Webcast

Last updated

A webcast is a media presentation distributed over the Internet using streaming media technology to distribute a single content source to many simultaneous listeners/viewers. A webcast may either be distributed live or on demand. Essentially, webcasting is "broadcasting" over the Internet.

Contents

The largest "webcasters" include existing radio and TV stations, who "simulcast" their output through online TV or online radio streaming, as well as a multitude of Internet-only "stations". Webcasting usually consists of providing non-interactive linear streams or events. Rights and licensing bodies offer specific "webcasting licenses" to those wishing to carry out Internet broadcasting using copyrighted material.

Overview

Webcasting is used extensively in the commercial sector for investor relations presentations (such as annual general meetings), in e-learning (to transmit seminars), and for related communications activities. However, webcasting does not bear much, if any, relationship to web conferencing, which is designed for many-to-many interaction. [1]

The ability to webcast using cheap/accessible technology has allowed independent media to flourish. There are many notable independent shows that broadcast regularly online. Often produced by average citizens in their homes they cover many interests and topics. Webcasts relating to computers, technology, and news are particularly popular and many new shows are added regularly.

Webcasting differs from podcasting in that webcasting refers to live streaming while podcasting simply refers to media files placed on the Internet. [2]

The term "webcast" had previously been used to describe the distribution of Web or Internet content using conventional broadcast technologies such as those intended for digital video (Digital Video Broadcasting) and audio (Digital Audio Broadcasting), and in some cases even leveraging analogue broadcasting techniques traditionally used by Teletext services to deliver a limited "Best of the Web" selection of content to audiences. Overnight broadcasts of data via analogue television signals were claimed by WebTV representatives to be able to offer "a fresh gigabyte of data every day... while you sleep". [3] Typically, webcasting referred to a form of datacasting involving higher bandwidth broadcast technologies delivering Web content, multimedia files in particular, and with any interactivity supported by lower bandwidth return channels such as dial-up Internet access over the public telephone network or communication over mobile telephone networks. Such return channels conveyed each user's requests for the delivery of specific content over the broadcast medium. Eventually, DVB satellite operators were to offer a higher bandwidth return channel using DVB-RCS, raising the prospect of "point-to-point connections with users' satellite dishes". Webcasting had been regarded as a way of providing higher bandwidth Internet access to home computer users as well as enabling television-based Internet access, driving the development of smart television products. [4]

History

The earliest graphically oriented web broadcasts were not streaming video, but were in fact still frames which were photographed with a web camera every few minutes while they were being broadcast live over the Internet. One of the earliest instances of sequential live image broadcasting was in 1991 when a camera was set up next to the Trojan Room in the computer laboratory of the University of Cambridge. It provided a live picture every few minutes of the office coffee pot to all desktop computers on that office's network. [5] A couple of years later its broadcasts went to the Internet, became known as the Trojan Room Coffee Pot webcam, and gained international notoriety as a feature of the fledgling World Wide Web. [6]

Later in 1996 an American college student and conceptual artist, Jenny Ringley, set up a web camera similar to the Trojan Room Coffee Pot's webcam in her dorm room. [7] That webcam photographed her every few minutes while it broadcast those images live over the Internet upon a site called JenniCam. Ringley wanted to portray all aspects of her lifestyle and the camera captured her doing almost everything – brushing her teeth, doing her laundry, and even having sex with her boyfriend. [8] [9] Her website generated millions of hits upon the Internet, became a pay site in 1998, and spawned hundreds of female imitators who would then use streaming video to create a new billion dollar industry called camming, and brand themselves as camgirls or webcam models. [10]

One of the earliest webcast equivalent of an online concert and one of the earliest examples of webcasting itself was by Apple Computer's Webcasting Group in partnership with the entrepreneurs Michael Dorf and Andrew Rasiej. Together with David B. Pakman from Apple, they launched the Macintosh New York Music Festival from July 17–22, 1995. This event audio webcast concerts from more than 15 clubs in New York City. Apple later webcast a concert by Metallica on June 10, 1996, live from Slim's in San Francisco. [11]

In 1995, Benford E. Standley produced one of the first audio/video webcasts in history. [12]

On October 31, 1996, UK rock band Caduseus broadcast their one-hour concert from 11 pm to 12 midnight (UT) at Celtica in Machynlleth, Wales, UK – the first live streamed audio and simultaneous live streamed video multicast – around the globe to more than twenty direct "mirrors" in more than twenty countries. [13] [14]

In September 1997, Nebraska Public Television started webcasting Big Red Wrap Up from Lincoln, Nebraska which combined highlights from every Cornhusker football game, coverage of the coaches' weekly press conferences, analysis with Nebraska sportswriters, appearances by special guests and questions and answers with viewers. [15]

On August 8, 1997, the American jam band Phish webcast one of their concerts for the first time. [16] [17]

On October 22, 1998, the first Billy Graham Crusade was broadcast live to a worldwide audience from the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Florida courtesy of Dale Ficken and the WebcastCenter in Pennsylvania. The live signal was broadcast via satellite to PA, then encoded and streamed via the BGEA website. [18]

On February 6, 1999, a 21-minute Victoria's Secret fashion show featuring supermodel Tyra Banks aired exclusively on Broadcast.com. The webcast was promoted by a 30-second television spot during Super Bowl XXXIII and drew an estimated 1.5 million viewers. Broadcast.com servers were reportedly overwhelmed by the spike in traffic, locking out many potential viewers. [19]

Virtually all major broadcasters now have a webcast of their output, from the BBC to CNN to Al Jazeera to UNTV in television to Radio China, Vatican Radio, [20] United Nations Radio and the World Service in radio.

On November 4, 1994, Stef van der Ziel distributed the first live video images over the web from the Simplon venue in Groningen. [21] On November 7, 1994, WXYC, the college radio station of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill became the first radio station in the world to broadcast its signal over the internet. [22] [23]

Translated versions including Subtitling are now possible using SMIL Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language.

Wedcast

A webcast of a wedding may be called a wedcast; [24] [25] it allows family and friends of the couple to watch the wedding in real time on the Internet. It is sometimes used for weddings in exotic locations, where it would be expensive or difficult for people to travel to see the wedding in person. [24]

On August 13, 1998, the first webcast wedding took place, between Alan K'necht and Carrie Silverman in Toronto Canada. [26] [27]

The first webcast teleconference wedding to date is believed to have occurred on December 31, 1998. Dale Ficken and Lorrie Scarangella wed on this date as they stood in a church in Pennsylvania, and were married by Jerry Falwell while he sat in his office in Lynchburg, Virginia. [28]

Webcasting a funeral is also a service provided by some funeral homes. [29] Although it has been around since at least 2005, cheaper broadband access, the financial strain of travel, and deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan have all led to increased use of the technology. [30]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Streaming media</span> Multimedia delivery method

Streaming media refers to multimedia for playback using an offline or online media player that is delivered through a network. Media is transferred in a "stream" of packets from a server to a client and is rendered in real-time; this contrasts with file downloading, a process in which the end-user obtains an entire media file before consuming the content. Streaming is presently most prevalent in video-on-demand, streaming television, and music streaming services over the Internet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Webcam</span> Video camera connected to a computer or network

A webcam is a video camera which is designed to record or stream to a computer or computer network. They are primarily used in video telephony, live streaming and social media, and security. Webcams can be built-in computer hardware or peripheral devices, and are commonly connected to a device using USB or wireless protocols.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broadcasting</span> Distribution of audio or audiovisual content to dispersed audiences

Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum, in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began with AM radio, which came into popular use around 1920 with the spread of vacuum tube radio transmitters and receivers. Before this, most implementations of electronic communication were one-to-one, with the message intended for a single recipient. The term broadcasting evolved from its use as the agricultural method of sowing seeds in a field by casting them broadly about. It was later adopted for describing the widespread distribution of information by printed materials or by telegraph. Examples applying it to "one-to-many" radio transmissions of an individual station to multiple listeners appeared as early as 1898.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radio broadcasting</span> Transmission by radio waves intended to reach a wide audience

Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio station, while in satellite radio the radio waves are broadcast by a satellite in Earth orbit. To receive the content the listener must have a broadcast radio receiver (radio). Stations are often affiliated with a radio network that provides content in a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast, or both. The encoding of a radio broadcast depends on whether it uses an analog or digital signal. Analog radio broadcasts use one of two types of radio wave modulation: amplitude modulation for AM radio, or frequency modulation for FM radio. Newer, digital radio stations transmit in several different digital audio standards, such as DAB, HD radio, or DRM.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trojan Room coffee pot</span> Predecessor of the webcam

The Trojan Room coffee pot was a coffee machine located in the Computer Laboratory of the University of Cambridge, England. Created in 1991 by Quentin Stafford-Fraser and Paul Jardetzky, it was migrated from their laboratory network to the web in 1993, becoming the world's first webcam.

Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as television series and films, streamed over the Internet. Standing in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air aerial systems, cable television, and/or satellite television systems, streaming television is provided as over-the-top media (OTT), or as Internet Protocol television (IPTV). In the United States, streaming television has become "the dominant form of TV viewing."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Internet Protocol television</span> Television transmitted over a computer network

Internet Protocol television (IPTV), also called TV over broadband, is the service delivery of television over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. Usually sold and run by a telecom provider, it consists of broadcast live television that is streamed over the Internet (multicast) — in contrast to delivery through traditional terrestrial, satellite, and cable transmission formats — as well as video on demand services for watching or replaying content (unicast).

Datacasting is the transmission of data over a wide area using radio waves. It typically refers to supplemental information sent by television stations alongside digital terrestrial television (DTT) signals. However, datacasting can also be applied to digital data signals carried on analog TV or radio broadcasts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WXYC</span> Student radio station at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

WXYC is an American radio station broadcasting a college radio format. Licensed to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States, the station is run by students of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The station is owned by Student Educational Broadcasting, Inc. The station operates with an effective radiated power of 1,100 watts from an antenna height above average terrain of 147 meters (482 ft).

CU-SeeMe is an Internet videoconferencing client. CU-SeeMe can make point to point video calls without a server or make multi-point calls through server software first called a "reflector" and later called a "conference server" or Multipoint Control Unit (MCU). Later commercial versions of CU-SeeMe could also make point-to-point or multi-point calls to other vendor's standard H.323 endpoints and servers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">P2PTV</span> Video distribution method

P2PTV refers to peer-to-peer (P2P) software applications designed to redistribute video streams in real time on a P2P network; the distributed video streams are typically TV channels from all over the world but may also come from other sources. The draw to these applications is significant because they have the potential to make any TV channel globally available by any individual feeding the stream into the network where each peer joining to watch the video is a relay to other peer viewers, allowing a scalable distribution among a large audience with no incremental cost for the source.

This is a comparison of streaming media systems. A more complete list of streaming media systems is also available.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stickam</span> Live-streaming video website

Stickam was a live-streaming video website that launched in 2005. Stickam featured user-submitted pictures, audio, video, and most prominently, live streaming video chat. The site quickly expanded to include live shows and produced content from MTV, G4 TV, CBS Radio, NATPE, CES, and many others, as well as live performances and shows with numerous musicians and celebrities.

Justin.tv was a website created by Justin Kan, Emmett Shear, Michael Seibel, and Kyle Vogt in 2007 to allow anyone to broadcast video online. Justin.tv user accounts were called "channels", like those on YouTube, and users were encouraged to broadcast a wide variety of user-generated live video content, called "broadcasts".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Webcam model</span> Livestream video performer

A webcam model is a video performer who streams on the Internet with a live webcam broadcast. A webcam model often performs erotic acts online, such as stripping, masturbation, or sex acts in exchange for money, goods, or attention. They may also sell videos of their performances. Once viewed as a small niche in the world of adult entertainment, camming became "the engine of the porn industry," according to Alec Helmy, the publisher of XBIZ, a sex-trade industry journal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lifestreaming</span> Act of documenting and sharing aspects of ones daily experiences online

Lifestreaming is an act of documenting and sharing aspects of one's daily experiences online, via a lifestream website that publishes things of a person's choosing.

Jennifer Kaye Ringley is an Internet personality and former lifecaster. She is widely regarded as the first camgirl. She is known for creating the popular website JenniCam. Previously, live webcams transmitted static shots from cameras aimed through windows or at coffee pots. Ringley's innovation was simply to allow others to view her daily activities. She was the first web-based "lifecaster". She retired from lifecasting at the end of 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Internet radio</span> Digital audio service transmitted via the Internet

Internet radio, also known as Online radio, web radio, net radio, streaming radio, e-radio and IP radio, is a digital audio service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not transmitted broadly through wireless means. It can either be used as a stand-alone device running through the Internet, or as a software running through a single computer.

"Drew Cam" is the ninth episode of the fifth season of the American sitcom The Drew Carey Show, and the 110th overall. The episode sees Drew becoming a 24-hour salesman for the Winfred-Louder department store. Webcams are installed in his house and he has to promote the store's range of appliances. While Drew is out, the webcams continue to stream events that occur in his house. When the viewers become bored of Drew's life, Kate O'Brien is hired to play his girlfriend for the show. She is soon replaced by Isabel, who Kate becomes jealous of. She eventually tells Drew that she loves him during the webcast.

References

  1. Shiao, Dennis (December 26, 2012). "Webcasting 101: Planning and Executing High Quality Webcasts". INXPO. Archived from the original on January 27, 2013. Retrieved May 15, 2013.
  2. "Overview of Webcasting and Podcasting". WebMarketCentral. Archived from the original on October 25, 2020. Retrieved May 15, 2013.
  3. Morrison, Gale B. (29 September 1997). "WebTV Trumpets Latest Advances". Electronic News. p. 53. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  4. Thompson, Valerie (March 1998). "Webcasting Over the Air". Byte. Vol. 23, no. 3. pp. 40IS 11–14. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  5. Quentin Stafford- Fraser. "The Trojan Room Coffee Pot". Archived from the original on May 3, 2021. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
  6. Jamie Condliffe (April 4, 2013). "The World's First Webcam Was Created to Check a Coffee Pot". Archived from the original on September 10, 2017. Retrieved February 2, 2018.
  7. Baldwin, Steve (May 19, 2004). "Forgotten Web Celebrities: Jennicam.org's Jennifer Ringley". Disobey.com: Content for the discontented (blog). Archived from the original on February 24, 2021. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  8. Bartlett, Jamie (2014). "Chapter 6: Lights, Web-camera, Action". The Dark Net: Inside the Digital Underworld. London: Melville House. pp. 166–192. ISBN   9780434023172. Archived from the original on August 23, 2019. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
  9. Senft, Theresa (2008). "Chapter 1 – Keeping it Real on the Web: Authenticity, Celebrity, Branding". Camgirls: Celebrity & Community in the Age of Social Networks. New York: Peter Lang Publishing. pp. 15–17. ISBN   978-0-8204-5694-2.
  10. Richtel, Matt (September 21, 2013). "Intimacy on the Web, With a Crowd". The New York Times . Archived from the original on May 9, 2021. Retrieved January 16, 2018.
  11. "Heavy Metal Metallica Plans to Rock Cyberspace: Apple Computer to 'Webcast' band's concert". SFGate. San Francisco, CA, USA. May 30, 1996. Archived from the original on January 21, 2012. Retrieved September 27, 2010.
  12. "Benford "Buffalo" Earl Sandley". Digital Media Festival. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved February 19, 2014.
  13. "Internet Innovators" (PDF). BBC. November 24, 2005. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 1, 2020. Retrieved December 8, 2016.
  14. "CADUSEUS – BBC news feature". YouTube. January 12, 2010. Archived from the original on November 10, 2021. Retrieved December 8, 2016.
  15. "Big Red Wrap-Up Now on World Wide Web". Scarlet. University of Nebraska-Lincoln. September 26, 1997. Archived from the original on November 16, 2016. Retrieved December 8, 2016.
  16. Gershuny, Jason; Smith, Andy (2018). 100 Things Phish Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die (in Arabic). Triumph Books. ISBN   9781641250191.
  17. "Aug 08, 1997 Setlist - Phish.net". phish.net. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  18. Graham, Billy. "Occupying Till He Returns" (PDF). BillyGraham.org. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 22, 2013. Retrieved May 15, 2013.
  19. "Feb. 5, 1999: Web Tempest in a D-Cup". Wired. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  20. Radio, Vatican, archived from the original on March 24, 2004, retrieved February 8, 2011.
  21. "Producing the World's First Live Stream". Jet-Stream. August 14, 2022. Archived from the original on February 26, 2024. Retrieved September 9, 2024.
  22. Grossman, Wendy (January 26, 1995). "Communications: Picture the scene". Online. Manchester, United Kingdom: The Guardian. p. 4.
  23. "WXYC announces the first 24-hour real-time world-wide Internet radio simulcast" (Press release). WXYC 89.3 FM. November 7, 1994. Archived from the original on December 20, 2002. Retrieved April 5, 2008.
  24. 1 2 Blanton, Kimberly (October 22, 2007). "Can't make the ceremony? Watch the wedcast". The International Herald Tribune / The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on October 26, 2007. Retrieved August 1, 2009.
  25. Lee-St. John, Jeninne (December 6, 2007). "Wedcasting". Time . Archived from the original on December 8, 2007.
  26. "Year in reviews August". The Montreal Mirror. Montreal, CA. December 25, 1998. Archived from the original on December 1, 2008. Retrieved November 24, 2008.
  27. "Various TV News Clips". Online. Toronto, CA: Various. August 13, 1998. Archived from the original on October 11, 2011. Retrieved November 24, 2008.
  28. Gibb, Tom (December 31, 1998). "Hollidaysburg couple plans to be virtually wed on the Web". Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on December 2, 2020. Retrieved May 15, 2013.
  29. Holson, Laura M. (January 24, 2011). "For Funerals Too Far, Mourners Gather on the Web". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 10, 2021. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
  30. Karlin, Susan (September 30, 2009). "Funeral webcasting is alive and well". Spectrum. IEEE. Archived from the original on June 9, 2021. Retrieved April 16, 2019..