Day: Mar 8, 2019

GeoBroadcast Solutions Welcomes Harvey Wells as Director of Sales Development and Marketing

Posted on by contentntek in News, People

GeoBroadcast Solutions has appointed Harvey Wells as Director of Sales Development and Marketing, effective immediately. Wells is responsible for the continued roll-out of GeoBroadcast Solutions’ patented MaxxCasting technology, and will help introduce the company’s patented, game-changing ZoneCasting technology to a broader audience.

MaxxCasting is now live in several medium-to-major markets around the United States, and was most recently deployed at WXLO(FM) in Boston. MaxxCasting leverages Single Frequency Network (SFN) architectures to optimize a radio station’s signal strength within its FCC-allocated contour, allowing greater numbers of potential listeners and Nielsen Personal People Meter encoding. In the case of WXLO, it is estimated that more than one million people will hear a much clearer signal than before the MaxxCasting system was turned on.

ZoneCasting, pending FCC approval, will allow a radio station to divide its signal based on a market’s geography. ZoneCasting, for the first time, will allow a radio station on its single frequency to air different news, traffic, weather, public service announcements and advertisements based on where a listener is located.

“I spent several months working with the GeoBroadcast Solutions team in the earliest development stages of MaxxCasting and ZoneCasting technology,” said Wells. “It’s amazing to see how far these products have come. MaxxCasting and ZoneCasting have the ability to literally change the relationship that radio stations have with their three major consumers: listeners, advertisers and the communities they serve. These technologies promise to be game-changers for our industry, and amplify the power of local radio for generations to come.”

A native of Chicago, Wells’ impressive career has spanned programming, sales and senior management for some of the broadcast industry’s largest corporations (CBS, Infinity and Westinghouse), as well as in entrepreneurial environments. Most recently, Wells was General Manager for five radio stations owned by Mid-West Family Broadcasting in Springfield, Illinois. He has spent most of his career in Chicago, along with a four-year stint in Southern California.

Wells brings additional value to his new role beyond his vast industry experience, given his long-standing relationship with GeoBroadcast Solutions and its technology.

GeoBroadcast Solutions CTO Bill Hieatt added, “With successful MaxxCasting deployments delivering real-world results and ZoneCasting in FCC approval, it was time to bring someone onboard with both experience and passion for both technologies. Several years ago, Harvey actually was involved in an early form of ZoneCasting in the Chicago area, but it took three radio stations to do it. Our new technology will allow a single radio station to do what it took Harvey three stations to do. He is the perfect person to help us build on MaxxCasting’s strong momentum, and officially launch ZoneCasting once approved.”

VITEC Welcomes Bryan Reksten as New VP of Marketing

Posted on by contentntek in News, People

With over 20 years of marketing experience in the technology industry, Reksten will oversee and broaden VITEC’s market presence.

“As we enter our 31st year as an end-to-end video streaming solutions provider, we’re focused on strengthening our leadership and product offering to meet unprecedented market demand,” said Mark D’Addio, senior vice president, VITEC. “This new executive role is an important step in that investment. Bryan possesses keen marketing insight, industry knowledge, and a passion for technology that will be instrumental in expanding our marketing footprint.”

VITEC_B_Reksten
VITEC’s New VP of Marketing Bryan Reksten

Reksten built his career at some of the world’s most well-known companies, including Cisco, AT&T, and Comcast. Before joining VITEC, he led a global team tasked with delivering go-to-market strategies for Technicolor’s Connected Home business unit as VP of global marketing. Prior to that role, he acted as Cisco’s chief of staff for the Connected Devices business unit, which was acquired by Technicolor in 2015, with business operations and process integration responsibility. At Cisco, Reksten also served as the senior manager of strategic marketing for the Service Provider Technology Group where he managed an innovative cooperative marketing program, initiated consumer research studies on DVR product adoption, and consulted field marketing teams on best practices. He holds a Bachelor of Science in marketing from Oral Roberts University and an MBA in marketing from Regent University.

“VITEC has an incredible legacy of product excellence that has transformed the streaming industry,” said Reksten. “I look forward to being part of VITEC’s leadership team and helping usher in the company’s next phase of innovation to meet our customers’ demand to provide the best streaming solutions in the market.”

 

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Monroe Electronics Releases Completely Redesigned HALO Version 2.0

Posted on by contentntek in Distribution & Delivery, News, Products

Monroe Electronics announced the release of HALO Version 2.0. HALO is a first-of-a-kind enterprise-grade Emergency Alert Systems (EAS) management solution capable of overseeing all encoders/decoders and managing all connected EAS devices within an organization. The HALO V2.0 release boasts a complete redesign that improves the user experience while simplifying both maintenance and troubleshooting.

“With HALO V2.0 we continue to revolutionize EAS management and EAS-related reporting through the consolidation of information from geographically diverse devices,” said E. Scott Nix, director of strategic projects for Monroe Electronics and HALO product manager. “In the past, cable operators and station groups spent a great deal of time and effort training personnel to perform labor-intensive information gathering. HALO addressed this problem by streamlining critical tasks and, in turn, enabling better management of EAS/CAP equipment. Significant enhancements to HALO V2.0 further simplify management and reporting, allowing users to reduce the overall cost and complexity of EAS-related operations.”

HALO was engineered for cable operators and station groups (both television and radio) with EAS systems serving multiple geographically diverse locations, and HALO remains the only solution capable of consolidating these organizations’ complex EAS management tasks within a single software product. In departments across an organization, authorized users can view the status of all EAS devices connected to HALO, back up configuration files, perform software upgrades, collect EAS alert data, run regular reports on EAS devices and EAS alert data, and alert users to changes throughout the EAS enterprise environment.

With improvements including a new web-based interface and its shift to a unified web-server platform, HALO V2.0 simplifies and streamlines all of these critical processes. The new web-based interface for HALO V2.0 allows users to work with their preferred web browser (e.g., Chrome, Firefox, Safari). The central HALO server now runs on a Linux OS (Ubuntu and CentOS 7) using a PostgreSQL database.

“We shifted HALO to a Linux-based operating system and open-source database because they reduce overall cost of ownership, and also because many datacenter professionals have greater knowledge and familiarity with these systems and find them easier to manage,” added Nix. “We also have implemented a web-based user interface that makes HALO access easier than ever — and gives users the benefit of a modern look and feel.”

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