Major equipment upgrade... One man's decision 10/15/04
It was time to upgrade our old automation system. We had a system by Broadcast Electronics called Audio Vault. It’s only drawback was that it was slow because it worked off of old proprietary hardware that could not be upgraded. Their new version, which had been out for quite some time, is software based and can use any current hardware we choose. The upgrade would have been a smooth transition as we would have used the same configurations all ready in place.
The decision to choose the replacement automation system was to be made by 3 individuals, but in the end came down to one, Phil Shappard.
Phil’s position was Director of Technical Services. He was in charge of my boss Tom Svoboda, Operations Manager of MBN Satellite Services. Eventually Phil’s title became assistant to the V.P. because nobody wanted to work with him.... even if he was under them, but that is another story.
Phil was “wowed” by the new RCS Master Control automation system when he first saw it at the National Association of Broadcasters convention in 2002. He then was given a tour of the RCS facilities in New York and it seemed then that he was going to get this new system at any expense. After the head engineer at Moody did some research of local radio stations in Chicago using the RCS system, he found that every place had some problem or another with the system so he encouraged that we look for an alternative to RCS.
Phil persuaded those above him that this was the route we should take. We were supposed to get a test system to try out for a few months at MBN to determine if it would work for the network. This never happened. Instead RCS Master Control was purchased for Moody’s Indiana station, WGNR. They were building a new station next door to their old station to so it seemed that this would be the ideal test location. The installation there had many problems, but because they were able to test “off-air” in the new building and operate from the old building they had all the time to work out the problems. After a full year it was now time for the Moody Broadcasting Network to get this miracle system.
NEXT
Phil Shappard-
A man you should not trust.
A man with many stories... that you will hear over and over again.
A man that will push his will on you if you do not agree with his ideas.
A man that will sacrifice quality to save his own job.
A man you should not trust.
A man with many stories... that you will hear over and over again.
A man that will push his will on you if you do not agree with his ideas.
A man that will sacrifice quality to save his own job.