Sporting News Radio Virtual Data Sharing

From now on, the Chicago, Boston and Los Angeles studios will benefit from a complete, audio-digital Radio-Assist system, from production to broadcasting. For Sporting News Radio, this new installation represents a great technological step: the three databases (Chicago, Boston and LA) are entirely accessible by everyone. Sporting News Radio is the most popular non-stop sport radio in the United States with almost 430 affiliated stations.

Three geographic site in one virtual site :

Each site possesses its own database and produces its documents locally. These three systems are connected by only one network: WAN (Wide Area Network), and they communicate amongst themselves with a T1 specialized line. From no matter which workstation, the user can consult and upload the audio documents that he needs for his radio program. For the journalists and presenters, this instantaneous sharing of all the audio documents is a precious advantage and considerably enriches the contents of the sporting news.

Eight sources of sport news round the clock :

Relevant and reactive news is essential in the sporting field. Sporting News Radio chose " Feed In", whose role is to ensure up to 8 simultaneous recordings around the clock. The editing tools of the Radio-Assist 7 range make it possible to edit audio files even before the recording is over. This instant news is also available on the radio's Internet site. As soon as an item is broadcasted, an operator selects the best moments with "Snippet", Radio-Assist 7's most successful and complete editing software. The highly effective acquisition and production software combines to provide the radio station with strong reactivity both on-air and on the internet.

Quick Player: an easy-to-use broadcasting software :

In order to meet their users' requests for rapidity, ergonomics and reliability, NETIA has developed Quick Player, an efficient broadcasting assistant that can record, produce and broadcast. With three simultaneous broadcasting channels, Quick Player gives instant access to more than a hundred sounds, music, jingles or commercials. The first channel is dedicated to the broadcasting of jingles or commercials and can load a group of 96 endlessly available sounds. The two other broadcasting channels display two cartstacks (the number of tracks per cartstack can be pre-set). These two channels are a valuable support for the presenter who has pre-programmed everything in one or more cartstacks. The cartstack tracks can be set in sequence or be broadcast manually.

Quick Player is also a broadcast preparation tool. Thanks to the editing zone's constant availability and to pre-listening output, the presenter can precisely set the lead-in points, the fade points or a "liner" on a music item, etc. With direct access to the whole radio audio database, the presenter is free to be creative and arrange the programming according to his liking.

Quick Player also has a recording function. While broadcasting the presenter can record his voice or phone calls, put them in a cartstack and review sequencing. He will then broadcast these new sounds later on in his programme. Quick Player's major asset lies in its wide range of high-performance but still easy-to-use tools.

A well-managed system :

Radio-Assist 7 is a fully integrated system in which the whole radio production process is taken into account. The managing tasks of the system such as archiving or purge are also computerized. Although these functions are automatic, the technician can still manually define the items to be purged or archived, etc. The reliability of the system is based on the redundancy principle, particularly on behalf of the two servers. Should one server fail, the other one will take over in a transparent way for the user.

This new installation confirms NETIA's presence in the United States. For several years NETIA has established itself on the broadcast market mainly through the installation of significant systems (up to 650 workstations) for the benefit of national or international news radio networks such as ABC (Australian Broadcasting corporation), RFI (Radio France International), Radio Vatican, ect.