The Ecreso FM 10kW transmitter offers a revolutionary approach to high power FM transmission

BroadcastAsia: Has BroadcastAsia 2018 come at a good time for the media industry? Why?
Christophe Poulain: Yes. The media industry is evolving and facing new challenges for which we have recently developed innovative, market-driven broadcast solutions. This show takes place at a brilliant time for us to showcase these latest developments which cover live production, efficiency, and monitoring needs. Today we are witnessing an increase in live production requirements for which WorldCast
Systems has developed the APT Mobile SureStreamer, a rock-solid mobile solution to ensure studio-quality remotes and OBs over 3G/4G networks, and with optimal latency of just milliseconds. The company has also developed advanced FM transmitters, such as the new revolutionary high power Ecreso FM 10kW Transmitter that brings transmitters to a whole new level of reliability, redundancy, and efficiency. This system, as reliable as a 1+1, meets the industry’s need for high power and cost efficiency. On the software side, the engineers at WorldCast Connect have designed the WorldCast Manager, an NMS/OSS that simplifies and improves the monitoring and management of connected equipment across any network or facility. Often faced with expanding infrastructures and delivery platforms, but with limited human and financial resources, the WorldCast Manager software empowers its customers with lower total cost of ownership, better service quality, and easier predictive maintenance of their equipment.

BCA: What do you think are the key developments in, or threats to, your market sector at the current time?
CP: In my opinion, media convergence is the most significant development. I see mergers taking place for radio and TV broadcasters in many countries. 

BCA: How is the company positioning itself for the future of broadcasting?
CP: On the radio transmitting side, we continue focusing on optimising efficiency and energy consumption which is a major concern in many countries. On IP delivery, our latest developments are compatible
with both radio and TV applications. Our WorldCast Manager NMS /OSS software solution also meets the needs of converged media.

BCA: Are the latest technological advancements revolutionising how manufacturers determine new product offerings?
How challenging is it to address these issues and keep ahead?
CP: Certainly, we are adapting ourselves and tend to replace hardware with advanced software features which can be enabled if and when needed. The main challenge for us is finding the right resources with the right skills to develop these new offerings.

WorldCast Manager improves the monitoring of a network’s connected equipment

BCA: Is the increase in live production requirements changing the sector in any way?
CP: From a purely radio broadcast perspective, we are seeing an explosion in live and local engagement in many areas of the globe. This live production requirement varies from territory to territory depending on cultural and regulatory stipulations related to the broadcasting of live content.
The upsurge in the demand for live content is coming internally from the Programme Directors and General Managers who are fighting (and winning) to keep their content compelling against an onslaught of competition from nonlinear services, such as podcasting and music streaming in the aural world and OTT VOD in the video world. The audiences are, of course, the primary external drivers of this demand for live content. Their desire to consume live shows, to remain up-to-date on live sports events and concerts, and to discover new music and content are more relevant than ever. This growing demand for live and local means that the new generation of content acquisition tools have to be quick to deploy and easy to setup. They must also be costcompetitive in terms of CAPEX and OPEX if a station wants to incrementally grow the number of OBs and remotes at their stations.

APT SureStreamer is a robust mobile solution

WorldCast Systems has responded to this requirement by releasing new products to help broadcasters with this increasing demand. The APT Mobile SureStreamer allows broadcasters to use dual redundant
cell paths to uplink audio and video content over standard consumer grade cell networks with minimal latency, impediment or any dropped packets which of course would introduce artefacts to the decoded signal.The Mobile SureStreamer is also designed as a robust “go anywhere” tool with a zero configuration “boot and broadcast” ethos together with software defined control for simple endpoint switching.

BCA: Why should delegates visit your stand at BroadcastAsia 2018?
CP: Visiting our stand at BroadcastAsia 2018 is a great opportunity for broadcasters to discover how our latest developments and innovations in broadcast can help them deliver reliable, top quality audio content to their audiences. With our leading WorldCast Systems’ brands, Ecreso, Audemat, and APT, along with WorldCast Connect’s NMS/OSS, we cover the entire broadcast chain from audio source to transmitting and monitoring.

Our team would be delighted to welcome visitors with questions or for demos. They can find us at Booth 4F1-01 on the French Pavilion.