Radio Computing Services
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Radio Computing Services also known as RCS Inc., is a provider of scheduling and broadcast software for radio, Internet and television stations.
[edit] History
The company was established in 1979 by Dr. Andrew Economos. The first product developed by RCS was Selector, the music scheduling system. The goal of Selector is to help music directors of radio stations to handle day-to-day operations such as daily schedule generation, maintenance of music library and format hours (also known as clocks). RCS also provides a scheduling system for non-musical elements (jingles, promos, etc.) called Linker, and digital automation system for broadcasting from PC called Master Control. As of 2005 RCS has approximately 7,000 clients worldwide and is the leader in the radio software industry.
In April 2006 RCS introduced a new generation of music scheduling software for radio, satellite, DAB, HD and internet stations called GSelector. The new software reinvents the techniques of music scheduling first introduced by original Selector in 1979. Original Selector system used Rules to determine what songs can be scheduled at given schedule positions: do not play two rock songs in a row (Sound Code rule); do not play a Beatles song in less than 2 hours (Artist Separation rule); do not play certain songs in the morning (Daypart Restriction rule) and many more. In GSelector, music director basically sets Goals (hence the GSelector name) of what should happen; instead of Rules the system provides a set of controls allowing to easily adjust (increase/decrease) balance and demand of a variety of music attributes: tempo, energy, mood, artist occurrence and many more. It is believed that a new concept should help music directors achieve their music scheduling goals easier and faster. Apart from goal-based scheduling GSelector also offers a new approach to music libraries. Unlike the previous system which maintains one library per database (whereas database usually refers to a single station), GSelector allows to operate individual stations (with individual schedules) that share one music library within a single database. Again, this concept should significantly ease manipulation times when working in the library (one song can be shared by multiple stations without having to copy song data out).
RCS also offers scheduling software called Linker. Unlike Selector, Linker is optimised to schedule non-music/non-commercial broadcast content: promos, jingles, liners, sweeps etc. commonly referred to as links. It also allows to integrate traffic schedules (playlists with commercials) into the main schedule at designated positions (called spotsets). It is possible to operate Selector and Linker independently as separate programs but typically they are used as a pair since they complement each other. There are Linker versions available for all supported Selector versions as well as for GSelector. Classic Selector and GSelector will likely coexist in the years to come.
On January 26, 2006, industry publication Radio & Records reported that Clear Channel Communications purchased RCS for an undisclosed price.
