“Studio-in-a-Box” on Anthos Solves Edge Scale Challenges for Broadcast Platform

A leading national broadcast and Internet radio platform partnered with CDW and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) to centralize edge infrastructure management and streamline broadcast deployment. Faced with costly and cumbersome on-site hardware and the challenge of supporting rapid, on-demand broadcasts, the customer engaged CDW to redefine its system architecture. Through a successful proof of concept (PoC), the partnership achieved faster broadcast deployment, reduced operational complexity and positioned the customer for scalable success.

The customer is a free broadcast and Internet radio platform operating as a national umbrella brand for over 235 local radio stations across the United States. Known for its music recommender system, the platform delivers tailored content to millions. The company’s primary operational focus is bridging local and national radio to enhance listener experiences through cutting-edge broadcast technology.

The customer's broadcast infrastructure faced two critical hurdles:

1. Cumbersome deployment at scale: On-premises studio hardware had become expensive and operationally demanding, particularly for secondary and tertiary markets without main broadcast hubs.
2. Workforce constraints: Challenges in hiring and retaining skilled engineers at the local level impeded the ability to deploy and manage the growing infrastructure effectively.

These issues strained operational flexibility and limited the ability to support on-demand broadcast events across its network.

CDW collaborated with the customer to address these challenges, focusing on designing, virtualizing and automating a "Studio-in-a-Box" system using GCP’s Anthos on Bare Metal.

Key steps included:

• Developing an architectural design document defining the deployment framework and workloads on-premises.
• Implementing centralized monitoring for edge hardware and GCP Anthos services to streamline management.
• Standardizing the deployment process to enable rapid on-demand broadcasts across various markets.
  

Phase one deliverables included a comprehensive design document capturing architecture decisions tailored to the customer's specific broadcast needs.

The successful completion of the PoC delivered measurable benefits, including:

• Centralized edge management: Monitoring and managing edge infrastructure became seamless, enhancing reliability and reducing complexity.
• Accelerated deployment: The standardized "Studio-in-a-Box" deployment cut broadcast setup times significantly, enabling rapid response to on-demand events.
• Proof of concept validated: A single virtualized "juke-box" style broadcast station was deployed on Anthos on Bare Metal, showcasing the solution’s feasibility.
  

Following this success, CDW and GCP have moved into designing the next phase to solidify production-ready architecture for the platform, setting the stage for a scalable and future-proofed broadcast system.

By centralizing edge infrastructure and leveraging Anthos, we helped the customer streamline operations, reduce costs and unlock scalable efficiencies. With the project’s next phase imminent, the national radio platform is well-positioned to deliver high-quality, on-demand content to its extensive audience while maintaining operational precision.