Webcasts - The Developed World’s Broadcasts On The Internet Of Live Streaming Media
Brian Raila of GTE Laboratories took the first step to make webcasts a reality, when in 1989, he became the first person to publicly describe and present webcasting, at InterTainment 89 held in New York City, USA. He brought forward the idea that a viewer or a listener need not download the entire program to view or listen to the entire program. He said that this was possible only if the users receiving device could receive and display data at a rate faster than the user could assimilate it.
But it was not until 1990 that the word webcasting actually came into existence. The term was used to describe the technology to transmit audio and video over the Internet. The name NetCast was thought of, initially, to describe this process, but an early webcast member owned a community of the same name, so it was not to be. Webcast pioneers Mark Cuban, Howard Gordon, William Mutual, and Peggy Miles wanted a new name for their company, and thus the name Webcasters came into vogue.
A webcast is a live media file that is broadcast over the Internet through the use of streaming media technology. To put it very succinctly, it is known as Internet broadcasting in which linear audio and video are broadcast. A webcast uses streaming media technology, takes a single-content source, and distributes it concurrently to many listeners or viewers.
TV and radio stations are the largest webcasters. They simulcast, i.e., they simultaneously broadcast their output over the Web. Webcasting licenses are offered by the Rights and Licensing bodies to those, who wish to venture in the field of Broadcasting on the Internet. Webcasting plays a pivotal role in the commercial sector for investor relations presentations, in e-learning, and for other communications activities. But one should not confuse it with Web conferencing, as the two are unrelated. The concept of webcasting is common in the developed countries, but is yet to find a foothold in the developing countries. In this type of broadcasting, the biggest challenge that could emerge, would be in terms of bandwidth, quality and transmission. Webcasting will become the most exciting communication tool in the days to come, as it can be used by a wide range of organizations that need to connect many people at a single point, such as in seminars, e-learning, annual general meetings, etc. The independent media has flourished, thanks to the cheap and accessible technology that webcasts have used. More and more shows are broadcast online regularly. As these shows are often produced by laymen, they cover a plethora of topics. All eminent TV and radio broadcasters that are spread all over the world also do webcasts of their transmissions. The launch of NetAid, i.e., a project, to promote Internet usage in the world's poorest countries made a noteworthy webcast in 1999. More recently, in 2005, Live8s concert webcast was concurrently viewed by around 170,000 people.
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