KSBJ Launches New Satellite Platform
Clear Channel Satellite, announces the deployment of the XtremeSat Media satellite broadcast distribution platform for contemporary Christian music radio station KSBJ. KSBJ purchased the system to deliver two high-quality audio channels to its affiliates and company-owned radio stations from its uplink located in Humble, Texas. KSBJ has also entered into a multi-year agreement with Clear Channel Satellite to provide satellite capacity for the distribution of its programming.
Recent technology advancements have made it much less expensive to operate your own multi-channel satellite network,” remarks Mike Hagans, President, Clear Channel Satellite, referring to the platform exclusively distributed by CCS. “The new uplink and receiver platform allows syndication providers who have their own uplinks to replace their aging and inefficient receivers and head-end gear with a system that is much more bandwidth efficient. The new system has dramatically reduced monthly recurring costs, while providing advanced features like AAC audio, spot insertion, and an intelligent fallback feature that automatically uses an alternate carrier, streaming audio or receiver-stored content when needed.“
The system is the first of its kind to provide large network functionality at a small and medium-sized network price point. The system will operate on C or Ku Band uplink systems and is capable of a single stereo audio channel or can be easily expanded to deliver up to 64 stereo channels in an MCPC configuration. The (MCR) comes with one or two stereo analog and AES/EBU outputs, balanced, high-quality audio on XLR connectors. The unit features eight tightly audio-synchronized relays, expandable to 16, two AAC formats (and several MPEG choices), and the ability to seamlessly transition from SCPC (single channel) to MCPC (multiple channels) for expanding networks. The receiver also features Smart Fallback to alternate RF carriers or Shoutcast web stream, web interface for settings and status, outbound IP audio stream for monitoring and FTP upload of receiver status reports and event logs. The 200 series MCR is also capable of store and forward audio, copy-split and fall-back to receiver-stored content. This new state-of-the-art satellite receiver is manufactured in Germany by 2wcom in cooperation with CCS, and is available in the U.S. exclusively through Clear Channel Satellite. The receivers come standard with a two-year warranty. The USA Warranty Center is maintained by Clear Channel Satellite handling all repairs at its Denver, Colorado facility.
Don Chapman, Chief Engineer for KSBJ commented, “We recently replaced our existing satellite with the new XtremeSat System, and doubled our throughput. It has made our delivery system much more robust and much, much more reliable”.