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A webcast is a media file distributed over the Internet using streaming media technology. As a broadcast may either be live or recorded, similarly, a webcast may either be distributed live or recorded. Essentially, webcasting is “broadcasting” over the Internet. Image File history File links Question_book-3. ... The word broadcast can refer to: Broadcasting, the transmission of audio and video signals. ...

The generally accepted use of the term webcast is the "transmission of linear audio or video content over the Internet".

A webcast uses streaming media technology to take a single content source and distribute it to many simultaneous listeners/viewers. Streaming media is multimedia that is continuously received by, and normally displayed to, the end-user while it is being delivered by the provider. ...

The largest "webcasters" include existing radio and TV stations who "simulcast" their output, as well as a multitude of Internet only "stations". The term webcasting is usually reserved for referring to non-interactive linear streams or events. Simulcast is a contraction of simultaneous broadcast, and refers to programs or events broadcast across more than one medium at the same time. ...

Rights and licensing bodies offer specific "webcasting licenses" to those wishing to carry out Internet broadcasting using copyright material.

Webcasting is also 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 the idea of web conferencing which is designed for many-to-many interaction. Web conferencing is used to conduct live meetings or presentations over the Internet. ...

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; from the mundane to the bizarre. Webcasts relating to computers, technology, and news are particularly popular and many new shows are added regularly. Alternative media are defined most broadly as those media practices falling outside the mainstreams of corporate communication. ... Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and/or video signals which transmit programs to an audience. ... By the mid 20th century humans had achieved a mastery of technology sufficient to leave the surface of the Earth for the first time and explore space. ...

Origins

"Webcasting" was first publicly described and presented by Brian Raila of GTE Laboratories at InterTainment '89, 1989, held in New York City, USA. Raila recognized that a viewer/listener need not download the entirety of a program to view/listen to a portion thereof, so long as the receiving device ("client computer") could, over time, receive and present data more rapidly than the user could digest same. Raila used the term "buffered media" to describe this concept.

Raila was joined by James Paschetto of GTE Laboratories to further demonstrate the concept. Paschetto was singularly responsible for the first workable prototype of streaming media, which Raila presented and demonstrated at the Voice Mail Association of Europe 1995 Fall Meeting of October, 1995, in Montreux, Switzerland. Alan Saperstein (Visual Data, now known as Onstream Media (Nasdaq:ONSM), was the first company to feature streaming video in June of 1993 with HotelView, a travel library of 2 minute videos featuring thousands of hotel properties worldwide.

The term webcasting was coined (in the early/mid 1990s) when webcast/streaming pioneers Mark Cuban (Audionet), Howard Gordon (Xing Technologies), William Mutual (ITV.net) and Peggy Miles (InterVox Communications) got together with a community of webcasters to pick a term to describe the technology of sending audio and video on the Net...that might make sense to people. The term netcasting was a consideration, but one of the early webcast community members owned a company called NetCast, so that term was not used, seeking a name that would not be branded to one company. Discussions were also conducted about the term with the National Association of Broadcasters for their books - Internet Age Broadcaster I and II, written by Peggy Miles and Dean Sakai. Mark Cuban (born July 31, 1958 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)[1] is an American billionaire entrepreneur. ... Howard Gordon (born 31 March 1961, Queens, New York, New York, U.S.) is an American screenwriter and producer. ... Peggy Miles was an early pioneer in webcasting and digital media commencing in 1995. ... The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) is a US trade association that advocates on behalf of over 8,300 radio and television stations and networks before Congress, the Federal Communications Commission and various judicial bodies. ...

The actual word "webcast" was coined by Daniel Keys Moran^{[citation needed]} in his 1988 novel The Armageddon Blues.: "... DataWeb News had done an in-depth on it not two weeks ago, and tourists had been trekking up into the New York hills ever since the webcast." -- page 191 of the Bantam paperback. Daniel Keys Moran (DKM) is a computer programmer and a writer of science fiction, who was born on November 30, 1962 to Richard Joseph Moran and Marilynn Joyce Moran. ...

Examples

Virtually all the major broadcasters have a webcast of their output, from the BBC to CNN to Al Jazeera to UNTV Webcast in television to Radio China, Vatican Radio, United Nations Radio and the World Service in radio. For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ... The Cable News Network, commonly known as CNN, is a major cable television network founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. ... Al Jazeera logo Al Jazeera (الجزيرة), meaning The Island or The (Arabian) Peninsula (whence also Algiers) is an Arabic television channel based in Qatar. ... Logo of the BBC World Service The BBC World Service is one of the most widely recognised international broadcasters of radio programming, transmitting in 43 languages to around 150 million people throughout the world. ...

A notable webcast took place in September 1999 to launch NetAid, a project to promote Internet use in the world's poorest countries. Three high profile concerts were to be broadcast simultaneously on the BBC, MTV and over the Internet; a London concert at Wembley Stadium featuring the likes of Robbie Williams, George Michael; a New York concert featuring Bono of U2 and Wyclef Jean; a Geneva concert. Events of 2008: (EMILY) Me Lesley and MIley are going to China! This article is about the year. ... NetAid was a largely unsuccessful concert event that took place on October 9, 1999, hoping to harness the power of the Internet to raise money and awareness for the Jubilee 2000 campaign. ... This article is about the original U.S. music television channel. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Wembley Stadium was a football stadium located in Wembley, London. ... For other people with the same name, see Robbie Williams (disambiguation). ... For other persons named George Michael, see George Michael (disambiguation). ... This article is about the state. ... For other uses, see Bono (disambiguation). ... This article is about the Irish rock band. ... Nelust Wyclef Jean (IPA: ) (born October 17, 1972) is a Haitian-American rapper, guitarist, producer, and member of the hip hop trio The Fugees. ... For other uses, see Geneva (disambiguation). ...

More recently, Live8 (AOL) claimed around 170,000 concurrent viewers (up to 400 Kbit/s) and the BBC received about the same (10 Gbit/s) on the day of the 7 July 2005 bombings in London. The growth of webcast traffic has roughly doubled, year on year, since 1995 and is directly linked to broadband penetration. For other uses, see AOL (disambiguation). ...

Connecting Media was one of the first companies to do live webcasting using a special IFP Van (Internet Field Production) dedicated to webcasting.

Today, webcasts are being used more frequently and by novice users. Live webcasts are allowing viewing of presentations, business meetings, and seminars etc. for those that telecommute rather than attend. Such sites as WebBroadcastingLive.com for example, offer live broadcasting as an affordable solution to public speaking events that expands the viewing audience to anyone that has an internet connection. Telecommuting is a term used in the United States, coined by Jack Nilles to describe a work arrangement in which employees enjoy flexibility in work place and time (within certain limits). ... Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and/or video signals which transmit programs to an audience. ... A modern day speaker addressing an audience through microphones Public speaking is the process of speaking to a group of people in a structured, deliberate manner intended to inform, influence, or entertain the listeners. ...

See also

• List of Internet television series
• Video clip
• Media clip
• Web radio
• Webisode
• Podcast
• Netcast
• Screencast
• Vlog
• Webinar
• Web conferencing
• List of Internet stations

This is a list of Internet television series, or web series, organised alphabetically by name. ... Video clips are short clips in video format and predominantly found on the internet where the massive influx of new video clips during 2006 was dubbed as a new phenomenon having a profound impact on both the internet and other forms of media. ... A media clip is a short segment of media either an audio clip or a video clip. ... Web radio (or Internet radio) is a broadcasting service transmitted via the Internet. ... A webisode is an episode of a television show that airs initially as an Internet download or stream as opposed to first airing on broadcast or cable television. ... A podcast is a series of digital-media files which are distributed over the Internet using syndication feeds for playback on portable media players and computers. ... Netcast is a name proposed by Leo Laporte on 22 September 2006 as an alternative for podcast. ... A screencast is a digital recording of computer screen output, often containing audio narration. ... Videoblog, a portmanteau combining video, web, and log, (usually shortened to vlog) is a blog that includes video clips. ... A Webinar is a seminar which is conducted over the World Wide Web. ... Web conferencing is used to conduct live meetings or presentations over the Internet. ... This is a list of Wikipedia articles on Internet streaming media resources. ...

External links

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