RCS Automation Products

[NewsStud]

Hi folks...

Since Clear Channel took over RCS and merged it with Prophet Systems, I would have thought RCS's Master Control software would have been phased out... but it looks like both MC and NexGen are still available (at least, the RCS web site says so).

Anybody here have experience with MC? Is it any better/worse than NexGen?

I always thought RCS's crown jewel was Selector, and Clear Channel probably got tired of paying for it so they bought the company. CCU and Prophet had very little luck with MusicGen, if I recall...

 

[xmusicmatt]

Hi folks...

Since Clear Channel took over RCS and merged it with Prophet Systems, I would have thought RCS's Master Control software would have been phased out... but it looks like both MC and NexGen are still available (at least, the RCS web site says so).

Anybody here have experience with MC? Is it any better/worse than NexGen?

I always thought RCS's crown jewel was Selector, and Clear Channel probably got tired of paying for it so they bought the company. CCU and Prophet had very little luck with MusicGen, if I recall...

RCS is still developing and updating Master Control... I have not used it but I hear its just as good as Nexgen it's a matter of what your wanting to do, what you have installed.. as you've likely seen in many threads on this forum... Everyone has their flavor of automation system and why they like it over another. Also on a personal opinion.. just like any other software.. Nexgen has features it excells at over Master Control etc.. and Master Control likely has stuff it does better than Nexgen (so stations choose what they are looking for)..

re: Music Gen.. I personally liked it but as you know many feel Selector is the king so it never got a good foot in the door even in Clear Channel land where a majority was using Selector despite having Music Gen as an option..

One should also note that RCS is developing and has another Automation system called Zetta that is currently being used in the Asian market. Zetta has features of both Master Control and NexGen automation systems.

One thing I am glad to see is despite the merge with RCS.. Prophet's support is still top notch! RCS's is really good with support too i've found out. Im programmnig a station with GSelector and RCS has always been quick to respond! Ofcourse you get what you pay for.

 

[Sgeirk]

Actually, for about a year and a half, many CC stations were told/forced to switch to MusicGen. Frankly, if I was programming a very tight-listed current-based station that didn't do a lot of massive library tricks or "special weekend/programming"...MusicGen is BETTER than Selector.

I was told that Randy Michaels was evaluating the automation systems for the Jacor (later CC) stations, and he went with Prophet/CFS after watching how jocks interacted with the system, it was easier to pull up a song/cart in Prophet quickly, plus the wancasting ability was a big plus.

Cruel irony being that jocks would be interacting less and less with the system, as time, and the business has moved on.

 

[syvjeff]

There is a deeper version of this story. Jacor was experimenting with RCS and very early version of Master Control and wanted to see how it voice tracked, transfer files, spots across a group of stations and to other markets. At the time, Master Control just wasn't up to the task and crashed frequently.

Prophet Wizard, despite being a Windows 3.1 driven machine and running with a Novell backbone, just performed and was ahead of its time. AMFM and Jacor went on a bidding war and at the time AMFM became the owner of Prophet. Jacor still moved forward to utilize it's efficiencies.

Also around 2000 or 2001 Cumulus purchased BSI.

Jeff