The Useful Media Company and ENCO Take Radio to The Seas

P&O Cruises’ new vessel Iona is the latest ship to feature the bespoke Cruise Radio service powered by ENCO’s DAD radio automation system. Operated and managed by specialist audio and technology service provider The Useful Media Company, Cruise Radio offers vacationers an entertaining and informative mix of music and essential ship information. 

Cruise Radio is the only “as-live” radio service at sea and is unique to each P&O Cruises ship. Played over video from the bow camera and streamed to every cabin, Cruise Radio combines music with radio elements, including imaging, jingles, and bespoke commercial packages advertising onboard services, shows, and activities. The fully-featured radio service also provides interesting content, such as documentary music programming, historical retrospectives, and essential information about what is happening on and off the ship. 

The Useful Media Company provided the on-ship equipment for the Cruise Radio service and is responsible for programming its content and supporting its operation. ”We’re very proud to be part of Iona’s adventure as the latest ship to host the Cruise Radio service,” said Grant Francis, managing director of The Useful Media Company. “In the challenging environment of a cruise ship, we needed to ensure rock-solid, uninterrupted, reliable delivery when the ships are at sea or away from their homeport in Southampton. This made ENCO DAD the ideal and only viable technology system for Cruise Radio. It provides all of the tools we need to carry out the project, from supporting multiple libraries of music and clips to built-in audio file conversion.”

ENCO DAD handles music scheduling for Cruise Radio through its integrated Ensemble system. At the same time, other elements such as on-ship promotions use rotating cuts to ensure that relevant content is delivered while continually sounding fresh. “ENCO DAD enables Cruise Radio to be much more engaging and informative than the traditional approach of simply playing songs from a CD or MP3 player in randomized order,” Francis noted. “The output sounds smoother too, as it would on a land-based radio station.” 

The ENCO DAD system provides complete automation of Cruise Radio, minimizing the effort required by onboard staff. The press of a single button updates the music library, advertisements, and software configuration; Enco’s DCL (DAD Command Language) executes all the required steps. This allows The Useful Media Company to partly control the system from its Southampton offices. Onboard operators still need to install a different DVD every month into the system. After that, they simply run a single file, and the DCL commands initiate all the updates from the disc. After the update, the system gets on with things on its own.

Most importantly, the ENCO DAD system has delivered the reliability that Cruise Radio demands. “It continually performs, and it works perfectly every time,” said Francis. “Cruise Radio simply would not work without it.”