; the guidance specifies 20% room. This is a recommendation, not a guarantee that a connection will remain stable. If other people or devices share the network, their use can reduce the capacity available to OBS, so test under realistic conditions where possible.
The local setup has a practical trade-off: OBS gives you direct control over the scene and playlist, but the computer, encoder process, and network must remain available for the broadcast to continue. A hosted approach can reduce the need to leave your own computer running, but its terms, workflow, and reliability need to be checked separately. YouTube’s encoder guide lists a cloud-based 24/7 prerecorded-streaming tool as an example of that category; the listing is not a comparative endorsement or a promise of uninterrupted operation.
If your main difficulty is that the local computer cannot stay on or connected overnight, moving the file and stream details into a hosted workflow can remove that particular burden. StreamNeo turns an uploaded video into a YouTube live stream that continues with your computer switched off, monitored and restarted automatically if it drops; it is YouTube-only. The choice still depends on whether you need a fixed uploaded video or the scene control and playlist behaviour of OBS, so decide which part of the workflow matters most.
Preview and test the full scene
Start the OBS stream and use the Live Control Room preview before making the broadcast public. YouTube recommends testing the setup and monitoring stream quality. Check the entire picture and sound path: the intended episode appears, the audio is audible and not distorted, the text is above the video, the ticker moves in the right direction, and the words remain legible. Confirm the stream title and visibility settings as well.
Test the transition that matters to your plan. For one file, observe what happens at the end and confirm it loops as intended. For a playlist, check that the next file follows in the right order and that its sound and image are both present. The ticker may not change with the next file, so either make the text accurate for the whole sequence or revise it when you make a change.
Check the scene at more than one display size. Text that looks clear in the OBS canvas can become tiny in a mobile player, while a crawl that is comfortable on a desktop may cross a phone screen too quickly. Check that no text is cut off, covered by subtitles, or placed where the YouTube player controls make it difficult to see. A brief test is also a good time to confirm that no stream key or private desktop content is visible.
If something fails, isolate it. For a blank or frozen picture, check the media source path and playback state. For hidden text, inspect source order and visibility. For a crawl that does not move, inspect whether the Scroll filter is attached to the text source and whether its direction and speed are set as intended. For unstable transmission, examine OBS’s connection indicators and the network rather than repeatedly changing the scene layout.
Leave time to test before a public launch, particularly if you have not streamed from the account before. YouTube notes that first-time live enablement may take up to 24 hours, and its live-streaming tips cover readiness and testing. Keep the stream key private and check the current official guidance if YouTube changes its Live Control Room or encoder steps.
If your aim is a longer-running playlist rather than a short programme, the guide to keeping a YouTube playlist stream running after a Linux VPS reboot covers a different continuity approach. It is relevant if you are choosing to operate your own host, but it does not remove the need to test your particular encoder and connection.
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FAQ
Is the scrolling episode list built into YouTube?
No. In this workflow, the list is text in your OBS scene, and OBS’s Scroll filter moves that source across the video. YouTube receives the finished encoder stream; it does not supply or update the ticker.
Does this make the broadcast a YouTube podcast?
The setup described here produces an encoder live stream with an on-screen episode list. The cited YouTube guidance does not establish that YouTube classifies it as a native podcast, so do not rely on that label or assume podcast-specific features are available.
Can the list update when the next episode starts?
Not by itself. A text source and Scroll filter do not read the playlist or determine which file is playing. Edit the list when needed, use wording that remains accurate for the full sequence, or build and test a separate update mechanism.
Should I use one looping video or an ordered playlist?
Use a looping media source when one file should repeat; use a playlist source when separate files should play in sequence. Check the order and end behaviour in OBS, and make sure the ticker describes the playback viewers will actually see.