Published in RedTech Magazine, by Emmanuelle Pautler
BORDEAUX, France — WorldCast Systems has built nearly 70 years of expertise in broadcast technology, starting with the creation of Ecreso in 1956 in Bordeaux, France. Still headquartered there, but with a United States-based office in Miami established in 1999, the company provides solutions covering the entire broadcast transmission chain through its established brands Ecreso, Audemat, APT and Kybio, serving broadcasters and network operators in almost 100 countries worldwide, including notably BBC World Service, iHeartMedia, RTL, NHK and RAI.
The company’s story began in 1956 when engineer and radio amateur Pierre Candolives founded Ecreso in Bordeaux. Initially focused on equipment for amateur radio operators, the company built its reputation around reliability and RF engineering quality. A major milestone came in the early 1980s with the rise of France’s “radios libres” movement. “As hundreds of new FM stations emerged, Ecreso entered the professional FM broadcasting market, developing transmitters recognized for their robustness and technical quality,” says Christophe Poulain, co-president of WorldCast systems. Major operators such as TDF adopted Ecreso solutions. The company reached a second milestone in the mid-1990s, when it introduced several technological innovations, including MOSFET transistor technology, digital displays, RS-232 communication and, later, IP connectivity, to its FM transmission products. “These developments marked the transition toward more intelligent and remotely managed transmission infrastructures,” says Nicolas Boulay, co-president of WorldCast Systems.
During the early 2000s, Ecreso accelerated its international expansion and became one of the leading FM transmitter suppliers in France and Germany. Today, Ecreso’s transmitters operate at major transmission sites including the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Pic du Midi in France and Berlin’s Alexanderplatz Tower.
According to Poulain, “Ecreso progressively evolved from a national RF manufacturer into an internationally recognized broadcast transmission brand. Today, nearly one billion listeners receive FM radio through Ecreso transmitters operating across broadcast networks worldwide.”
1981–2009: Audemat and APT
Daniel Werbrouck founded Audemat in 1981 during the rapid development of private FM radio broadcasting in France. While Ecreso focused on transmission, Audemat specialized in complementary technologies such as RDS encoding, signal monitoring, telemetry, remote control and test and measurement technologies. “The company steadily built an international reputation for innovative solutions helping broadcasters supervise and maintain network quality,” says Boulay.
A second turning point came in 1998 when Bruno Rost joined the company, which had around 20 employees and was still mainly focused on the French market. Together, Werbrouck and Rost accelerated Audemat’s international growth — Werbrouck focused on technology and product innovation, while Rost led export and international business expansion.
APT, founded in Northern Ireland in 1989, became known for its high-quality audio codecs and audio transport technologies. “In the early 1990s, APT was among the pioneers of audio transport over IP, long before IP distribution became standard across the broadcast industry,” explains Poulain.