(English) 2020 Broadcasting from Home

2020 

IP CODEC EBOOK 

The Broadcasting from Home eBook 

With ‘Working from Home’ being the ‘new normal’ for many radio broadcasters due 

to the coronavirus emergency, Tieline has put together this eBook to discuss remote 

options and solutions with a range of broadcasters and audio codec specialists.

INTRODUCING 

The Broadcasting from Home eBook 

THESE ARE CERTAINLY CHALLENGING 

TIMES WE LIVE IN... 

In reflecting on the last few weeks and months of 

isolation strategies forced upon us in the wake of 

the COVID-19 emergency, our hearts and prayers 

go out to all those affected by this ongoing global 

emergency. We appreciate and thank all those 

doctors, nurses and health care workers on the 

front line, and we hope that you are staying safe and 

have been able to avoid exposure to COVID-19. 

What is also remarkable is the resilience shown by 

so many people in the world of broadcast. Here at 

Tieline most of our personnel have been working 

remotely. Thanks to various technologies, we have 

been able to provide ongoing support as usual from 

both our US and Australian offices. 

manufacturing capabilities through strict adherence 

to safe working and social distancing practices. 

STRATEGIES FOR THE HERE AND NOW… 

With so many broadcasters needing to adapt to 

current circumstances, we have put together an 

eBook focusing on the “broadcasting from home” 

phenomenon forced upon us. This eBook provides 

useful information on the technologies and 

equipment available to facilitate home broadcast 

setups and how to remotely control equipment from 

anywhere using software like the Cloud Codec 

Controller. 

In addition, we have included a cross-section of 

opinions from broadcast engineers around the 

world about how they have implemented broadcast 

from home strategies for their networks. 

Supply chains for many manufacturers have 

been impacted in some way, however thankfully 

we have been able to continue manufacturing 

as usual. Crucially, as Tieline manufactures all 

codecs in-house, we have been able to maintain 

We hope you find this eBook useful and if you need 

any advice about the best solution for your needs, 

please don’t hesitate to contact one of our team. 

Please stay safe and take care. 

William McLean 

Chief Executive Officer

THE BROADCASTING FROM HOME EBOOK 

CONTENTS 

BROADCASTERS WORKING FROM HOME 

4-9 

SOLUTIONS FOR WORKING FROM HOME 

10-11 

AFFORDABLE SOLUTIONS 

12-13 

CLOUD CODEC CONTROLLER OFFER 

14 

DOUG FERBER US BROADCAST TRENDS 

15-16 

VIDEOS: LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW BROADCASTERS 

ARE BROADCASTING FROM HOME 

CHARLIE GAWLEY’S INTERNATIONAL BROADCAST 

TRENDS 

17 

18-19 

ENJOY OUR EBOOKS 

21 

Tieline: The Codec Company 

3

Nova 93.7, Australia 

BROADCASTING 

from Home... 

Malcolm Sully, 

Technology 

Manager for Nova 

93.7 discusses 

working from home 

strategies. 

Malcolm Sully uses the Cloud Codec Controller and 

Toolbox HTML5 web-GUI for codec remote control. 

What sort of broadcast challenges have you faced in setting up your team to 

broadcast remotely from home during the COVID-19 crisis? 

The biggest challenges has been sourcing equipment. Whether it be laptops for the 

play out system, microphones and stands and iPhone/USB interfaces for Report-IT and 

Zetta2GO. 

Did you have enough remote equipment on hand? 

Mainly by just shuffling gear around. For example, we only use one NIC in our Merlin 

codecs using the switch to divvy up the VLANs. So it made sense to put the Bridge-IT 

in a Merlin’s place at the studio and deploy the Merlin in the field, giving us the remote 

control and the IP diversity we required. One NIC on the Merlin is connected to the 

broadband connection over Ethernet and the other is attached to a 4G modem for 

redundancy. We also purchased two additional Tieline ViA codecs across the network to 

help with the extra deployment. 

For announcers, what sort of equipment are you using? 

The Breakfast teams are using Merlins and ViAs between them and the rest of the staff 

are using i-Rigs and either Zetta2GO or Tieline’s Report-IT app, depending on whether 

there is a live or a voice track contribution requirement. 

4 www.tieline.com

Nova 93.7, Australia 

Broadcasting from Home... 

How has your team of announcers and engineers adapted to working remotely? 

Yes, for the most part this has worked well. 

Have you been able to remote control codec equipment effectively? E.g. using the 

Toolbox web-GUI and/or the Cloud Codec Controller. 

Yes we have and in the main we have been successful. 


How successful has it been? 

Everyone has taken to it quite well, they all appreciate the IP technology involved which 

has been crucial really, and have been quite patient. Though in the main they all prefer to 

be in the studio looking at each other. 

How has the equipment performed generally, can you tell that you are not 

broadcasting from the studio? 

To the listener they wouldn’t be aware if we hadn’t made it a part of the show. Marty 

continues to work from home and this has been seamless for the Kate, Tim & Marty 

Drive show. 

Do you think more announcers will broadcast from home after COVID-19 is behind 

us as they have now seen how it is simple to do? 

Most teams like the interaction of the personal connections and the banter between 

breaks, which is not quite the same when you work remotely. 

Do you have any other advice for other people setting up “broadcast from home” 

equipment? 

Put together a detailed step-by-step instruction manual with lots of pretty pictures. Staff 

probably won’t read it, but at least you can refer to it when you help them over the 

phone. Also using a mic with a tight pattern will help compensate for bad room acoustics. 


5

BROADCASTING 

NORDJYSKE Media 


Henrik Poulsen, Technical Manager for NORDJYSKE Media, discusses below how 

his network has managed during the period of COVID-19 isolation in Denmark. 

Have your announcers and engineers been able to 

communicate effectively over the last few weeks? 

Living in the digital age has made everything easier. Video 

calls and group meetings on Microsoft Teams have been 

the tools for the daily planning and keeping the “crazy” 

culture alive, now that we can’t all meet at the station. 

Have you been able to remote control codec equipment? 

The great thing with the cloud approach is that everything 

is the same, wherever you are. I’ve upgraded our Tieline 

Merlin and ViA codecs to the latest firmware remotely. This 

was done to take advantage of the new TieLink (Traversal Server) options, to make it 

even more simple to connect codecs when using 4G like we do. 

How important has IP technology been? 

We have three major building blocks as the backbone of our stations, all IP – 

Wheatstone, RCS and Tieline. All three support the approach of a remote workflow, and 

without this it would have been a hard task to do that much work from home in these 

COVID-19 weeks. Wheatstone has software like the Glass-E and ReMIX where control 

can be taken of the mixing console for live remotes – this also gives the engineers 

peace of mind, when everything can be done from home. Remote voice tracking has 

been around for years, but this year it has been put to test all over the world. We use 

Zetta2Go daily, and it is one of the reasons why we’ve been able to keep our normal 

programs and announcers on air. For the morning shows, we have been broadcasting 

from our studios. This could be done safely with fewer people at the station and the 

morning crew leaving right after their on-air shift. Mornings rely a great deal on talk with 

our listeners and sharing of their points of view. For this we use Tieline Report-IT to bring 

our “guest” on-air. They download the free app, click on the link we send, and they are 

automatically assigned to the right studio, the right fader and clean feed. We can then 

talk to them sounding like we’re standing right next to each other. Everything is set up 

and monitored online. 

6 www.tieline.com

NORDJYSKE Media 


How about turning the fader up in the studio, when there is nobody at the station? 

This is done by LIO (GPIO) in the Wheatstone and can be triggered by a button press on 

the Tieline ViA or a macro in the RCS Zetta playout system. 


To be honest, it took a day or two to refine and adapt to the new workflow. Of course, 

there have been small glitches here and there. But overall it has been a success. We’re 

here to inform, entertain and tell the stories of people living in our part of Denmark. 

We are part of a big media house, so our listeners 

expect us to inform them right away, when something 

happens, and this has been done working remotely 

– also thanks to a great effort from everyone working 

together. 

As CTO, I have to be able to support and monitor all 

shows at any given time. This is done by Wheatstone 

Glass-E and the Tieline Cloud Codec Controller, from 

where I can control any Tieline codec from setting the 

input levels if needed, to setting up connections, and 

monitoring the quality of streams coming in and out of 

our station via the internet. 

Henrik Poulsen using Tieline’s Cloud Codec 

Controller to monitor and adjust remote 

codec settings and levels 

Do you foresee that broadcast workflows may change after the COVID-19 crisis? 

Sure there will be changes, some of those were already under way. Doing remotes has 

never been easier, and now everybody has been “forced to make the jump” to stay on air. 

These routines are not going away. Workflows will be updated, and new options, both on 

the hardware and software updates, will support this move. I’m sure more shows will be 

done from outside the studios, and with great benefit for the listeners. Radio was the first 

social media, and the coronavirus has showed that it still is a social media. The technology 

brings us together, as we can broadcast from where people live, work and have fun. 

Do you have any other advice for other people setting up equipment at home? 

Small and simple will do. Our start kit for home voicetrack is less than $300. Blankets 

and pillows are your best friends when the office needs to be turned into a radio studio. 

Be aware of the potential security issues that can occur when work moves home to 

peoples’ own computers. 


7

Southern Cross Austereo 

BROADCASTING 


Executive Producer Sacha French, Kate Langbroek, 

Dave Hughes and Jack Lawrence broadcasting live 

from Bologna in Italy in 2019 using the ViA remote 

codec [picture taken before COVID-19] 

Gino Canzano, 

Engineering Manager at 

Southern Cross Austereo 

in Melbourne discusses 

how their announcers 

and broadcast engineers 

have been working from 

home. 

What broadcast challenges have you faced during the COVID-19 crisis? 

The biggest challenges for us have been trying to work with the connectivity options 

available to us at remote locations, be it ADSL connections, NBN (National Broadband 

Network), and portable modems, all which are susceptible to network congestion. Since 

the amount of domestic network usage heavily increased when so many Australians 

began to work from home, we found this challenge also increased, so with most of our 

cases we needed to use Tieline SmartStream PLUS technology to ensure connections 

remained stable. 

How have you bridged any gaps in equipment requirements? 

Whilst we weren’t doing AFL sports broadcasts we were able to allocate some of the 

equipment we would typically use for AFL. 

For announcers, what sort of equipment are you using? Codecs, Report-IT, mics, 

what sort of network connections. 

Mostly we have been using our ViA units with a SmartStream PLUS connection using 

NBN+4G, whilst for some other broadcasts we have used the Tieline Report-IT app 

8 www.tieline.com

SOLUTIONS FOR 

Working at home 

with the Shure MV88+ microphone kit which has proven successful. We also have a 

partnership with Telstra in Australia that allows us to use the Lanes 4G service in some 

cases, which allows for connection over dedicated 4G/LTE spectrum. 

Have your announcers and engineers been able to communicate effectively to 

provide support? 

Absolutely, engineers are only a video call away which has proven to be a great way to 

visually support and guide a user through any issue they might be experiencing. 

Have you been able to remote control codec equipment effectively? 

Yes, where available we are able to control our codecs remotely using the Cloud Codec 

Controller. 


Remote broadcasting is part of our everyday work. It’s something we do regularly as the 

talent we have here in Melbourne are all heavily involved in Television and run on very 

tight schedules. We have always been prepared to have flexibility in place for talent who 

need to broadcast outside of the studio. Where it has been new for other people, they 

have taken to it surprisingly well. 

How has the equipment performed? 

The Tieline equipment has 

performed well for us, and provided 

we have the same microphones 

and processing as the studio, and 

a room with minimal reflections, it 

tends to not be too different at all to 

the studio sound. 

Do you foresee that broadcast 

workflows may change after the 

COVID-19 crisis? 

I think it could be totally up to the 

broadcaster. We may find that some 

may want to come back into the 

studio more often once restrictions 

ease. 

Margaux Parker from Triple M Brisbane broadcasting 

from home 


9

SOLUTIONS FOR 

WORKING AT HOME 

DOES YOUR ON-AIR TALENT NEED TO WORK REMOTELY? 

With the COVID-19 emergency forcing social distancing upon us all, broadcasters require 

contingency plans allowing station talent to stay safe and go live on-air remotely from 

home. Tieline has been creating IP remote broadcast solutions featuring multiple layers of 

redundancy and remote control capability for decades. As a result, there is already a large 

range of flexible and rock solid streaming solutions to suit every budget. 

THE VIA FOR FULLY OPTIONED REMOTES FROM HOME 

Tieline ViA Delivers Flexible At-home Connection Options… 

The ViA remote codec allows a broadcaster at home to stream live audio, record interviews, 

view and manage recordings, create playlists of local and imported files and even produce 

podcasts that can be sent via FTP directly from the unit. The ViA is capable of mono, 

stereo, dual mono, triple mono as well as stereo plus mono connections. This provides 

great flexibility and the ability to incorporate guests into live broadcasts using Tieline’s 

Report-IT app or other IP codecs. Up to 3 redundant streams can be configured for reliable 

connections. Click to watch the video and learn more: 

For more information about the ViA codec visit https://tieline.com/via/ 

10 www.tieline.com

SOLUTIONS FOR 

Working at home 

AT THE STUDIO… 

The ViA is often paired with a Merlin or Merlin PLUS rack mount codec at the studio. Merlin 

PLUS supports up to 6 simultaneous connections with any combination of IP codecs or Report- 

IT app user connections. 

WATCH THE VIDEO 

To understand more about the capabilities of the Merlin PLUS codec and the ViA, watch the 

video. 

For more details on Merlin PLUS you can visit our website at https://tieline.com/merlin-plus 


11


REPORT-IT APP 

If you own codecs already, one of the simplest and most 

affordable ways to scale up your ability to work from home is 

with the Report-IT Enterprise app. Report-IT is free for users 

to download and turns any smartphone into a pocket-sized IP 

codec that is very simple to use. 

1. At the touch of a button journalists and guests can 

broadcast live IP audio over cellular or Wi-Fi from any 

remote location to an IP codec in the studio. 

2. Perfect for remote broadcasts, live reports or two-way 

interviews, simply connect earphones to a phone and hear 

studio communications and program audio in real-time while 

broadcasting. 

3. It’s affordable and scalable to suit the specific needs of 

small, medium or large organizations. 

You can even attach a professional mic to a phone using a compatible third-party 

microphone adapter cable! This scalable solution can be easily deployed to a large 

number of contributors. Learn more about using Report-IT at https://tieline.com/Report-IT 

CONFIGURE REPORT-IT USER 

ACCOUNTS REMOTELY 

Engineers can configure user accounts 

remotely, so users need no technical 

knowledge whatsoever to get started. 

Guests can also use VIP-Connect* 

and simply tap a hyperlink created by 

a Report-IT administrator to launch 

the Report-IT app on their phone and 

log in. They are ready to connect in 

seconds! 

In this way users need no technical 

knowledge whatsoever to get 

connected and go live with high fidelity, 

crystal clear audio. 

*Requires PC/Mac TieServer Console subscription 

12 www.tieline.com


Go live with Report-IT 

BRIDGE-IT AND REPORT-IT – A COMPLETE LOW-COST LIVE BROADCAST 

SOLUTION… 

If you don’t already own a Tieline codec and need to work remotely and affordably expand 

your capability, pair Report-IT with Bridge-IT Pro or Bridge-IT XTRA. Quickly deploy the 

Report-IT app to all your remote talent and then use Bridge-IT to receive high fidelity, 

studio quality audio. Thousands of broadcasters use Bridge-IT and Report-IT every single 

day for live broadcasts around the world. Learn more about Bridge-IT at https://tieline. 

com/bridge-it 

CONTROL ALL CODECS AND REPORT-IT USERS REMOTELY 

Tieline’s Cloud Codec Controller is the easiest way for engineers to remotely control all 

codecs and Report-IT users from home or anywhere there is an internet connection. It 

delivers: 

1. Real time online/offline status of supported codecs and users logged into Report-IT 

Enterprise. 

2. Monitoring of connection status, link quality and audio levels. 

3. Remote adjustment of audio levels. 

4. The ability to remotely dial and hang-up remote codec connections from the studio. 

WATCH THE VIDEO 

Learn more about the 

Cloud Codec Controller 

and find out how to 

try it for free at https:// 

tieline.com/cloud-codeccontroller 


13

DOUG FERBER’S 

US BROADCAST 

TRENDS 

Remote Studios: The New Normal or Is It Just 

A Phase We’re Going Through? 

Surgical masks. Plastic face shields. Staying 

home…without sports (Booo!). People avoiding 

each other on the sidewalk. Ordering groceries 

online. No dining out. Picking up wine and liquor 

without having to leave your car (this I like). I 

can’t wait for the first time someone takes off their 

mask and casually puts it down on the counter 

or worse…the dining table. Or you reach into the 

seat pocket in front of you on the plane and pull 

out a rubber glove. Ew, gross! 

The coronavirus has changed our lives in nearly every aspect. In addition to becoming 

a society of germaphobes, the way we work and play is going to be different than it was 

before the pandemic. We’ve had to make sacrifices and some of the adjustments made 

may not go away after Covid-19 is no longer a threat. The first thing that comes to 

mind is working remotely. Owners and managers of broadcasting companies have been 

forced to test the viability of producing their studio programming from locations outside 

the main broadcasting location. From where I sit, the early indications I am receiving 

are that the results are positive and that engineers, owners, and advertisers (at least 

the ones that haven’t cancelled) are generally satisfied with the quality of the audio 

that is emanating out to the world from radio transmission sites. Can the level of audio 

excellence be improved? In many cases the answer is yes. 

One of our large market clients described their current broadcasting status as “camping”. 

Listen closely and you’ll hear birds chirping, lawnmowers roaring, dogs barking, 

occasionally emergency vehicles’ sirens blaring, and kids playing. Does it matter? Uh, 

yeah, but some seem to think that a little “rough” production makes their shows sound 

more “real”, more “local”. But in the words of famous comedian Dave Chappelle, things 

can go bad fast when “keeping things real goes too far”. 

Lots of radio companies were caught without a plan for large scale remote broadcasting 

so they slapped together a low cost and low-quality solution as a fast fix to keep their 

live programming on the air. The longer air personalities broadcast from their homes, the 

more the need for better remote equipment will increase. The engineering community 


15

DOUG FERBER’S 

US Broadcast Trends 

will find ways to smooth out the roughness through creative necessity and higher quality 

equipment acquisition. And remote broadcasting “aint goin’ away”. Fewer people in the 

studio building means you don’t need all the space that you currently occupy. In big 

markets commercial office space in high visibility buildings where radio companies like to 

operate from leases for $100 per square foot or more. Do the math…during an economic 

downturn, an industry that was already struggling will see this as an easy way to lower 

operating expenses. The remote equipment works great, the jocks like working from 

home (especially single parents), and the GM gets to run the place leaner. 

As broadcasting from home becomes more permanent, there will likely be more 

investment in better remote equipment. This will mean that more hardware will be 

installed in home studios. More robust all-in-one solutions that stream, record, edit, 

and play audio from several sources (some from other remote locations) will become 

even more popular. Now that the engineering community is not under the gun to set up 

everyone remotely at one time in a matter of days, more attention will be paid to increase 

the audio quality of their solutions. 

The wish list of features will include multiple IP network connection options for quality 

and redundancy, configurable routing, on-board audio processing, and separate IFB 

channels. And maybe the most important elements of the new hardware will be ease 

of use and the ability to control 

it from anywhere. Some air 

personalities are comfortable with 

technology. Others are just good 

entertainers and will not have the 

luxury of calling Bill the engineer 

down the hall when the tech fails 

(translation…an incident involving 

“operator error”). Remote control 

will be a key feature to any remote 

or home studio. 

Are you prepared for the new 

normal? 

The ViA codec delivers multiple connections, 

redundant streaming, record, playback and FTP 

capability, an editable matrix router, plus features like 

EQ and compression. 

16 www.tieline.com

Learn more about how 

NETWORKS ARE 


Tieline has recorded a series of interviews with broadcasters in which they outline 

practical broadcast from home strategies for surviving the COVID-19 emergency. Their 

insights and solutions provide practical advice for broadcasters expanding and adapting 

their “live broadcast from home” capabilities. 

AN INTERVIEW WITH ENTERCOM 

Bill Eisenhamer and JR Rogers from 

Entercom San Diego outline practical 

broadcast from home strategies, including 

the hardware required for remote 

broadcasts and the remote control options 

available. 

AN INTERVIEW WITH DURHAM 

RADIO 

Charlie Toner from Durham Radio 

describes how his network has managed 

remote broadcasting from home 

throughout Canada. 

AN INTERVIEW WITH WOOF BOOM 

RADIO 

J Chapman, President of Woof Boom 

Radio, outlines the broadcasting 

challenges and solutions for surviving the 

COVID-19 emergency from his network’s 

perspective. 


17

CHARLIE GAWLEY’S 

INTERNATIONAL 

BROADCAST TRENDS 

Is doing a remote from your front lounge a 

new norm, or has it always been the norm? 

In these unprecedented times, we as humans 

and social beings have been required to isolate 

ourselves. Some would say the advances in 

technology have brought us closer, others beg 

to differ. I noted when you sat on a bus or train 

in recent times we all resided in our social media 

bubbles -glued to our smartphones, or tuned into 

music or videos. However, if there has been one 

constant over time, it is the medium of radio. It 

has stood the test of time and the Radio Star 

has not been killed off by video! It is the one medium where we are all connected to 

happenings around the world. 

For decades, Tieline has enabled broadcasters to deliver studio quality audio from 

wherever talent is located. All that was needed was a simple POTS/PSTN line, some 

cans, a mic and away you went. For many, this meant actually broadcasting from their 

homes. Fast forward to today and there is an abundance of IP connectivity around the 

world - be it Wi-Fi, fiber, DSL, or even your phone. All broadcasting audio over IP. 

Ironically, AoIP has been the buzz word for the past few years, but for Tieline customers 

it is somewhat passé as we have enabled broadcasting over the public internet for 

more than 15 years! Yes, the public internet, so we are not talking about the networks 

rated with five-9’s of reliability. We can’t always choose the best network or know what 

the quality of the link will be like. Is it dropping packets, is the latency fluctuating - and 

that’s where Tieline’s expertise comes in. We have taken the guesswork out of how to 

configure a codec for live IP streaming by integrating the smarts into our code. Features 

like SmartStream PLUS redundant audio streaming and five automatic jitter buffer 

settings take the guesswork out of how best to connect reliably. 

Radio France Le Mouve conducted live broadcasts from the homes of listeners over 

a two week period using nothing but the public internet. Southern Cross Austereo, 

Australia’s largest commercial network last year successfully set up four home studios 

spanning over 20,000km and 2 continents for its popular drivetime show. Some 2 million 

listeners followed the successful relocation of one of their announcers from Melbourne, 

18 www.tieline.com

CHARLIE GAWLEY’S 

International Broadcast Trends 

Australia to Bologna in Italy. Thousands of others are broadcasting from home using 

Tieline equipment over the public internet right now because of COVID-19. 

Some customers have remarked with a smile that Tieline’s pioneering spirit must be 

down to living in Perth, Western Australia, one of the world’s remotest cities. Australia is 

also one of the remotest countries in the world, heck we are an island! What we have 

discovered, through speaking with many of our broadcast customers, is that they know 

the power of Tieline. They know our equipment works remotely, and in times like this, 

the safety of their home is just another remote location. The question has been asked 

about whether this will be the new normal - working from home that is. Well… as many 

of our customers already know, if it is to become the new normal, Tieline will be there 

front and center - enabling remotes from any and all of the remotest places on the 

planet. 

Take care and be safe. 

SCA’s remote studio setup in Bologna, Italy used Tieline’s ViA codec to broadcast live from 

Italy to Australia 


19

ENJOY 

OUR EBOOKS? 

Be sure to subscribe for FREE at https://tieline.com/tieline-ebooks/. When you subscribe 

you will be notified when each new eBook is released, so you can read each important 

technology update at your convenience. 

DO YOU HAVE AN EBOOK CONCEPT IN MIND? 

Do you have a subject you would like us to cover in an 

eBook? Contact us at: 

media@tieline.com 

We would love to hear from you. 


21

TIELINE RESEARCH 

(INTERNATIONAL) 

Address: 4 Bendsten Place 

Balcatta WA 6021 Australia 

Postal Address: PO Box 

2092, Malaga WA 6944 

Australia 

Phone: +61(0)8 9413 2000 

Email: info@tieline.com 

TIELINE AMERICA LLC 

Address: 7202 East 

87th Street Suite #116 

Indianapolis, Indiana 46256 

Phone: +1-317-845-8000 

Email: sales@tieline.com 

www.tieline.com

(English) 2020 Broadcasting from Home

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