As part of its effort to reach a wider audience, WGGS selected the R&S®TE1 high-power transmitter for its liquid-cooled design, energy efficiency, dramatically reduced cost of ownership, and excellent reliability.
WGGS-TV is a ministry television station licensed to Greenville, South Carolina, United States, serving Upstate South Carolina and Western North Carolina. Owned by Carolina Christian Broadcasting, the station first signed on the air on October 29, 1972, it is the oldest independent station in the state of South Carolina.
The station switched from its VHF band to UHF and needed a new high-power transmitter to support the higher frequency, plus two low-power transmitters to enhance its broadcast quality and coverage area. With the new R&S®TE1 transmitter, WGGS increases its audience reach while lowering its operational expenditure.
“The leap from Low VHF CH2 to UHF is truly incomparable,” said Tob Tolbert, Broadcast Engineer and IT Operations Director at WGGS.
“Once we were assigned the new UHF channel, we had to find a way to optimize efficiency while keeping costs low. We are very mindful of how we allocate our budget. WGGS is a historic and widely followed station with a loyal community. Our expert team spent countless hours calculating and researching the ideal transmitter and signal propagation. We estimate that the energy savings from the TE1 will pay for itself in three to four years. The reliability and cutting-edge technology of Rohde & Schwarz transmitters are not new to us. We’ve been using R&S transmitters at our sister stations and have always been incredibly satisfied with both the product and customer service,” said Dante Thompson, President and Programming Director at WGGS.
“Being part of such a significant transformation for a historic religious broadcaster that has been serving its community for decades is what makes our work so rewarding. It aligns perfectly with our company claim – Make ideas real,” said Erik Balladares, Vice President of Sales North America, Broadcast at Rohde & Schwarz.
“The switch to the Rohde & Schwarz TE1 UHF transmitter is now complete, and WGGS is continuously expanding its audience reach while significantly reducing operational costs. It’s a remarkable story, one that was hard to imagine just a few years ago. Rohde & Schwarz is at the forefront of innovation in the broadcasting industry. In fact, Rohde & Schwarz is the only manufacturer to have launched a new high-power transmitter in the post-repack era (R&S®TE1), specifically designed for the North American market. As demonstrated by WGGS, our commitment to innovation continues to be a game changer in the field,” said Alessandro Annoni, Rohde & Schwarz Account Manager.
“Our ultimate goal is to deliver quality programming to our community with the highest technical standards possible,” added Dante Thompson, President and Programming Director of WGGS.
The R&S®TE1 is an ATSC 3.0 native transmitter that turns challenges into opportunities for broadcasters to unlock engaging, revenue-rich digital services. The R&S®TE1 is at least 15% more energy efficient than even the best current designs, and 40% more efficient than the average installed base. The proven Rohde & Schwarz liquid-cooled transmitter technology ensures heat from the amplifiers is efficiently dissipated outside, eliminating the need for power-intensive air conditioning. The design eliminates single points of failures, and the intelligent software control layer ensures that over the lifetime of the transmitter the optimal efficiency is maintained throughout self-adaptation. To learn more about Rohde & Schwarz broadcasting solutions, visit our website.
