LO4 - P3 - Investigate the technologies for multi-platform radio broadcasting

 BBC RADIO 5 Live

When looking at how to record and broadcast a radio station, we know there are basic types of equipment each station needs to use, the only difference would be the type of models:

The equipment that BBC 5 Live has shown to be used are:

• Mixer - The mixer is shown in the top left image, and it is used to balance the audio signals to make sure everything is up to standard, especially with the microphones being used. For example, we don't want the radio host's voice distorting or peaking and have the listeners not be able to hear well.
• Monitors - We can see multiple monitors being used, all mostly to keep track of timings where sound effects queued up may be introduced into the show. 
• Headphones - When the show is being aired, hosts and guests must wear headphones in order to hear everyone in the room, and also be able to hear any connections like calls made.
• Microphones - Microphones are used as an input to talk through so sound engineers and the listeners can hear them. This can be used for live broadcasting or normal recording.
• SDR (Software defined radio) - Radio software is used in order to check on the audio signals and see if they need filtering. This also helps when using the mixer as you can process the audio as well.

DIGITAL CARTWALL

A digital cartwall is used to playback audio files on command with a click of a button. It's like a soundboard. Almost all radio stations you listen to will have background music and sound effects which is all due to this piece of equipment/software.

PLAYLIST

A playlist is a queue of songs lined up in a customisable order to play through. In typical radio stations like Heart or BBC Radio 1, as they showcase songs, it will all be lined up in a playlist waiting to be played. Typically if you're listening to the radio station on an app like BBC sounds, there will be the songs listed below in order, incase listeners want to know what they're hearing. A playlist can also be referred to as a tracklist.

DIGITAL PLAYOUT SYSTEM

A digital playout system essentially renders the media product that is the radio show and airs it on different networks. For those that are airing pre-recorded radio shows, this would be useful. However, for live radio shows this piece of equipment wouldn't be used.