Virtualization and the cloud: Why and how?
Day 3 of RadioWeek explored one of the biggest technological shifts in broadcast radio
Nairobi-based Kayu FM, launched in May this year, is Kenya’s newest Kikuyu-language FM station targeting the populous Gikuyu audience based in Nairobi and the Mt. Kenya region. Taking advantage of the refitting of a former hotel building, Kayu FM combined and renovated several rooms, converting them into full-fledged radio studios powered by Lawo RƎLAY software. The Kenyan system integrator BYCE Broadcast implemented the project.
Lawo’s RƎLAY virtual radio suite provides a full-blown broadcast mixer; live audio mixing, processing and source routing is via a touchscreen connected to an off-the-shelf PC or, for remote and on-location shows, a laptop computer.
RƎLAY allows Kayu FM to mix 24 audio sources and AES67-compliant AoIP signal streams directly on the station’s PC. Rose Kimotho, CEO of Kayu FM, says, “RƎLAY brings professional radio production to our radio station, complete with Audio-over-IP and internal routing.”
“The RƎLAY touchscreen interface is a clean and low-maintenance surface, “says Grace Murungi, Kayu FM’s Program Manager. “And it is so easy for our talent to learn and work with the RƎLAY software — everyone says so. We just love our radio station’s new facilities!”
