22 August 2000, Cleveland, OH USA
The acquisition of CBS by Viacom marks a brand new day for popular oldies station WCBS-FM. The station, home to some of the great voices of New York City’s Golden Age of rock radio, is keeping the CBS moniker but moving out of “Black Rock” (CBS headquarters on West 51st Street) and into new studios in the Viacom building in August.
One of the critical elements, according to Bob Tarsio, Director of Engineering for Viacom, is a phone system that can handle the large volume of on-air contests which are so much a part of the station’s personality. To accomplish this, Tarsio has added two Telos TWOx12 multi-line systems.
“FM stations aren’t usually known for much besides their music, but this station does a huge amount of on-air contests so a multi-line phone system became a very important aspect of the studio build,” explained Tarsio. “We evaluated several systems to find one that is simple to use, sounds good and--most important—works reliably,” he noted.
Tarsio said that what initially sold him on the TWOx12s was Telos’ reputation and the hands-on knowledge of the company’s sales staff.
“They really understand the product and how it fits a radio station’s needs. We had good experience with the Telos Zephyr in the past and we also bought their Delta hybrids and controller for the new studios.” He added that after taking a good look at the TWOx12 and comparing it with the competition, there were many features which made it the choice for WCBS-FM
“It’s a bigger system and can handle more phone lines and it’s a system that integrates easily into our console, so the announcer has one-button control of the phone,” Tarsio noted. “The TWOx12 is easy to use and simple to set-up, and it worked right out of the box."
The TWOx12 Multi-Line Talkshow System is the latest multi-line telephone system from Telos. It gives users the flexibility to connect to digital ISDN telephone lines as well as traditional analog POTS lines. Its twelve-line capacity offers increased flexibility for producers; unique icon-based visual call management, improved line status signaling and Caller ID support (when used with digital phone lines) for better control of a station's on-air environment.
WCBS-FM expects to begin broadcasting from its new studios in mid-August. The station enjoys a fiercely loyal listenership for its rock and roll oldies format as well as air shifts from rock radio greats “Cousin” Brucie Morrow, Harry Harrison and Dan Ingram.
Telos Systems is a leading manufacturer of ISDN, digital network and telephone interface products for talk-show programming, call-in radio segments, teleconferencing, audio production, remote broadcasts, and internet applications. Telos is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, with satellite operations throughout the US as well as Canada and Europe. To find out more about Telos Systems, call +1 (216) 241-7225.
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