BSM and Backbone Tackle Sports Radio

Backbone Networks Cloud Radio production for Sports

Live Sports needs Live Radio, and no company on the planet provides a more agile, complete broadcast platform for sports radio production than Backbone. This football season, we have teamed up with the number one sports broadcasting publication, Barrett Sports Media, to expand our brand in BSM’s newsletters, web presence, and more. 

This week, BSM’s Countdown to Coverage series covers:
MONDAY (8/28): Best Local Show
TUESDAY: Best National Radio Show
WEDNESDAY: Best College Football Podcast
THURSDAY: Best TV Show
FRIDAY: Best TV Play-by-Play Booth

Backbone’s complete, integrated suite of services comprise the Backbone Radio Platform. Everything, including live production, automation, phones, studio quality remotes on smartphones, podcasting, streaming, terrestrial syndication, and studio-transmitter links, all in the cloud for you to broadcast from anywhere—easier, faster, and more affordably. 

Your Station Anywhere

 

Loving the New Rodecaster at NBA Summer League 2022

Backbone is happy to be back to the annual NBA Summer League in Las Vegas with yet more technology for the games’ radio broadcasts. This year’s event includes road testing new Backbone features we’ve integrated specifically for Rode’s new Rodecaster Pro II Production Console. We plan to bring you more information about how Backbone Producer and the Pro II together comprise a game changer for both radio and podcast production. Our thanks to the NBA SoundSystem, the Golden State Warriors, and the NBA Summer League organizers for the opportunity to advance the state of total cloud radio broadcasting in live, remote events.

Backbone and LUCI Wow WooSox Fans on Opening Day

From the back of a  World War II era amphibious “Duck Boat” Backbone Networks and LUCI Global® combined their technological prowess to enable Hank Stolz, host of Radio Worcester’s morning show ‘Talk of The Commonwealth’ to effortlessly broadcast live  — totally in “the cloud” — from the Worcester Red Sox, AAA affiliate of MLB’s Boston Red Sox, 2022 Opening Day Game at Polar Park in Worcester MA. 

Radio Worcester, built on Backbone’s cloud-based Backbone HUB™ platform, enables Stolz and his crews to cover the explosive growth of Central Massachusetts action with on-site broadcasts, and without the burden of heavy, expensive radio broadcast equipment. Utilizing standard local network infrastructure, HUB requires only a laptop, a portable mixer, and a couple mics. Luci Global’s studio-quality smartphone remotes integrate with Backbone’s Talk virtual broadcast call-in phone system, as well as low-latency cloud syndication, for a seamless live radio broadcast live on stations like WCRN Radio, Westborough MA, flagship affiliate of the Radio Worcester Network.

“Luci Global brings in remote two-way audio from anywhere in spectacular quality,” said Stolz, “and also from unorthodox locations, such as 1940’s Duck Boat ‘Boston Betty’ with incredible flexibility, quality and value. The Backbone platform also lets me handle standard listener phone calls and guests, as well as broadcast to our affiliates simultaneously while we’re live from anywhere I can imagine.”

Backbone Networks CTO George Capalbo explains,“All this was done with a standard laptop, WiFi at the stadium and a standard Rode mixer– simple set up and operation.  Competing broadcasts at the event required large engineering support, dedicated microwave networks – lots of complexity and cost that Radio Worcester is ecstatic to be without.” 

For more information – check out Backbone Talk at http://backbone.com and Luci Global at https://www.luci.eu/luci-community-apps/

Now connect to Backbone Co-Host using LUCI Global for Android

Luci Global for AndroidOur partners at Technica del Arte have just unveiled a version of LUCI Global for Android, lending incredible mobility to your broadcasts. It is now available for download from the Google Play store.

[Read more…]

Backbone provides support for The Bottom Line

The Bottom LineFundamentally we believe that the best radio is when the station gets close to the community. That is often done by getting out of the studio to broadcast events.

Shortly we will be releasing our Backbone Talk product that provides a cloud based phone system for screening calls and placing them on the air. We will also include a couple of add-on options, a high-fidelity guest line and a digital off-air call recording feature that is integrated into Backbone Radio’s automation service.

The Omaha World-Herald and their primary internet radio show The Bottom Line with Mike’l Severe have been using the pre-release version of Backbone Talk. Like our Backbone Radio product, Backbone Talk is a phone system in the cloud. Placing certain broadcast components enables you, the broadcaster, to get closer to the action.

Radio World logoRecently Jeff Bundy, who oversees the internet radio effort at the Omaha World-Herald, wrote an article for RadioWorld about what it was like to use Backbone Radio and Backbone Talk to start up their radio station and get it on the air. Jeff said:

In the eight months we’ve been using Backbone, we have broadcast live remotes from locations in the baseball village outside the college world series and just outside Memorial Stadium for home Nebraska Cornhusker football games. We paid to have an Internet connection dropped at the locations and we were able to go live easily.

Many in the The Bottom Line audience live for these events. We’re just happy that we can enable them to do this in a very simple fashion. If you are looking at starting an internet radio station let us know how can help you with your efforts.

 

Boston Herald Radio Announced, Marks “Tipping Point”

Boston Herald Radio LogoMonday, July 29th, was an important day for both Boston and Backbone as one of the great “watchdog” newspapers announced the launch of its Internet news/talk/sports radio station, Boston Herald Radio. The new station is built on the technology of—or as the Herald says, managed by—Backbone Networks Corp.

We view this as a watershed moment for both newspapers and Internet radio. It’s one of the very first implementations of Internet radio designed to actually expand the brand of a major U.S. newspaper, providing new reach to its audience while maximizing the productivity of its writers and news staff.  It also is one step further in legitimizing Internet radio as a medium for real time news, talk and sports content.  It’s not just for hobbyists and DJs anymore.

Boston Herald Front Page 072913We note that this moment is also what Talkers Magazine publisher Michael Harrison has been predicting for years, the convergence of print, radio and video (yes, the Herald has that, as well) into the Media Station. It was Talkers Magazine that broke this story yesterday.

Of course, we are thrilled that the Boston Herald selected Backbone as its technology partner in this venture. Backbone is the only full service Internet radio platform that provides virtually every operational element of a professional radio station, making it incredibly easy and fast to set up and broadcast, including live remotes from anywhere. Backbone services include integrated talk-radio multi-caller phone-in system, live assist, powerful automation, podcast generation and listener stats and maps. We’re also very happy that our friend, ex-WEEI personality and voice of Boston College football and basketball, Jon Meterparel, will host the afternoon drive slot alongside Jen Royle.

Stay tuned for further news, and please see more coverage at the following links: