This standard supports the splicing of MPEG-2 streams for the purpose of Digital Program Insertion, which includes advertisement insertion and insertion of other content types. An in-stream messaging mechanism is defined to signal splicing and insertion opportunities and it is not intended to ensure seamless splicing. As such, this recommendation does not specify the splicing method used or constraints applied to the streams being spliced, nor does it address constraints placed on splicing devices. This standard also supports accurate signaling of events in the stream.

A fully compliant MPEG-2 transport stream (either Multi Program Transport Stream or Single Program Transport Stream) is assumed. No further constraints beyond the inclusion of the defined cueing messages are placed upon the stream.

This standard specifies a technique for carrying notification of upcoming Splice Points and other timing information in the transport stream. A splice information table is defined for notifying downstream devices of splice events, such as a network break or return from a network break. The splice information table, which pertains to a given program, is carried in one or more PID(s) referred to by that program's Program Map Table (PMT). In this way, splice event notification can pass through most transport stream remultiplexers without need for special processing.