Airtime (software)

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Airtime

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Screenshot
Basic data

developer Sourcefabric
Publishing year 2011
Current  version 2.5.2.1
(April 8, 2015)
operating system Linux
programming language Python , PHP , JavaScript
category Broadcast automation
License GPLv 3 ( Free Software )
German speaking Yes
airtime.sourcefabric.org

Airtime is a free radio administration application for remote-controlled broadcast automation (through web-based scheduler) and program exchange between radio stations.

features

The software can also be controlled remotely in a web browser via a so-called web interface , which also offers drag-and-drop support. In addition, among other things, program sequences can be arranged with a scheduler, (live) broadcasts can also be processed in real time and during broadcast, and repeats of broadcasts can be arranged and the data stream configured. It can be sent in the audio formats Ogg Vorbis , MP3 , AAC and Opus , which then distribute the output stream to the audience. It can be sent via SHOUTcast and Icecast servers. The SoundCloud web service is supported so that any audio files and recorded programs can also be uploaded automatically. Airtime has a file storage system that allows you to set watched folders to synchronize files and search audio archives.

Airtime is distributed as free software also in the source code under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL) in version 3.

technology

Airtime is written in the programming languages Python , PHP and JavaScript . The scheduler is based on the Liquidsoap programming language .

history

The original concept for Airtime, initially called LiveSupport and then Campcaster, was created in 2003 by Micz Flor, a German new media developer. The concept was further developed by Ákos Maróy, a software developer and then a member of Tilos Rádió , Robert Klajn, a radio producer from Radio B92 , and Douglas Arellanes and Sava Tatic from the Media Development Loan Fund (MDLF). The original development was funded by a grant from the Information Program of the ICT Toolsets Initiative of the Open Society Institute . The development was originally coordinated by MDLF through its Campware.org initiative, now outsourced as the independent, non-profit organization Sourcefabric .

In January 2011, Sourcefabric announced a rewrite of Campcaster, starting with the beta release of version 1.6. The new product, known as Airtime, replaced Campcaster's C ++ scheduler with Liquidsoap and included a drag-and-drop web interface based on jQuery .

Airtime 1.8.1 was released on May 3, 2011, in quick succession to the releases of versions 1.7 and 1.8 in April. The possibility of editing programs was introduced, program repeats were made possible and the calendar was improved with a start time that was reportedly five to eight times faster. The default format of the output data stream from Airtime was Ogg Vorbis instead of MP3 .

In May 2011, SoundCloud support was announced, which allows users to automatically upload recorded programs.

Version 1.8.2 with improvements to the installation and update processes, the file upload restriction and the interface was released on June 14, 2011.

Airtime 1.9 was released on August 10th, 2011 and brought a new file storage system that allowed setting watched folders to sync files and search their audio archives. Support for SHOUTcast , a one-line Ubuntu install command , and improved controls were also added. 1.9.4 was released on September 27th with installation packages for Ubuntu and Debian.

The Airtime 2.0 release on January 25, 2012 brought new features including configuration of the data stream via the browser, real-time data stream preview and uploading of any audio files to SoundCloud.

On June 5, 2012, Airtime 2.1 brought ongoing data streams from remote sources and real-time processing of live broadcasts to a revised “playing” interface. A bug fix version 2.1.2 was released on June 18.

Airtime 2.2 brought smart blocks, live broadcast functions and new streaming capabilities and was released on October 29th.

In 2016 a group of developers from various free radios announced the " LibreTime " fork .

Awards

In September 2011, Airtime was nominated as one of five finalists for the Packt Open Source Awards 2011 in the multimedia category. In 2012 Airtime won the Guardian Awards for Digital Innovation in the category “Best Use of Technology for Social Change”.

West Africa Democracy Radio won a Knight-Batten Award for Journalistic Innovations in July 2011, with Airtime mentioned as part of the platform.

Radio stations that use airtime

On January 18, 2011, Resonance FM announced in issue # 324 of the UK music magazine The Wire a collaboration with Sourcefabric to help "with testing the software and developing new functions" (English: [to help]) "with testing the software and developing new features ").

West Africa Democracy Radio (WADR) opened a news platform on April 1, 2011, which includes airtime. Catalyst Radio announced on June 13, 2011 the use of Airtime for organizing and broadcasting broadcast content. Stress FM, a radio station from Lisbon, uses Airtime to program its broadcasts. Radio LORA Munich uses Airtime for the livestream and DAB + transmissions during the FM transmission breaks (Lora Munich only broadcasts on FM Monday to Friday 5pm to midnight).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Airtime Open source radio automation software for scheduling and playout in Sourceforge , accessed July 21, 2013
  2. ↑ a b Airtime Free open source radio automation software. Sourcefabric, accessed July 21, 2013 .
  3. ↑ New open source organization is dedicated to quality journalism. In: Editor & Publisher. Duncan McIntosh Company, January 19, 2011, accessed July 21, 2013 .
  4. ↑ Airtime Goes Automatic For The People with 1.8.1. In: Free Software Daily. Retrieved July 21, 2013 .
  5. ↑ Sourcefabric and West Africa Democracy Radio have added SoundCloud support to Newscoop. In: SoundCloud. Retrieved July 21, 2013 .
  6. ↑ Chris von Eitzen: Airtime: open source software for radio stations. (No longer available online.) In: H-online. Heise Media UK, June 16, 2011, archived from the original on August 20, 2012 ; accessed on July 21, 2013 .
  7. ^ Benjamin Humphrey: Open Source Radio Station Management Software Airtime Sees New Release. In: OMG! Ubuntu! Ohso Ltd., October 3, 2011, accessed July 21, 2013 .
  8. ^ Adam Thomas: What's new in Airtime 2.0. Sourcefabric, January 25, 2012, accessed July 21, 2013 .
  9. ↑ Adam Thomas: Airtime 2.1 adds real-time show edit and live stream rebroadcast. Sourcefabric, June 25, 2012, accessed July 21, 2013 .
  10. ↑ Fabian Scherschel: Sourcefabric's Airtime 2.2 gets smart blocks. In: H-online. Heise Media UK, October 29, 2012, accessed on July 21, 2013 .
  11. ↑ Lucas Bickel, Robb Ebright, Markus Roth, Jean-Marie Favreau: LibreTime: A Fork of AirTime due to stalled development. In: gist.github.com. GitHub Inc., 2016, accessed September 2, 2018 .
  12. ↑ Welcome to the 2011 Open Source Awards: Voting Stage. Packt Publishing, accessed July 21, 2013 .
  13. ↑ Catalin Cimpanu: 2011 Packs Open Source Awards Nominees. Softpedia, September 21, 2011, accessed July 21, 2013 .
  14. ^ Guardian Awards for Digital Innovation - winners 2012. In: The Guardian . Retrieved July 21, 2013 .
  15. ↑ 2011 Knight-Batten Award Winners. (No longer available online.) Jlab.org, July 27, 2011, archived from the original on August 9, 2011 ; accessed on July 21, 2013 .
  16. ^ The Wire, issue 324, February 2011 edition, page 76.
  17. ^ Adam Thomas: West Africa Democracy Radio launches open source news platform. Sourcefabric, May 3, 2011, accessed July 21, 2013 .
  18. ^ Catalyst Radio: About Us. June 11, 2011, archived from the original on August 17, 2012 ; Retrieved July 21, 2013 .