Q. What kind of products or services does your company offer for broadcasters?
Keith Watson Studer manufactures world-class audio consoles for the broadcast market, most notably its OnAir Series of broadcast consoles (which pioneered the Touch ‘n’ Action user interface), and the Vista Series of digital mixing desks (featuring the revolutionary VISTONICS user interface).
Q. What’s new that you will show at the NAB Show and that TV broadcasters should look for there?
We will be showing the new Vista 5 TM2 console, which features the same advanced TFT metering recently launched on the Vista 9 console. The TFT meters give precision feedback on signal status. They can display anything from mono to 7.1-channel signals in the upper section of the screen, while the lower portion can show bus assignment or for surround channels an image of the surround composite, providing a clear and easily understandable display of the surround signal. Another unique feature is the History mode, whereby a 30-second record of each channel is dynamically displayed within that channels meter enabling the engineer to identify any abnormalities anywhere in the broadcast system and correct it.
Q. How has your company been affected by the current economic situation and what are you doing to get through it?
Our key to not only surviving but thriving during this uncertain period was to actually release more new products than ever before. We did this across all our key markets including Broadcast, Theatre, Live Tour Sound and large Performance Installations. We also made sure we maintained a primary focus on the needs of our customers in the broadcast industry and continue to recruit new sales and customer support staff. From a technology standpoint, these needs include intuitive operability, reliable performance, scalability and cost-effectiveness. It’s no coincidence that these qualities characterize Studer’s Vista and OnAir lines of consoles.
As a Harman Professional brand, we are uniquely positioned to address the needs of our customers. For example, in keeping with Harman’s strategy to establish Centers of Excellence for each brand, we recently invested heavily in the new Console Technology Centre in Regensdorf, Switzerland. This gives us a location that is specifically dedicated to new product development, while our Center of Excellence in Potters Bar, U.K., is dedicated to production, marketing, sales and support and Live sound R&D. In the United States, we are expanding our sales and support centers on the West and East Coasts, while our Studer Truck offers support and training to customers anywhere across the United States.
