Barix Products Help in Clear Channel Tower Backup System

Barix AG said Clear Channel Satellite Services is using its products for point-to-multipoint IP connectivity from Englewood, Colo., to Clear Channel radio towers in the southeastern United States.
The products are Barix Instreamer, Exstreamer and Barionet devices. The system was launched in June in advance of the hurricane season and connects stations in the Gulf region. Stations there “now can remain on the air in the event that studios go dark in extreme weather or other disaster conditions, allowing stations to broadcast important information to local populations in emergency situations,” the supplier stated.
Englewood streams audio to towers sites in preparation for broadcast should studios experience power outages. Barionets at those sites are used to activate and switch the Exstreamer backup audio feed for transmission over the air. The latter devices are controlled from Englewood via the IP connection established over the satellite.
Stations in Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas are connected; the broadcast group hopes to expand the system to around 900 towers over the next year.