ERTA migrates to Radio-Assist8
Published: MEA
ETHIOPIA: The Ethiopian Radio and Television Agency (ERTA) is using Netia’s Radio-Assist8 to overhaul and upgrade its nationwide radio service. ERTA is implementing a project to boost its transmission coverage and migrate from tape to file-based operations.
Local integrator USI (United System Integrators) has worked with ERTA to create a new workflow based around Radio-Assist8, encompassing all stages from production to broadcast, including acquisition, sound file editing, scheduling, multicasting, and administration. The architecture of the system includes a centralised archiving facility into which ERTA’s library of 50,000 hours of tape-based content is being digitised. To provide continuity in case of interruption to the main system ERTA is creating a disaster recovery site with duplicated content for additional security.
Thirty workstations equipped with Radio-Assist8 will offer ERTA’s production staff of 150 journalists and editors access to the full range of the system's production tools, and to the content archive and index. The system supports eight different languages used by production teams.
‘The Radio-Assist8 system is at the core of our new production system, and gives us the ability to move to a very efficient and flexible way of making radio programmes,’ said Haileab Abrha, deputy director general and head of Media Technology. ‘The system fits easily into our existing broadcasting environment and the ability to use multiple languages in the interface makes it very flexible for our staff.’
‘Radio-Assist8 is the ideal platform for a broadcaster like ERTA to move from analogue to digital operations,’ said Michael Shebelle, general manager of USI. ‘With the access to the digitised archive that Radio-Assist 8 provides, and its range of production tools, ERTA’s staff will be able to greatly increase the quality and efficiency of their work.’