Case Study ASTRO RADIO: VIRTUAL CONSOLE TECHNOLOGY
MALAYSIA’S LARGEST BROADCASTER REINVENTS RADIO STUDIOS WITH LAWO VIRTUAL MIXING Case Study VIRTUAL MIXING AT ASTRO RADIO
“A RADICAL RE-IMAGINING OF WHAT AN ON-AIR STUDIO COULD LOOK LIKE.”
Astro Radio, headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, has become one of Southeast Asia‘s most influential broadcasters since their inception in 1996. With 11 radio formats in multiple languages, including the popular Era, Sinar, Gegar, My, Hitz and other channels, Astro Radio reaches over 15.8 million listeners every week in Malaysia alone.
Astro began operations in 1996 and immediately became known for their technological excellence, employing a cutting-edge audio routing system and digital broadcast consoles custom manufactured to meet their technical requirements. But by 2006, Astro needed more capabilities and simpler studio workflows, so that on-air talent could focus on content creation rather than technical duties.
“Around 2015, we picked up on the touchscreen trend,” says Bala Murali Subramaney, Astro Radio’s Chief Technology Officer. “We envisioned a full-blown radio broadcast console - on a touchscreen. Not a ‘lite’ console with only some console features nor a touchscreen with a console ‘simulation’.” Astro Radio Broadcast Center, Kuala Lumpur The virtual console Astro engineers envisioned would be a true radio broadcast console, with all the features and functionalities of the professional broadcast consoles they relied on.
“We took the best features of our first console, analyzed common operator mistakes and asked for improvement suggestions, then we condensed this data into a comprehensive document and presented it as our mandate to Lawo – whose response was the Zirkon-2s modular broadcast console,” says Bala. “The Zirkon-2s was simplicity personified in both form and function. For example, one press of a macro button could simultaneously record telephone calls, edit talksets and run an outside broadcast.”
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Bala Murali Subramaney, CTO of Astro Radio, in the Hitz studio with new Virtual Mixing Consoles powered by Lawo..
The idea of the touchscreen console never left their minds, “In mid-2016, we had begun sketching out plans for a virtual however, and in 2016 a refit of Astro’s main newsroom presented console, which would challenge the industry perception of a the perfect opportunity to realize what they’d imagined. The broadcast console,” Bala recalls. “We wanted to radically re- successful deployment of Lawo Virtual Consoles for the News imagine what an on-air studio would look like, including what to fit Room in early 2016 was a rousingly successful proof-of-concept. inside the studio and what to leave out. The studio environment would impact how the on-air talent uses the technology inside the The opportunity to virtualize on a much grander scale came shortly studio with the new virtual console as its focal point. after when Astro Radio acquired two new stations and needed to build new on-air studios, producer workstations and an equipment “Our mandate to the interior designer was to create designs for room – on top of its existing 13 on-air studios, seven news studios, three on-air studios that were minimalistic, stunning, functional three voice booths, eight audio production studios and edit suites, and would meet Noise Criteria (NC) rating 20. We wanted designs and six equipment rooms! Plans for the consoles and routing that would inspire our talent to deliver compelling content on-air system were already in hand as the new stations relocated to and on-line for today’s radio.” shared premises with other Astro company divisions.
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Bala says, “The virtual console would also address and respond to technology expectations of the new breed of on-air talents, whom are mostly from the Gen-Y and Gen-Z age-groups. Today’s radio on-air talent in Malaysia are already well-known online personalities with huge fan base and following. Our radio stations leverage these talents’ ‘star-power’ to both maintain and grow Astro‘s first virtual console, in the news room, 2016 radio listenership – on FM, streaming on-line, and on popular social media platforms. Content managers expect new on-air talents (especially on breakfast and drive shows) to quickly build momentum and get up to speed. They are expected to deliver ‘catchy’ talksets on-air, produce compelling video content online and engage with listeners on social media regularly during their shifts – everyday. There is very little time for training and to familiarize with the technology inside the on-air studio.
“What this meant for our engineers was that the virtual console had to be very simple and intuitive to use for first-timers. It should also easily play back audio content from online sources such as websites, YouTube, WhatsApp and social media platforms. The virtual console also needed to be responsive, and quick to execute commands. It also had to be highly configurable, but with absolutely safe operation, so that on-air talent could not accidentally access advanced console settings.”
In a nutshell, Astro wanted a virtual console that would be both very intuitive, and the least conspicuous device in the studio.
Bala: “A few defining criteria were established early in the design stage. Firstly, we would remain with AES3 and AES10 EBU audio
Sleek, unobtrusive virtual console perfectly complements modern design of Lite studio.
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“THE COST SAVINGS OVER PHYSICAL CONSOLES IS A GREAT ADVANTAGE.” standards and maintain our in-house external 44.1kHz word clock sync distribution. Secondly, the new studios would connect to, and be fully compatible with, our existing Lawo routing infrastructure. Finally, the new Virtual Console would no longer be a physical console but fully touchscreen.” The mixing requirements were all met by Lawo’s Virtual Console, whose GUI is provided by Lawo VisTool software running on a multi-touch, high-resolution computer display. Without the limitations of physical knobs, buttons and faders, the screen presents users with only relevant Completely flush desktop mounting presents essential controls as needed controls and information, hiding anything not needed for the task at hand.
Along with screen brightness and reliability – which the virtual console comfortably addresses – operational flexibility and cost ranked high among Astro Radio’s concerns. The Virtual Console system met all of these needs as well. “The Virtual Console platform allowed for a fast software development cycle,” says Bala. “We were able to develop new features and functionality both for ‘default’ and user- specific ‘snapshots.’ We could easily customize the console layout or ‘skins’, re-design and re-size fader and button shapes and colors, incorporate macros and GPIO signaling. This flexibility gives us the freedom to explore new possibilities in console design. For example, we added more channel faders per screen, and moved monitoring level-controls to a pop-up screen.”
“The cost-savings over physical consoles is a great advantage – there is no need to stock-up on console spare parts and accessories. It is also aesthetically more pleasing to the eyes, and gentle on the hands,” Bala says. “In addition to the standard Virtual Console control features, Lawo’s VisTool-PC also shows all the virtual modules of both touchscreens – a user can control all channels, faders and buttons on the touchscreen from the VisTool-PC interface.”
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“OUR ‘HIGH-STAKES’ GAMBLE HAS PAID OFF HANDSOMELY.”
Astro Radio’s on-air talent is drawn from established online personalities with huge followings, allowing it to grow its radio listenership through on-line streaming and on social media platforms, as well as FM broadcasts. Presenters are not necessarily conversant with broadcast technology, however.
Sleek, high-tech look of Virtual Console system perfectly complements the stunning design of new Astro Radio studios.
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“Content managers expect new on-air talent to quickly build momentum, and get up to speed with listeners on social media regularly during their shifts – every day. There is very little time for training or familiarization with the technology in the studio,” Bala notes. “The Virtual Console, therefore, had to be very simple and intuitive to use for first-timers.”
“We took a huge risk by implementing fully touchscreen Virtual Consoles,” concludes Bala, “but from the faces of our on-air talent and their content managers, our ‘high-stakes’ gamble has paid off handsomely.”
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