(04/03/2014) As an internationally acclaimed producer and distributor of noncommercial news, talk, and entertainment programming, NPR creates multimedia content that reaches 26 million listeners weekly and tens of millions more online and on mobile. In an effort to increase its operating efficiencies, the news organization moved its headquarters to a restored building in Washington's NoMa neighborhood, and upgraded to the latest digital technology much of it coming from the catalog of Rastatt, Germany-based Lawo.
Shawn Fox is the Senior Director of Engineering at NPR. As the project manager and lead coordinator for all operational aspects of the broadcast facility in NPR's new building (which opened in April 2013), Fox had a pivotal role in the selection and implementation of the equipment deployed there. The list of Lawo equipment is extensive and includes three sapphire radio consoles, ten 8-channel crystal consoles, ten 4-channel crystal consoles, a large format mc 66 MKII production console, two redundant Nova73 HD routers, a whopping seventy Nova17 routers, and another seven Nova29 routers. Fox discussed the new facility project and the factors that led to the selection of the Lawo equipment.
NPR needed to upgrade its broadcast and content production facilities in order to properly fulfill the transition from analog to digital technology, Fox explains. Our previous building was almost 20 years old and based on analog technology. Most of the equipment was still in service, but was outdated and constantly needed repair. NPR's content production had also evolved to incorporate new and exciting platforms beyond traditional broadcasting. The new 1111 North Capitol Building Project was more than just a facility wide system upgrade newer technologies were required in order to be more flexible, and to meet the ever-changing needs of a 24/7 news operation.
Lawo and NPR previously worked together on smaller technology projects. The relationship started with facility upgrades at our 635 Headquarters in the summer of 2009, Fox reports. These were small scale projects in preparation for the 1111 New Building project. The 1111 project and its relationship with Lawo started in earnest late in the summer of 2011. Our new facility went operational on April 13th, and the entire project was completed in July 2013.
Fox offers insight as to why the organization chose Lawo equipment. The products all run seamlessly on NPR's redundant corporate network, which is protected by multiple firewalls and runs on separated VLANS.
Another important consideration for any broadcast operation is the quality of customer and technical support services provided by the equipment vendors. Lawo has met project deadlines and incorporated multiple changes throughout out the project, says Fox. Their ability to conceptually grasp what we were looking to implement, propose solutions, and come up with the right equipment to make these visions a functional reality requires an in-depth understanding of the market and the technologies required to make everything come together as a cohesive whole.
Before shifting his focus back to the business of the day, Fox offers these following thoughts on the new facility project and Lawo's involvement, The timeline on this project was extremely tight. In some cases, systems came online only weeks before the first broadcast. Lawo representatives were constantly onsite and they met the requirements of the Engineering Client base expediently and with minimal negative impact to our stations and listeners.
About NPR
A thriving media organization at the forefront of digital innovation, NPR creates and distributes award-winning news, information, and music programming to a network of 975 independent stations. Through them, NPR programming reaches 26 million listeners every week.
About Lawo
Lawo designs and manufactures pioneering audio and video technology for TV and radio broadcast production, post-production, as well as live performance and theatrical applications. Products include digital audio mixing consoles, routers, video processing tools, as well as IP-based video and audio transport solutions. Lawo products are developed and manufactured according to highest quality standards at the company's headquarters in the Rhine valley town of Rastatt, Germany. Founded in 1970, the company now employs more than 180 people at 8 locations in Europe, Asia, Australia and North America.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
04/06/2026
American Underground (AU), the Startup Hub of the South and a community of mor...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
NVIDIA and Microsoft Reinvent Windows PCs for the Age of Personal AI
Brie Clayton June 3, 2026
0 Comments
RTX Spark - a 1-Petaflop Superchip, the Full...
04/06/2026
Inside the Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man Grade
Brie Clayton June 3, 2026
0 Comments
Simone Grattarola discusses shaping the look in DaVinci Resolve...
04/06/2026
Cine Gear Expo Announces 2026 Awards of Excellence Recipients
Brie Clayton June 3, 2026
0 Comments
Ed Lachman ASC, Caleb Deschanel ASC, and M. David M...
04/06/2026
St. Vincents Live with Orchestra Tour to Feature Berklee Alum Ruby Plume Berklee alumni St. Vincent and Ruby Plume will appear on the same bill across seven d...
04/06/2026
BackStory follows four Irish young people as they travel back to their parents' homelands
Modern Irish identity is enriched by cultures and influences from...
04/06/2026
June's forecast with GeForce NOW: 100% chance of gaming.
GeForce NOW is lining up new adventures for the month, from big-name blockbusters to quirky indies...
03/06/2026
SES and Viva, Mexico's ultra low-cost airline, have launched multi-orbit satellite inflight connectivity on Viva's Airbus aircraft. A total of 60 A320s ...
03/06/2026
The College Football Playoff, ESPN, and TNT Sports have announced kick times and...
03/06/2026
RED Digital Cinema will exhibit at Cine Gear Expo 2026 (Booth 33, June 5-6, Universal Studios Lot), hosting three panels and hands-on product demonstrations.
P...
03/06/2026
Roku has announced the Soccer Zone, a dedicated hub for FIFA World Cup 2026 content available across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Argent...
03/06/2026
Liverpool FC and Wasabi Technologies have announced a multi-year extension of their partnership, with Wasabi continuing as the club's official cloud storage...
03/06/2026
Grass Valley has announced that Australian News Channel (ANC), operator of Sky News Australia, has deployed Grass Valley AMPP as part of the relocation of its n...
03/06/2026
The Riedel Group has announced the appointment of Gudrun Scharler as CEO of Riedel Networks. She succeeds Michael Martens, who has led Riedel Networks since 201...
03/06/2026
Clear-Com has announced the deployment of its intercom solutions at Itaka Arena ...
03/06/2026
Scott Coker has announced six senior executive appointments for his new global MMA promotion, which launched earlier this year with $60 million in financing. Ad...
03/06/2026
Telemundo, the exclusive Spanish-language home of the FIFA World Cup 2026, has announced its digital and social media programming for the tournament, running Ju...
03/06/2026
The Bundesliga has announced the launch of Captain, an AI assistant built into t...
03/06/2026
Anthony James Partners (AJP) is serving as technology consultant for a moderniza...
03/06/2026
Audio-Technica has announced the recipients of its annual sales rep firm awards for the 2025-26 fiscal year. The awards were presented by Jim Schanz, Executive ...
03/06/2026
iodyne will exhibit at Cine Gear Expo 2026 alongside RED Digital Cinema and Adob...
03/06/2026
The broadcaster will deploy 39 cameras for game coverage, six cameras for studio...
03/06/2026
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is providing a great opportunity for not only Fox Sports...
03/06/2026
Sony Electronics is introducing the SRG-AS10, a 4K 60p compatible PTZ Auto Framing camera that uses Sony's proprietary AI to automatically recognize and tra...
03/06/2026
Game Creek Video's Flagship A, B, C, and D unit will wind up its first year ...
03/06/2026
According to Caretta Research, the sports-rights market may be hitting the brake...
03/06/2026
Retrieval still courtesy of Tribeca.
By Jessica Herndon
This year, the Tribeca...
03/06/2026
Step sequencer-style panning tool revealed
Alongside their flagship self-titled sound-design platform, Sound Particles offer an array of creative effects an...
03/06/2026
Now features full H90 algorithm library
Eventide have announced the upcoming launch of the H9 Harmonizer Gen 2, a new and improved version of their hugely p...
03/06/2026
Significant discount available until 1 October 2026
Aim Audio have just announced a promotion that sees a significant discount applied to their Essence micr...
03/06/2026
Clarification: SBS's position on definitions of antisemitism
3 June, 2026
Media releases
Statement by Mandi Wicks, SBS Director of News and Current Aff...
03/06/2026
Rohde & Schwarz to supply CERTIUM advanced communications system to Memmingen Ai...
03/06/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...
03/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/06/2026
For more than three decades, Re-recording Mixer Andrew Wilson, AMPS, CAS, has helped bring the natural world to the screen with exceptional audio enjoyed by mil...
(04/03/2014) As an internationally acclaimed producer and distributor of noncommercial news, talk, and entertainment programming, NPR creates multimedia content that reaches 26 million listeners weekly and tens of millions more online and on mobile. In an effort to increase its operating efficiencies, the news organization moved its headquarters to a restored building in Washington's NoMa neighborhood, and upgraded to the latest digital technology much of it coming from the catalog of Rastatt, Germany-based Lawo.
