Astro Case Study
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.
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