
Bahrain Radio modernizes with Lawo VSM and radio radio technology posted: 02/07/2021
Built in 1980, Bahrain radio, with seven radio stations, was long due for a revamp. The recent USD6,5m turnkey project, which is the first phase, has launched this facility into the digital realm. The entire facility has been refurbished, from nine radio studios and control rooms to the MCR (Master Control Room) and CAR (Central Apparatus Room), with a parallel overhaul of furniture, equipment, automation systems, radio library and acoustics.
By deploying digital solutions in all areas of the facility, the radio section of the Ministry of Information Affairs (MIA) has essentially migrated out of an analogue environment. Dubai systems integrator GloCom was tasked with the challenge of undertaking this overhaul right in the midst of the 2020 lockdown, and it delivered, ensuring that the existing service was not disrupted at any point in time, and also digitizing the department's radio library archive. While the main centre of the project was in Isa Town, related civil work also took place at various other sites.
Bahrain Radio is one of many projects the MIA has completed in recent months, with more due for completion this year and next. Much of this renovation has been possible thanks to the support of Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Bahrain, says Eng Abdulla Ahmed Abalooshi, Assistant Undersecretary for Technical Affairs at the MIA.
Our radio station and studios were built in 1980. They were really old, and we used to have the occasional breakdown with no support available for them. All our FM and AM stations are processed in these studios and go through the MCR; our radio channels are also available on satellite and OTT. With this project, we have transferred our entire radio technology to a digital platform and have added a few elements that will make life easier for the production people in our radio department, he explains.
At the core of the set-up is a Lawo-based MADI architecture that covers all seven on-air studios and allows the control room to serve as a self-operating studio.
These on-air studios can also be connected to two of the production studios for music or drama. A third production studio has been redesigned for mix-mastering. All seven on-air studios are designed to enable any FM station to log in and go live from any studio.
The MCR, the heart of the station, includes a 15 FM station automation system with full redundancy, enabling the department to scale up in the future and add another six FM stations. It also includes four 80'' LED walls, a brand-new Lawo Vistool for audio monitoring and a Lawo VSM monitoring solution. A big part of the project was the replacement of a legacy Dalet system with the latest radio automation system from RCS.
The studios are connected with the MCR through fibre (MADI) with physical AES/ANA cables for redundancy. The CAR was also designed with a centralized audio router (MADI) from Lawo.
GloCom undertook a carefully planned design, step-by-step decommissioning, on-air migration, execution and training despite Covid-19 challenges, notes Zahid Mirza, President & Chairman at GloCom Ltd. We undertook a complete refurbishment of each of the radio studios, followed by detailed acoustics measurements and installation of new technical furniture, new equipment and thereafter its configuration and commissioning.
This project was contracted to us in October 2019, but Covid-19 resulted in severe challenges in terms of shipments, permits to work on-site and so on - but we worked closely with the customer and our logistics team to circumvent this. [ ] There were also technical and operational complexities for GloCom to address. The channels were on air. Shifting one studio system to the other and ensuring people were happy with the set-up and removing the bulk of spaghetti wire was quite challenging. Despite these obstacles, the project, signed off in October 2020, was delivered on time. For GloCom, one of the biggest challenges was managing the workflow of the Quran station. With our highly qualified engineers, and with support of the MIA team, we achieved that without an operator. With the successful integration of the RCS automation and Lawo, all the stations played the Azan on time for one calendar year, without any delay.
About Lawo
Lawo designs and manufactures pioneering network, video, audio, control and monitoring technology for TV and radio broadcast, performing arts, houses of worship, stadiums and corporate applications. Products include IP-based media infrastructure solutions, control and monitoring systems, digital audio mixing consoles and video processing tools. All products are developed in Germany and manufactured according to highest quality standards at the company's headquarters in the Rhine valley town of Rastatt, Germany.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
21/08/2026
Masterpiece PBS The Forsytes has expanded its cast as its begins production in ...
21/08/2026
The BBC has unveiled first-look pictures from The Witch Farm, a new ghost story and mystery set in the Welsh countryside, coming soon to BBC iPlayer and BBC One...
21/08/2026
The BBC and BritBox have revealed the first look of Edward Bluemel as Hercule Poirot in the forthcoming six-part series Hercule from Mammoth Screen and Agatha C...
21/08/2026
Our priority was making the best, most powerful, most meaningful story possible,...
21/08/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
21/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/08/2026
Avid will unveil how it is transforming production to help media organizations unite content, agentic workflows, and business insights at IBC2026 (RAI Amsterda...
21/08/2026
New routing, modular processing, orchestration and monitoring capabilities bridge dedicated hardware and software-based processing as part of the Dynamic Media ...
21/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/08/2026
When hundreds of thousands of people gather to hear a single voice, there is no room for compromise. Every word must be delivered clearly, every wireless transm...
21/08/2026
Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, today announced a strategic partnership with ScorePlay, the AI-powered media infrastructure that spo...
21/08/2026
NUGEN Audio announces the launch of its new Post Plan and Producer Plan, two flexible subscription offerings designed to give audio professionals short term acc...
21/08/2026
Join the Screen Currency 2026 Ask Me Anything (AMA) Online 20 August 2026
(L-R): Adrian Coates, Grainne Brunsdon, Deirdre Brennan, Rachael Perkins
Got questio...
21/08/2026
Tell us a little bit about your job I'm a Marketing Manager and work across a mix of clients and projects. No two days are ever quite the same, which defini...
21/08/2026
Beat The Lotto dives into the plot behind the 1980s National Lottery scandal
24 August 2026 at 9:35pm on RT One and RT Player
Beat The Lotto is the story o...
21/08/2026
The countdown to the most wonderful night of the year has officially begun!
Host Patrick Kielty is gearing up for another unforgettable Late Late Toy Show nig...
21/08/2026
Meet puppet duo Bellie and Whizz, who are about to explore all the big feelings ...
20/08/2026
From host-broadcaster and rightsholder support in June and July to MLS, NWSL, US...
20/08/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
20/08/2026
At IBC this year, Veritone (14.A56) is bringing two connected themes to the booth: architectural independence in enterprise AI, and the automation of the media ...
20/08/2026
Telestream and ScorePlay have announced a partnership combining Telestream's...
20/08/2026
The Grand Slam of Curling and Rock League have announced a three-year agreement with ESPN, bringing more than 300 hours of live curling coverage to U.S. audienc...
20/08/2026
Nielsen has announced a series of enhancements to its Big Data + Panel currency measurement methodology, taking effect August 31. The updates were developed in ...
20/08/2026
Net Insight has been selected by service provider Big Blue Marble (formerly ORS Group) to provide its Nimbra platform as the core media transport solution for a...
20/08/2026
The 2026 US Open will bring a series of free fan activations across New York City ahead of and during the tournament, which runs August 23-September 13.
We...
20/08/2026
Bridge Technologies will announce a transport stream (TS) playout feature for its VB330 and VB220 compressed monitoring probes at IBC2026 (Booth 1.A71).
The fe...
20/08/2026
ENCO will demonstrate solutions across captioning, translation, AI production tools, automation, and virtual production at IBC2026 (Stand 7.A34, Amsterdam RAI, ...
20/08/2026
MultiDyne Video and Fiber Optic Systems will demonstrate camera robotics and mot...
20/08/2026
Chyron will demonstrate news workflow solutions at IBC2026 (Stand 7.A23), marking the company's 60th anniversary. Highlights include updates to PRIME HTML, ...
20/08/2026
Spectrum SportsNet LA, the exclusive television home of the Los Angeles Dodgers, is now available to Spectrum customers in former Cox markets following the clos...
20/08/2026
swXtch.io will unveil expanded Global SRT Distribution and native multicast tran...
20/08/2026
Riedel Communications has announced that Transformation Church in the United States has deployed a communications system built around the Artist intercom ecosys...
20/08/2026
The bestselling author and longtime Apple observer explores how product launches...
20/08/2026
The Orlando Magic entered last season with a dramatically upgraded in-venue prod...
20/08/2026
Pacers Sports and Entertainment has announced a partnership with DAZN, making it the exclusive streaming home of Indiana Pacers basketball. A team-branded strea...
20/08/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent ratings news and is derived from press re...
20/08/2026
The NHL has announced two major developments tied to its Germany growth strategy...
20/08/2026
Set up your own private remote collaboration infrastructure
SoundBridge have recently put together a tutorial video that provides users with a step-by-step ...
20/08/2026
New V-Control Pro features restore basic functionality
Neyrinck's V-Control software has long been keeping older Avid control surfaces compatible with n...
20/08/2026
TV, BritBox and Mammoth Screen have announced that filming is now underway on th...