During 2007, 20 WorldNet Oslo units will be deployed to a variety of European Public Service broadcasters who will use them to transmit live radio broadcasts in surround sound. Success for this pilot project will lead to the roll-out of an additional 50 units in 2008 to the remaining member and affiliate broadcasters that belong to the EBU.
In recent months the EBU has been actively seeking to agree formats and standards with regard to transporting Multi Channel Audio. A working group brought together the collective findings of those broadcasters who had already experimented with live surround sound, including ORF in Austria and WDR in Cologne. Both of these broadcasters had successfully used APT products for this purpose and on the recommendation of WDR, fellow German state broadcasters Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR), SWR (Süand HR (Hessischer Rundfunk) had also adopted APT's WorldNet Oslo for their 5.1 transmissions. This positive customer feedback was one of the key reasons why the EBU working group asked APT to participate in its pilot project.
Heinz Peter Reykers, process expert at WDR who was one of the first to use WorldNet Oslo's says, "When I first tested the WorldNet Oslo on a link between the Philharmonic Concert Hall in Cologne and WDR's Broadcast Centre, I was instantly impressed by its plug and play operation and the overall transmission quality, which delivered clean, clear and distortion free 5.1 content on a 2Mbit/s link."
APT's commercial director Jon McClintock comments, "Surround sound for radio is groundbreaking, exciting and will redefine the way radio audiences will listen to content. APT is delighted to be involved in this process, which further endorses both the Enhanced apt-X algorithm for 5.1 and the WorldNet Oslo as a suitable vehicle for carrying the content."
(Jim Evans)
