The use of remote workflows in radio has been expanding since the onset of voice tracking, but the industry’s response to COVID-19 accelerated it significantly.
No longer is it just an occasional co-host who has a small studio setup at home. Radio may soon get to the point where the word “remote” loses its meaning entirely, because technology will allow all facets of its workflow to be done from anywhere.
“No doubt, broadcasting has left the building,” said Dee McVicker, marketing director for Wheatstone, an NAB Show exhibitor.
“I was at an equestrian park recently when I struck up a conversation with a woman who was traveling for the winter with her two dogs and two horses, broadcasting her radio show from her living-quarters horse trailer. Radio has become just as mobilized as everything else.”
Not just individual shows but entire radio workflows can now be built on the premise of “remote” operation.
“While many radio people doing live shows have returned to the studio, some have not,” said Marty Sacks, vice president of sales, marketing and strategy at show exhibitor Telos Alliance.
“Connectivity and IP-based infrastructure are the foundations of remote radio production. Without the ability to access and control gear located in the main studio, it would be pretty hard to implement remote workflows.”
That includes not only physical equipment but mixing software running in various computing environments, as well as codecs and phone controllers.
Flexibiity, Choice in Workflows
“We, and many of our clients, still love hardware,” Sacks said, “but workflows vary greatly, and we believe that our clients should also have choices that include software-based broadcast solutions that can live in server rooms or on cloud platforms and be accessed remotely any time, from anywhere.”
This is true not only for air talent, but for everyone involved in creating the product.
Today a radio production person based in one market can also be the primary support for others, said Jeff McGinley, vice president of engineering for broadcast group SummitMedia.
“Software like VCreative that displays all of that day’s work that needs to be done allows the team to work together as if they are all located in one building,” he said.
“Many of our production and programming people also have recording setups at home, allowing them the flexibility to continue working when other aspects of life happen and they aren’t able to make it into the station — a sick child or car trouble, for example,” McGinley said. “An internet connection with a VPN gives them the ability to control the automation system or access anything else that resides on the servers located at the station.”
The capabilities provided by high-speed connectivity, AoIP technology and cloud-based platforms are causing broadcast companies to rethink their overall approaches to building infrastructure.
Greg Davis, broadcast systems specialist for Cumulus Media, said: “Of course, cost savings is top of mind for everyone these days. As trends change in the industry, sometimes we must do more with less.
“Larger studios in the most prestigious part of town might not be needed anymore. Smaller, more adaptable consoles and audio equipment make it easier for equipment to be installed in a smaller area, or even portable in some situations. Real estate needs are not what they used to be. Studio are moving away from expensive high-profile areas.
“Technology can allow us to relocate these studios with lower costs and quicker and easier installation,” Davis said.
How far will this trend take us?
Marty Sacks said radio will see continued adoption of remote production over time, in terms of both the amount of content generated and the ease of remote production through continued development of the tech.
“Consider producing a talk show where both host and producer are fully remote. Talent can be located practically anywhere,” he said.
“Forward-looking broadcasters are doing this today, and at Telos we believe that with our continuous commitment to improving the tools and technology that enable it, the number of broadcasters adopting remote production models will increase.”
Dee McVicker expects remote production will become much more seamlessly integrated into the studio.
She noted that Wheatstone now offers fixed consoles that are navigated like an iPhone, as well as software for the laptop that look like a physical mixing console. “We’ll adapt inside the studio and outside the studio, all of which is built on IP audio.”
The future, said Greg Davis, will include AI-powered audio processing, cloud audio production and improvements in cloud-based playout systems to allow remote control of station operations.
“Automation does not have to be cloud-based either. Advancement in reverse proxy, secure tunnels and encryption can enable software to control the studio from anywhere securely.”
Studios on the Move
As studios become smaller, they will also be more portable, Davis said. “Progress in browser engines and web services makes remote audio easier to accomplish.”
Jeff McGinley expects that all aspects of radio broadcasting will accelerate to working remotely in the next few years.
“With cloud-based automation and webRTC taking off, all aspects of programming, production and on-air could be done at home and sent to a hosted service to play out directly to the transmitter site,” he said. “A number of companies are already working towards the end goal of having no physical studio location whatsoever.”
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