Bauer Media, with its stations Downtown and CoolFM, is a major radio broadcaster in Newtonards (Belfast), Northern Ireland. Its 710,000 weekly listeners represent almost half the adult population of Northern Ireland. Serving the area’s event sponsors as well as the radio listening market with live and local radio content, local events coverage is amongst CoolFM’s main activities
As a new owner of the recently launched APT Mobile SureStreamer, Bauer Media is satisfied with this mobile network access solution, designed specifically for remotes and OBs. A single hardware unit housed in a lightweight carry-bag, the APT Mobile SureStreamer is approved for all networks, distributes audio over affordable 3G/4G public internet links, and offers optimal latency enabling broadcasters and journalists to maximize on-air time and deliver top-quality audio content directly from the field. Compatible with any codec type and brand, the APT
Mobile SureStreamer improves the quality of OBs and remotes by fixing quality issues users experience on the field.
According to Conor Ewings, broadcast engineer at Bauer Media, the APT Mobile SureStreamer has transformed how his station is able to do remotes; their previous experience with known remote broadcasting challenges such as unreliable connectivity for outside broadcasts within difficult areas and latency issues have been solved thanks to the APT Mobile SureStreamer. They now benefit from a highly reliable connection with no packet dropouts, there is an improved ability to split the hosts, and latency is significantly better, enabling smooth conversation with callers to the studio.
After multiple times on-the-field broadcasting with the APT Mobile SureStreamer, Conor Ewings states “[The APT Mobile SureStreamer] has been a game-changer for us in the number and type of remotes we have been able to do. We have broadcast from locations we wouldn’t have dreamed of in the past, setting it up is so simple and the latency it gives us is beyond our expectations and has made the biggest difference when we run a show from multiple locations simultaneously and for phone-ins we do for competitions,” he said.
“The latency has been rock-solid at 60 ms and we haven’t dropped a single packet since we introduced the Mobile SureStreamer to our signal chain. Going forward we’re using it for radio, of course, but we can see uses in live social media streaming and any other streaming needs we will have. It gives us the chance to improve and standardize our IP links in remote broadcasting.”
WorldCast Systems, with its APT Mobile SureStreamer, was the only company according to Bauer Media capable of meeting their selection criteria in terms of capability to interface with their existing Comrex codec, connectivity in previously hard to reach areas, providing the lowest possible link latency for remotes, thanks to the TCP-free signal, dropout free connection and reducing setup and reconnaissance time.
Would Ewings recommend the APT Mobile SureStreamer to other stations looking to maximize on-air time while delivering pristine, uninterrupted audio to their listeners, directly from the field? “Yes, absolutely,” he said.
Sources: https://www.radioworld.com/tech-and-gear/bauer-media-relies-on-apt-mobile-surestreamer-for-remotes
