(English) 2019 eBook

REPORT-IT & MERLIN PLUS DELIVER
WMOA & WKAW
SPORTS AND NEWS BROADCASTING
By Ben Marshall, WMOA WJAW
Program Director
At WMOA / WJAW radio in Marietta,
Ohio it would be an understatement to
say that local sports are a big deal, and
now with the Merlin PLUS, we’ve taken
our Game to the next level.
Every year we plan for at least one
hundred and twenty-five regular season
sports broadcasts, with more than a
dozen different schools and programs
at the High School and College level playing a variety of sports, including football,
basketball, and baseball. At the very start of 2019, we began our trial period with the
Merlin PLUS and while there were hiccups with the initial setup, and some growing
pains for our broadcasters getting familiar with the new equipment using IP, it very
quickly became apparent that the Merlin PLUS is the real deal. It must also be said that
everyone we dealt with at Tieline was great. Some of the initial problems we had setting
up our Merlin was just because of the holiday season, with the staff at both our offices
and Tieline taking time off to celebrate. Tieline graciously extended our trial period
through January and they made the whole trial process very smooth.
During our initial broadcast with the Merlin PLUS we could tell instantly that the quality
was great. It was much improved from using cell phone or landlines, and our listeners
noticed right away as well. Putting audio recorded from a basketball game that we
had done on our conventional system next to the Merlin PLUS audio, it was almost
embarrassing the difference in quality - but it made for an easy choice, we NEED this
technology.
I had arranged my demo setup through John Lackness at Broadcast Depot, whom I had
met in Orlando at the 2018 Radio Show, so I was glad that coincidentally enough he
could give me a great deal on the Tieline equipment.
We ordered the Merlin PLUS and the Report-IT app, which we also used during our
Tieline: The Codec Company
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