BORDEAUX, France — WorldCast Systems has built nearly 70 years of expertise in broadcast technology, starting with the creation of Ecreso in 1956 in Bordeaux, France. Still headquartered there, but with a United States-based office in Miami established in 1999, the company provides solutions covering the entire broadcast transmission chain through its established brands Ecreso, Audemat, APT and Kybio, serving broadcasters and network operators in almost 100 countries worldwide, including notably BBC World Service, iHeartMedia, RTL, NHK and RAI.
The company’s story began in 1956 when engineer and radio amateur Pierre Candolives founded Ecreso in Bordeaux. Initially focused on equipment for amateur radio operators, the company built its reputation around reliability and RF engineering quality. A major milestone came in the early 1980s with the rise of France’s “radios libres” movement. “As hundreds of new FM stations emerged, Ecreso entered the professional FM broadcasting market, developing transmitters recognized for their robustness and technical quality,” says Christophe Poulain, co-president of WorldCast systems. Major operators such as TDF adopted Ecreso solutions. The company reached a second milestone in the mid-1990s, when it introduced several technological innovations, including MOSFET transistor technology, digital displays, RS-232 communication and, later, IP connectivity, to its FM transmission products. “These developments marked the transition toward more intelligent and remotely managed transmission infrastructures,” says Nicolas Boulay, co-president of WorldCast Systems.
During the early 2000s, Ecreso accelerated its international expansion and became one of the leading FM transmitter suppliers in France and Germany. Today, Ecreso’s transmitters operate at major transmission sites including the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Pic du Midi in France and Berlin’s Alexanderplatz Tower.
According to Poulain, “Ecreso progressively evolved from a national RF manufacturer into an internationally recognized broadcast transmission brand. Today, nearly one billion listeners receive FM radio through Ecreso transmitters operating across broadcast networks worldwide.”
1981–2009: Audemat and APT
Daniel Werbrouck founded Audemat in 1981 during the rapid development of private FM radio broadcasting in France. While Ecreso focused on transmission, Audemat specialized in complementary technologies such as RDS encoding, signal monitoring, telemetry, remote control and test and measurement technologies. “The company steadily built an international reputation for innovative solutions helping broadcasters supervise and maintain network quality,” says Boulay.
A second turning point came in 1998 when Bruno Rost joined the company, which had around 20 employees and was still mainly focused on the French market. Together, Werbrouck and Rost accelerated Audemat’s international growth — Werbrouck focused on technology and product innovation, while Rost led export and international business expansion.
APT, founded in Northern Ireland in 1989, became known for its high-quality audio codecs and audio transport technologies. “In the early 1990s, APT was among the pioneers of audio transport over IP, long before IP distribution became standard across the broadcast industry,” explains Poulain.
APT’s solutions enabled highly reliable, low-latency transport of audio and MPX signals between studios and transmitter sites. “Broadcasters and media organizations worldwide adopted APT’s products. Early on, APT even had the honor of equipping George Lucas’ Skywalker studios,” says Julien Chomat, COO of WorldCast Systems.
2006–2016: A complete ecosystem
Audemat acquired Ecreso in 2006, combining FM transmission expertise with Audemat’s monitoring and RDS technologies. WorldCast Systems was officially created in 2009, following the integration of Audemat, Ecreso and APT under a single organization dedicated to broadcast technologies. “The ambition was to create a complementary ecosystem capable of covering the entire broadcast chain,” declares Poulain.
Werbrouck and Rost drove the strategy, sharing a vision of building an international technology company that combines RF expertise, software development and IP technologies to provide broadcasters with complete end-to-end solutions. With the formation of WorldCast Systems, the organization progressively combined Ecreso for FM transmission, Audemat for RDS, telemetry and monitoring, and APT for audio and MPX transport.
In 2016, WorldCast Systems expanded further into software and network supervision by creating Kybio, its network management system platform. “Kybio represented an important evolution to help broadcasters and network operators centrally supervise and manage complex broadcast infrastructures and IP networks,” explains Boulay. Although originally designed for broadcast environments, the platform now operates in telecom and satellite sectors.
Since 2023, WorldCast Systems has also been part of the ICE Groupe, a French industrial and technology group with several hundred employees. This partnership provides WorldCast Systems with strong financial backing to continue expanding internationally, accelerating innovation, and delivering the highest level of service and support to customers worldwide.
Efficiency and IP technologies
Today, WorldCast Systems draws on an established international network of distributors, partners and sales representatives across nearly 100 countries. Coordination is based on close collaboration between the Bordeaux headquarters, which centralizes R&D, product management and strategic coordination, and the Miami office, which strengthens proximity to the North and South American markets. “This dual structure allows the company to combine centralized engineering expertise with strong international customer proximity,” emphasizes Chomat. “Today, WorldCast Systems continues to combine traditional RF expertise with software innovation and IP-based technologies. Ecreso remains one of the group’s core brands and continues to develop energy-efficient FM transmission solutions. Its AiO Series integrates multiple technologies directly into the transmitter, including Audemat RDS, audio processing and APT decoding.”
Ecreso has also developed SmartFM, an AI-based technology for FM radio. “The system is designed to optimize transmitter efficiency and reduce energy consumption and carbon footprint by up to 40%, depending on operating conditions,” says Boulay.
“Broadcasting is entering a new era where operational efficiency, sustainability and flexibility are becoming as important as signal quality itself,” says Chomat, adding that the company plans to continue developing technologies combining RF reliability with IP networking, centralized supervision and energy optimization. “Through Ecreso, Audemat, APT and Kybio, WorldCast Systems combines decades of RF expertise with modern software innovation and international operational experience.”
Seventy years after Ecreso took its first steps, WorldCast Systems is striding internationally, while maintaining its historical engineering roots. Today, the company says it aims to help broadcasters modernize their operations without compromising the robustness and quality standards required by professional radio networks.
The author has worked in the radio industry for over 30 years. She has held posts as both a producer and presenter for French stations, such as Radio Notre Dame and Radio France’s France Culture. In addition to her involvement in academic research and EU consulting in Brussels, she specializes in print journalism.
This story originally appeared in the July/August 2026 edition of RedTech Magazine. You can read or download that edition for free here.
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