There are but a handful of live television broadcasts that pack as much visual punch as the annual Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California.

On January 1st, this year's viewers were treated to 41 flower-filled floats, 24 vivid marching bands, and 21 colorful equestrian units. All of that retina-pleasing video sets a pretty high bar for the accompanying audio, which must be just as compelling. That's why KTLA's Chief Engineer, Dave Cox, specified the Linear Acoustic® AERO.air® as the loudness manager and upmixer of choice, marking the fifth consecutive year for the ongoing partnership between the station and Linear Acoustic.

KTLA produces the telecast for air on their own station, but the production is distributed to other US stations and internationally. "We produce the program in stereo and rely upon the AERO.air to handle the upmixing to 5.1," says Cox. "It does a great job of that."

Cox says that most of the audience listens through their TV's internal speakers, which means a good 2-channel downmix is critical. "The challenge is to create a mix that sounds good to those viewers while still providing a great 5.1 listening experience for the audience listening in that mode. AERO.air makes that possible."

Linear Acoustic Founder and President Tim Carroll is equally pleased. "The Tournament of Roses Parade is an iconic broadcast that viewers really look forward to each year," he says. "We are honored to help Dave and KTLA deliver the highest quality audio to their many viewers."

AERO.air also makes program distribution simple. 2-channel audio is sent from Pasadena back to the KTLA studios in Los Angeles where the signal is split into two paths. One feeds KTLA's own main and backup AERO.air units for local transmission, and one feeds main and backup AERO.air units on loan from Linear Acoustic for the network and international feed, which is sent to over 200 countries. The insertion of SAP audio is also handled by AERO.air.

Cox also cites customer care and support as an important consideration for such a high-profile live broadcast. "Linear Acoustic provides excellent support if needed. They maintain a high-quality staff who know their products."

For the people watching at home, though, it's all about quality. "Our viewers expect a quality audio experience to match the spectacular HD video experience, and the Linear Acoustic AERO.air delivers."