RCS, originally Radio Computing Services, is a provider of scheduling and broadcast software for radio, Internet and television stations.
History
RCS was founded in 1979 by Dr. Andrew Economos. The idea for RCS and its first product, Selector, came to him when he was in charge of computing activity at NBC. Economos saw a need for a way to automate the music scheduling process at company-owned stations, and replace the existing paper-based system, and he proposed the development of music scheduling software.
NBC executives deemed the project not important enough for the network to commit resources to. Economos left NBC after 15 years to develop the product on his own. Initial marketing of Selector was difficult due to the high cost of personal computers, and some resistance from stations who wanted to keep their paper-based scheduling systems. Sales of Selector gradually improved, and by 2006, the product had around 6,000 client stations in 100 countries.[1]
On January 26, 2006, Clear Channel Communications (now iHeartMedia) purchased RCS as a subsidiary company.[2][3] Clear Channel had acquired automation software company Prophet Systems in 1997. In January 2007, Clear Channel announced that the two companies would be merged.[4][5] In September 2018, at the NextRadio conference in London, RCS president Philippe Generali announced that GSelector and Zetta would be available as cloud services.[6]
Family of Companies
As RCS has grown, the company has made several acquisitions.
- Air Check real-time analysis of songs and commercials
- Florical Systems television automation and integrated playout
- Hit Predictor listeners rate popular songs (ended in 2023) [7]
- Mediabase monitored airplay information
- Media Monitors local media monitoring
- Test All Media digital media research platform
- RCS2GO mobile
- Revma streaming solutions
Software Products
RCS has a range of products for different purposes.
Current
- Zetta, playout software.
- Gselector, scheduling software.
- Aquira, commercial booking and accounting software.
- RCS News, news reading software.
Former
- MasterControl, playout software replaced by NexGen.
- NexGen, playout software replaced by Zetta.
- Selector, scheduling software replaced by Gselector.
Local Offices
RCS operates in 23 offices positioned across the globe.[8]
Americas
- United States of America (Global Headquarters)
- Canada
- Latin America
Europe
- France
- United Kingdom & Ireland
- Germany
- Scandinavia
- Poland
- Italy
- Türkiye
- Czech Republic/Slovakia
Asia-Pacific Region
- Australia
- New Zealand
- Singapore
- Thailand
- Indonesia
- Taiwan
- South Korea
- India
- China
- Malaysia
Africa
- Africa
Middle East
- Middle East & North Africa
External links
References
- retrieved June 27, 2018 Fred Jacobs. Radio's Most Innovative: Andy Economos' Selector Jacobs Media, October 14, 2014^
- retrieved June 27, 2018 Clear Channel buys RCS RadioInfo Australia, January 27, 2006^
- retrieved June 27, 2018 W. Scott Bailey. Clear Channel buys software company San Antonio Business Journal, February 26, 2006^
- retrieved June 27, 2018 RCS and Prophet Systems to Merge Radiomag, January 25, 2007^
- retrieved June 27, 2018 RCS, Prophet Systems Merge; Veterans Exit All Access, January 19, 2007^
- retrieved October 17, 2018 A new kind of playout system - Philippe Generali YouTube, 19 September 2018^
- retrieved February 9, 2024 Hit Predictor 17 December 2022^
- Worldwide Offices RCS Sound Software, retrieved 2024-09-10^