NewsBoss marks a major milestone this year - 25 years delivering exceptional newsroom solutions to broadcasters worldwide. After a quarter of a century, NewsBoss is used in over 30 countries and is the leading radio newsroom system throughout North America and Australasia. We are proud of our industry-leading position our excellent customer feedback. "In my 28 year career in broadcasting, I’ve worked with several software programs. None of those have served my needs quite like NewsBoss," says Radiate Media/Cumulus Broadcasting Dallas Operations Manager, Andi Mckay. NewsBoss began in early 1994 when Desktop Technologies Pty Ltd was formed to develop a high quality Windows-based newsroom system for radio. It was an era when the predominant radio newsroom systems were MS-DOS-based programs with monochrome green or amber screens. While those systems were very good for their era, they were limited by their DOS-based DNA and the advent of Windows opened a new world of possibilities. The early versions of NewsBoss were delivered long before hi-speed Internet connections. The software arrived by mail on three 3.5 inch floppy disks to be installed on Windows for Workgroups 3.1 and required a 386 computer with 16MB RAM. Today, NewsBoss requires more computing power but can be downloaded online and installed in minutes. The very first NewsBoss systems installed were in Australia at 2SSS Canberra in 1994, and in the USA at KFRU Columbia, MO and WNTM Mobile, Alabama in 1995. Since those pioneering stations took the very first steps with NewsBoss they have been joined by more than 500 newsrooms around the world, from small market stations with a single user to national networks with hundreds of staff. Alan Baskin is a senior journalist with ARN Australia and one of the early generation NewsBoss users. “NewsBoss has established itself as the industry standard for radio newsroom systems in Australia," he says. "I’ve been involved as an active user of the software for close to 20 years, and was aware of it from its earliest days of pre-release development. It is a key tool to in keeping our newsrooms ahead of the competition.” After 25 years of constant development and innovation the NewsBoss client list includes many of the biggest names in broadcasting. NewsBoss is distributed globally by a network of international representatives and through key partnerships with several world-leading broadcast technology companies including Broadcast Electronics Inc., Enco Systems Inc., DAVID Systems GmbH and Wide Orbit Inc. Desktop Technologies remains a privately owned independent company without ownership links to any broadcast organisation and prides itself on being customer driven. Client feedback drives many new features in NewsBoss, along with an inherent commitment to constant improvement to meet the broadcasting needs of today and tomorrow. Those needs will always include premium level support which is delivered from NewsBoss HQ and through the key dealer partnerships. “A generation of radio journalists has grown up on NewsBoss – with good reason," according to Southern Cross Austereo Group News Director Radio, Steve Speziale. "The simple user experience, logical workflow and reliability of the platform make it a compelling choice. It’s a comfort to know the brains behind the operation are radio and broadcast technology experts with an eye on the newsrooms of the future.” The key people behind NewsBoss have been with the company since its inception twenty years ago. Co-founder and Director of Software Engineering Bob Miller has a 35 year history writing software for the medical, banking and broadcast industries. He brings a highly disciplined approach to software engineering which delivers robust, high quality software with an emphasis on ease of use. Director of Product Marketing and co-founder Kurt Lass first encountered newsroom automation systems 35 years ago in his role as a broadcast engineer for Radio 2GB, the leading news and talk station in Sydney, Australia. Kurt's extensive engineering background and personal experience of newsrooms and newsroom systems continues to focus NewsBoss on practical real world solutions to the biggest challenges facing the industry. "We've seen huge changes over the last two decades and we're proud of how we have responded to help our clients," he says. "And we are excited about the new challenges and technologies that are driving us today and into the future." Supporting the principals, NewsBoss maintains a small and dedicated team of professionals who all boast at least 25 years’ experience in their fields including software training and broadcast news. The common thread is that NewsBoss people are radio professionals who understand broadcasting from the inside out. 25 years on, and many thousands of users later, the NewsBoss mission statement remains unchanged - to continuously develop, market and support the leading digital news management system for radio at an affordable price. Early Years
NewsBoss Today
Key People
