Teletica Boosts Power and Transforms Recording Studios with Axient Digital
Introduction
CUSTOMER PROFILE: Teletica is the most important television channel in Costa Rica, with the largest audience in the Central American country. Offering a wide range of programming, the 62-year-old broadcaster remains at the forefront of technological innovation. It has recording studios, forums and spaces for live shows that require impeccable audio quality.
CHALLENGE: Increase channel availability to utilize the maximum amount of microphones and signal stability in its studios, as well as eliminate the levels of interference that can occur in these spaces.
SOLUTION: Bansbach, a Shure distributor in Costa Rica, installed the Axient® Digital wireless microphone system, as well as other solutions from Shure to improve the audio in the television station's studios.
It requires a lot of skill to bring TV magic to every home through the screen, and Teletica is an expert at doing just that. It has provided entertainment and information to Costa Rican families for the past six decades. Of course, many those many years, the broadcaster has also transformed and evolved its audio systems with help from Shure, so that its productions have always stayed at the highest level.
Today, the channel has five recording studios, three additional channels that are part of the television group and a variety of live programs that require the best in audio and video equipment to increase viewership. Teletica also relies on the most advanced Shure technology to ensure that everything runs smoothly, giving the technical team peace of mind for every production. Manri Vargas, head of sound at Teletica and a specialist in the audio world with over 30 years of experience, says Axient Digital has literally transformed his work: “We are very pleased to have Shure equipment and Axient Digital has been a tool that has helped us greatly to improve sound quality, as well as microphones and headsets, among other equipment that we have been working with for several years.”
At Teletica, about 98 percent of audio systems, as well as microphone equipment, are from Shure. “In recent years we have been implementing more solutions and upgrading technology. We have all kinds of systems, as well as Axient Digital, a robust piece of equipment that allows us to use smaller frequency ranges, and that helps us quite a bit with eliminating interference. In addition, the integration of Axient Digital and ULX-D with the Dante network has been very important. It has given us more color and quality to the sound,” adds Vargas.
Peace of Mind for Live TV
Teletica produces many live shows, making Shure solutions very valuable. This type of programming requires robust wireless audio systems, as dozens of microphones are used at the same time for all the artists on stage and there is no room for error. Vargas says the Shure equipment has made this job 90 percent easier. “The control we have with the monitoring system directly on the console gives me a lot of peace of mind. Knowing if we have to change a battery without being upfront watching the rack eliminates the risk factor.” Broadcasting a live program for three hours or more requires a robust infrastructure and clear, quality sound and, as the sound manager says: “You can't cut to fix a problem and your wireless equipment has to work flawlessly. With Axient Digital and the PSM1000 body packs, as well as Twinplex and ULX-D, I feel at ease. Everything is working on the same system.”
This is also indispensable for broadcasts that are either remote or in the field. “We do live events with remote units and in those jobs, we include several systems without problems. The important thing is that journalists and talented individuals feel comfortable and can do a scan (going across the set) without hassles. We have up to five forums working at the same time, without any kind of interference.”
Teletica's programming runs from 5 a.m. to midnight with multiple live broadcasts. They are also responsible for other channels that use the same recording studios, among them the sports channels TD+ and TD+2, as well as XperTV. Starting in 2020, through FUTV, they have also been broadcasting the first division of Costa Rican soccer live.
“When it comes to Shure microphones, we use up to 60 channels in our daily programming, not counting the use of in-ears that can raise that figure to more than 80 channels of daily audio transmission without interference.”
In conclusion, Vargas emphasizes the quality of Shure products and the ease of use in each new solution. He stresses that Axient Digital has been a truly valuable acquisition for the company, so much so that today they are the channel with the most Shure equipment in Costa Rica and they expect to buy a couple more items this year. “The sound is not important until it fails. These concerns are no longer there with Axient Digital.” Vargas reinforces the broadcaster’s commitment to viewers as “the public needs to have the best quality audio and video broadcasts. Teletica has to deliver the best as it has always done and offer technical and content quality. Shure has made my job much easier. I will always take that into consideration because it has fixed a lot of headaches for me.”