You may have seen the RCS ‘coming soon, evolution continues’  banner ads on radioinfo. We are now in a position to reveal what it is all about.

Steve Ahern reports from the 2025 NAB Show.

During the pandemic, RCS introduced some emergency backup features to allow stations to access their music logs and playout from anywhere, in case station staff needed to isolate. The system used cloud storage and online software operation to make that possible.

Stations could see the potential of the cloud based service and asked RCS to develop it further. So they did.

300 AM/FM American stations have been using the system and it has proven to be stable and to have additional benefits, so it is now being rolled out to stations around the world. From this month, the RCS Cloud system will be available in America to all RCS existing and new customers. After that it will be progressively rolled out to other countries. Australia and NZ is probably just a few months away.

I saw a demonstration of the system at the NAB Show RCS booth last week. Here are some of the key technical points:

• It is browser based, so can be used anywhere there is an internet connected laptop or desktop. Being browser based also brings other benefits, such as screen reader functions and browser-based functionality.
• Station data and music files are in the cloud, and so is the operating system. Benefits of the operating system being in the cloud are the same as any ‘software as a service’ operating system, automatic upgrades, virus protection and backup.
• One of the things I have been sceptical of with cloud based playout systems is any delay between pushing the big green play button and the music starting. The dead air that can result from latency in cloud playout systems is every radio announcers’ nightmare. When I put this to RCS CEO Philippe Generali he revealed that the company has solved this by local caching to ensure zero latency. The cache also acts as a safety net in case the station’s internet goes down or there are other interruptions to connectivity with the cloud.
• With storage ‘off-prem’ there are also benefits for the engineering department with technical servicing and upgrades handled as SaaS, plus smaller rack-room requirements and air-conditioning.

The big things are not just the technical things though, they are also the enhancements to live broadcast.

One of the most significant buttons on the new browser-based Zetta playout window is ‘Collaborate.’ It has a little headset mic symbol next to it. Press it and the other presenter of the show comes in via the system in real time. So what, you may say, we’ve been doing that for ages. Sure, but mic connections were done via OB lines and mini mixer panels, tie lines or studio to remote studio connections. Now it all happens in the one browser.

I hope this powerful new tool will be used to strengthen regional radio connections to the local broadcast area. Instead of networking a breakfast trio from one location, why not have three breakfast presenters in three stations around the same state and let them do a breakfast crew together. Then they would have the local feel, could contribute their local viewpoint and would be recognised as they walk down the main street after the show. There is power in being seen in the market, my recent discussions with local broadcasters in America has convinced me of that. Our regional markets are smaller than America, but the connection is still important for local revenue.

Dump is also available to all remote presenters, as is the ability to connect callers and contributors via the system. Hot keys and other in program functions are also available to all the team in real time, press the button in one location and it is heard everywhere and played out immediately.

Music scheduling works in the same way, with one music director being able to schedule multiple station playlists from remote locations.  Given the recent downsizing in all our networks this function will, reluctantly, be useful to the bigger networks.

The ‘emergency takeover’ functions of the system are also important, any station can take over another stations feed and keep program going from anywhere in the network even if the local studio is dead or the presenters can’t get to the studio. This will be particularly important in Australia during floods, fires and cyclones.

From my demonstration of the functions of the new Zetta Cloud, these are the benefits I can see with the new technology.

The head of RCS in our region, Keith Williams, told me at NAB that the roll out for Australia, Pacific and South Asia is expected within months, and that cloud servers are likely to be located in Australia and Singapore to guarantee close proximity connections for the Australasia region.

With the challenges faced by Australian broadcasters from international competition, some of the painful but necessary business decisions that have to be made will be easier with the new technology.