In 430, the video stream DCIO manager 222 transmits a first event playlist to the user device 210. In one example, the first event playlist may include multimedia data for a portion of subclip 140 (e.g., n seconds or minutes of playback). In another example, the first event playlist may correspond to all of the multimedia data for subclip 140. Accordingly, in response to a request for a VOD stream, the exemplary embodiments may initially transmit a playlist for an event stream.

In 435, the playback begins at the user device 210 using the first event playlist. By using an event playlist while the dynamic content system 224 retrieves ads for the DCIOs 110, 120, 130, playback can begin before the ads are retrieved. Thus, compared to conventional techniques that only utilize a VOD playlist, the exemplary embodiments provide a faster video stream startup.

In 440, the user device 210 transmits a request for a media playlist. For example, as the video player of the user device 210 executes the multimedia data corresponding to the first event playlist, the user device 210 may be triggered to request more content.

In 445, the video stream DCIO manager 222 transmits a second event playlist to the user device 210. The second event playlist may correspond to the multimedia data included in the first event playlist and an additional set of multimedia data.