diff --git a/services/mam-api/src/routes/playout.js b/services/mam-api/src/routes/playout.js
index 4b68e0c..491dd87 100644
--- a/services/mam-api/src/routes/playout.js
+++ b/services/mam-api/src/routes/playout.js
@@ -338,9 +338,14 @@ async function spawnChannelSidecar(channel) {
     }
   }
 
+  // Set last_heartbeat_at = NOW() so the scheduler health tick treats this
+  // channel as freshly alive. Without this, last_heartbeat_at starts as NULL
+  // (epoch=0), and the very first tick sees ageMs >> TIMEOUT_MS and triggers
+  // failover immediately — before the sidecar has had a chance to respond.
   const { rows } = await pool.query(
     `UPDATE playout_channels
-     SET status = 'running', container_id = $1, container_meta = $2, updated_at = NOW()
+     SET status = 'running', container_id = $1, container_meta = $2,
+         last_heartbeat_at = NOW(), updated_at = NOW()
      WHERE id = $3 RETURNING *`,
     [containerId, JSON.stringify(containerMeta), channel.id]
   );
@@ -448,7 +453,14 @@ router.post('/channels/:id/play', requireChannelEdit, async (req, res, next) =>
         asset_duration_ms: i.asset_duration_ms != null ? Number(i.asset_duration_ms) : null,
       })),
     };
-    const out = await callSidecar(req.channel, '/playlist/load', 'POST', payload);
+    // callSidecar throws on network/timeout errors. Return 502 (not 409) so
+    // the UI and operators know it's a gateway problem, not a state conflict.
+    let out;
+    try {
+      out = await callSidecar(req.channel, '/playlist/load', 'POST', payload);
+    } catch (err) {
+      return res.status(502).json({ error: 'Sidecar unreachable: ' + err.message });
+    }
     res.json(out);
   } catch (err) { next(err); }
 });
diff --git a/services/mam-api/src/scheduler.js b/services/mam-api/src/scheduler.js
index 027fa5e..51436b4 100644
--- a/services/mam-api/src/scheduler.js
+++ b/services/mam-api/src/scheduler.js
@@ -222,7 +222,7 @@ async function playoutHealthTick(client) {
   let channels;
   try {
     ({ rows: channels } = await client.query(
-      `SELECT id, output_type, container_meta, node_id, last_heartbeat_at, restart_count
+      `SELECT id, output_type, container_meta, node_id, last_heartbeat_at, updated_at, restart_count
          FROM playout_channels WHERE status = 'running'`
     ));
   } catch (err) {
@@ -244,7 +244,12 @@ async function playoutHealthTick(client) {
         'UPDATE playout_channels SET last_heartbeat_at = NOW() WHERE id = $1', [ch.id]
       );
     } catch (err) {
-      const lastSeen = ch.last_heartbeat_at ? new Date(ch.last_heartbeat_at).getTime() : 0;
+      // When last_heartbeat_at is NULL (channel just spawned), fall back to
+      // updated_at (set to NOW() by spawnChannelSidecar). This prevents a
+      // brand-new channel from being failed over on the very first tick because
+      // epoch-0 age always exceeds TIMEOUT_MS.
+      const baseline = ch.last_heartbeat_at || ch.updated_at;
+      const lastSeen = baseline ? new Date(baseline).getTime() : Date.now();
       const ageMs = Date.now() - lastSeen;
       if (ageMs < TIMEOUT_MS) continue;  // not yet 3 misses