GatesAir’s leadership in TV and radio can often be directly tied to one key strength – the ability to equip next-generation, over-the-air broadcast systems of virtually any scale and for any standard. Those benefits are accentuated through turnkey, wireless content delivery solutions that offer the industry’s lowest total cost of ownership.
Beyond these core technical strengths, two important traits keep broadcasters coming back to GatesAir – longevity and customer service.
“GatesAir’s history is long and storied, and in fact we just capped a year-long celebration of our 95th year in business,” says Bruce Swail, GatesAir’s chief executive. “We routinely hear from our customers that our longevity and service-oriented approach keeps them coming back as much as our technical innovations.”
GatesAir’s roots date back to 1922, when Henry C. Gates founded the Gates Radio and Supply Company. Following decades of industry firsts, GatesAir has accelerated its innovation cycle over the past decade for powering next-generation over-the-air networks. This includes PowerSmart, a green design architecture that increasingly reduces transmitter size, weight and energy consumption with each product generation, as well as a growing series of intelligent networking solutions from its Intraplex family.
It’s an exciting time to be in the TV and radio business, and we’re helping our customers take advantage of every new opportunity
“We’ve been focused on transitioning FM and digital radio broadcasters away from expensive circuit-based connections with our Intraplex solutions, and towards cost-efficient, reliable IP-based audio contribution and distribution,” says Rich Redmond, chief product officer. “At the same time, we’re helping our customers introduce new digital services to grow audiences and revenue streams. That complements what we are doing in transmission, as we transition broadcasters to next-generation DTV and digital radio standards that offer similar value propositions.”
IP has increasingly found its way into digital broadcast standards as a networking and transport method. As solutions from companies such as GatesAir grow more robust, reliable and intelligent, broadcasters are eager to leverage IP as their main transport medium for content delivery. In digital radio, this includes content distribution via EDI, a highly efficient IP-based protocol supported both by GatesAir and within the DAB radio standard. GatesAir has long been a leader in DAB radio network deployments; the company is now in the final stages of equipping Norway’s national DAB network.
In television, GatesAir has long leveraged advanced networking technologies to power regional and national digital TV networks worldwide, including DVB-T2 systems in Asia and Europe, and ISDB-Tb single-frequency networks in Brazil. Most recently, GatesAir has been at the forefront of ATSC 3.0 technical innovation, participating in all major experimental and commercial ATSC 3.0 broadcasts to date in South Korea and the United States. This includes the recently announced Phoenix Model Market project, the first collaborative single-market effort to demonstrate how ATSC 3.0 technology can be deployed alongside existing digital TV services.
It just so happens that ATSC 3.0 is the first DTV broadcast standard to leverage IP networking natively through its technical architecture, which GatesAir is well prepared to accommodate, thanks to its ATSC 3.0-ready Maxiva transmitters and XTE exciter.
“ATSC 3.0 ushers in an entirely new paradigm where broadcasters can transmit an IP stream rather than a broadcast-specific transport stream and interface with the growing array of video services based on the internet,” says Mr Redmond. “It also provides a foundation for targeted content and advertisements, improved mobile reception and 4K HDR content delivery over the air, which will help broadcasters level the playing field against competing TV services.”
While ATSC 3.0 currently only applies to a handful of countries, the takeaway for broadcasters everywhere is that GatesAir’s innovative spirit remains strong as the company heads towards 100 years in business. In addition to helping broadcasters power new services and lower operating costs, GatesAir continues to invest in human resources that solidify its reputation as a customer-friendly, service-oriented organisation. This includes training initiatives at its Quincy, Illinois facility, such as its new Introduction to Broadcast Transmitter Technology course, launched in May.
“Our business remains strong globally because of our local and regional presence in virtually every corner of the world, as well as our consistent efforts to service customers through personalised training, extensive consultations, and pre and post-sales support,” says Bryant Burke, GatesAir’s vice president of operations, based in Quincy. “It’s an exciting time to be in the TV and radio business, and we’re helping our customers take advantage of every new opportunity.”
For more information please visit http://www.gatesair.com
