West Herr Auditorium Theatre, Rochester

Two cascaded Bettear CASTER transmitters now give every one of the West Herr Auditorium Theatre's 2,464 seats an Auracast™ broadcast, free at every performance.

At a glance

• Venue: West Herr Auditorium Theatre, Rochester, New York
• Operator: Rochester Broadway Theatre League
• Venue type: Historic Art Deco theater: Broadway tours, concerts, community events
• Capacity: 2,464 seats across orchestra, mezzanine and balcony
• Bettear products: Two CASTER Auracast™ transmitters, RTX receivers with headphones
• Funding partner: Hearing Loss Association of America, Rochester Chapter

The challenge

The theater's assistive listening could not reach the whole hall, so patrons with hearing loss had to choose between where they sat and what they could hear.

The Rochester Broadway Theatre League has brought touring Broadway and live performance to Rochester for more than 75 years. Its main stage is one of upstate New York's largest, with 2,464 seats on three levels. The existing induction loop had a weak signal and uneven coverage, and large parts of the hall had no real support at all.

Live theater makes this harder. Dialogue, music and effects change all the time, and patrons who lip-read need the audio to stay in sync with the stage. The theater wanted a system that covered every seat and worked with the hearing aids, cochlear implants and earbuds patrons already own.

The solution and products

The theater deployed a hall-wide Auracast™ broadcast fed directly from the venue's sound system. Bettear receivers are on hand for patrons whose devices are not yet Auracast-ready.

• Bettear CASTER (two units). Auracast™ broadcast transmitters, chosen for their range, audio quality and low latency. To cover all three levels, the two CASTERs are cascaded through the CASTER's second Ethernet port (CASTER-S licence), which also powers the second unit over PoE. No extra switch or network rework was needed.
• Bettear RTX. A handheld Auracast™ receiver used with headphones. RTX units are lent free of charge at the Patron Services station in the main floor lobby, first come, first served, in the hour before each show.
• Patrons' own devices. Compatible hearing aids, cochlear implant processors and earbuds connect directly to the broadcast, with a smartphone acting as Auracast Assistant where needed.

The project was made possible by philanthropic support from the Hearing Loss Association of America, Rochester Chapter. Auracast now sits alongside the theater's other access services, including FM listening devices, open captioning at matinee subscription performances, and audio description.

The results

Every seat is now a listening seat, and Auracast™ is a standard service at every performance.

• Hall-wide coverage. One unified broadcast reaches from the front orchestra to the back of the balcony.
• Free choice of seat. Patrons with hearing loss no longer need to sit inside a loop area to hear the performance.
• No advance requests. Patrons with compatible devices connect on their own, without contacting the box office or borrowing equipment.
• No one left out. RTX receivers serve patrons whose hearing devices are not yet Auracast-ready.
• Easy to find. The theater is listed as an Auracast™ venue on Google Maps, so patrons can find accessible performances before they arrive.

In their words

"When Auracast was installed at the West Herr Auditorium Theatre, our staff and patrons alike immediately embraced it."

RBTL Spokesperson, West Herr Auditorium Theatre, Rochester NY

Bringing Auracast™ to your venue? Our team is here to help you plan coverage, choose equipment and get it running.