Broadcasting

Encyclopedia : B : BR : BRO : Broadcasting

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Note: broadcasting is also the old term for hand sowing. See also broadcasting (networks).

Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and/or video signals (programs) to a number of recipients ("listeners" or "viewers") that belong to a large group. This group may be the public in general, or a relatively large audience within the public. Thus, an Internet channel may distribute text or music world-wide, while a public address system in (for example) a workplace may broadcast very limited ad hoc soundbites to a small population within its range.

The sequencing of content in a broadcast is called a schedule. With all technological endevours a number of technical terms and slang are developed please see the list of broadcasting terms for a glossary of terms used.

Television and radio programs are distributed through radio broadcasting or cable, often both simultaneously. By coding signals and having decoding equipment in homes, the latter also enables subscription-based channels and pay-per-view services.

A broadcasting organisation may broadcast several programs at the same time, through several channels (frequencies), for example BBC One and Two. On the other hand, two or more organisations may share a channel and each use it during a fixed part of the day. Digital radio and digital television may also transmit multiplexed programming, with several channels compressed into one ensemble.

When broadcasting is done via the Internet the term webcasting is often used. In 2004 a new phenomenon occurred when a number of technologies combined to produce Podcasting. Podcasting is an asynchronous broadcast/narrowcast medium. One of the main proponents being Adam Curry and his associates the Podshow.

Broadcasting forms a very large segment of the mass media.

Broadcasting to a very narrow range of audience is called narrowcasting.

The term "broadcast" was coined by early radio engineers from the midwestern United States. "Broadcasting", in farming, is one method of spreading seed using a wide toss of the hand, in a broad cast.

Business models of broadcasting

There are several dominant business models of broadcasting. Each differs in the method by which stations are funded:

• individually-donated time and energy
• direct government payments or operation
• indirect government payments, such as radio and television licenses
• grants from foundations or business entities
• selling advertising or sponsorship
• public subscription or membership
• fees charged to all owners of TV sets or radios, regardless of whether they intend to receive that program or not

Broadcasters may rely on a combination of these business models. For example, National Public Radio, a non-commercial network within the United States, receives grants from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (which in turn receives funding from the U.S. government), by public membership, and by selling "extended credits" to corporations.

Recorded vs. live

One can distinguish between recorded and live broadcasts. The former allows correcting errors, and removing superfluous or undesired material, rearranging it, applying slow-motion and repetitions, and other techniques to enhance the program. However some live events like sports telcasts can include some of the aspects including slow motion clips of important goals/hits etc in between the live telecast.

American radio network broadcasters habitually forbade prerecorded broadcasts in the 1930s and 1940s, requiring radio programs played for the Eastern and Central time zones to be repeated three hours later for the Pacific time zone. This restriction was dropped for special occasions, as in the case of the German dirigible airship Hindenburg at Lakehurst, New Jersey in 1937. During World War II, prerecorded broadcasts from war correspondents were allowed on U.S. radio. In addition, American radio programs were recorded for playback by Armed Forces Radio stations around the world.

A disadvantage of recording first is that the public may know the outcome of an event from another source, which may be a spoiler. In addition, prerecording prevents live announcers from deviating from an officially-approved script, as occurred with propaganda broadcasts from Germany in the 1940s and with Radio Moscow in the 1980s.

Many events are advertised as being live, although they are often "recorded live" (sometimes this is referred to as "live-to-tape"). This is particularly true of performances of musical artists on radio when they visit for an in-studio concert performance. This intentional blurring of the distinction between live and recorded media is viewed with chagrin among many music lovers. Similar situations have sometimes appeared in television ("The Cosby Show is recorded in front of a live studio audience").

Distribution methods

A broadcast may be distributed through several physical means. If coming directly from the studio at a single broadcast station, it is simply sent through the airchain to the transmitter. Programming may also come through a communications satellite, played either live or recorded for later transmission. Networks of stations may simulcast the same programming at the same time, originally via microwave link, and now mostly by satellite.

Distribution to stations or networks may also be through physical media, such as analogue or digital videotape, CD, DVD, and sometimes other formats. Usually these are included in another broadcast, such as when electronic news gathering returns a story to the station for inclusion on a news programme.

The final leg of broadcast distribution is how the signal gets to the listener or viewer. It may come over the air as with a radio station or TV station to an antenna and receiver, or may come through cable TV [link] or cable radio (or "wireless cable") via the station or directly from a network. The Internet may also bring either radio or TV to the recipient, especially with multicasting allowing the signal and bandwidth to be shared.

The term "broadcast network" is often used to distinguish networks that broadcast an over-the-air television signal that can be received using a television antenna from so-called networks that are broadcast only via cable or sattelite television. The term "broadcast television" can refer to the programming of such networks.

Criticism

Many disk jockeys are often not very specific about what music formats the radio stations play and only use more generic descriptions. It has been ambiguous for many music enthusiasts hence the "generic" descriptions.

Here is a list of generic and ambiguous descriptions based on music genres and the reasons for their ambiguity:

Rock music

• "We play the best rock music"
• "???? rocks!"
• "Your best rock and roll oldies"

Reason: Rock music has diverged into subgenres over the years, and some fans observe limitations in the playlist (e.g. limited to alternative, classic rock, rock and roll oldies, hard rock, etc.) hence the ambiguity.

R&B/Soul music

• "The best hip hop and R&B"
• "Today's soul and classic R&B"

Reason: R&B is the most ambiguous supergenre since it has also diverged into several subgenres; it was the precursor to Rock and Roll (the aforementioned genre); however people don't describe rock and roll music falling in the R&B category. Many R&B tracks vary in danceability. R&B subgenres include Funk, Disco, Doo-wop, hip hop, etc. People who like to dance to music that only covers a small percentage of the R&B genre find that many radio stations that play R&B are ambiguous hence the aforementioned range of subgenres.

Primary Sources

• Kahn Frank J., ed. Documents of American Broadcasting, fourth edition (Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1984).
• Lichty Lawrence W., and Topping Malachi C., eds. American Broadcasting: A Source Book on the History of Radio and Television (Hastings House, 1975).

See also

• European Broadcasting Union (EBU)
• History of broadcasting
• Dead air
• List of broadcast satellites
• Television studio
• Outside broadcast
• Nonbroadcast Multiple Access Network (NBMA)

External links

• [Radio Locator], a service that helps you find out information about any American radio station such as format, power, coverage, etc.
• [Arbitron] Offers dozens of free studies on American radio listening habits of interest to radio stations and listeners alike, as well as free access to basic station information.
• [TVZ], TV Broadcast Services information and directory.
• [TVNewsday], Current news about the U.S. TV broadcasting industry
• [Waveguide] Broadcasting News
• [DXing.info] News and info on international radio broadcasting
• [Vernon Corea The Golden Voice of Radio Ceylon]The story of broadcasting in Sri Lanka(Ceylon)
• [Broadcasting Timeline]

Further reading

• Barnouw Erik. The Golden Web (Oxford University Press, 1968); The Sponsor (1978); A Tower in Babel (1966).
• Briggs Asa. The BBC--the First Fifty Years (: Oxford University Press, 1984).
• Briggs Asa. The History of Broadcasting in the United Kingdom (Oxford University Press, 1961).
• Covert Cathy, and Stevens John L. Mass Media Between the Wars (Syracuse University Press, 1984).
• Douglas B. Craig. Fireside Politics: Radio and Political Culture in the United States, 1920-1940 (2005)
• Tim Crook; International Radio Journalism: History, Theory and Practice Routledge, 1998
• [John Dunning; On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio Oxford University Press, 1998]
• Ewbank Henry and Lawton Sherman P. Broadcasting: Radio and Television (Harper & Brothers, 1952).
• Gibson George H. Public Broadcasting; The Role of the Federal Government, 1919-1976 (Praeger Publishers, 1977).
• Maclaurin W. Rupert. Invention and Innovation in the Radio Industry (The Macmillan Company, 1949).
• Robert W. McChesney; Telecommunications, Mass Media, and Democracy: The Battle for the Control of U.S. Broadcasting, 1928-1935 Oxford University Press, 1994
• Gwenyth L. Jackaway; Media at War: Radio's Challenge to the Newspapers, 1924-1939 Praeger Publishers, 1995
• Lazarsfeld Paul F. The People Look at Radio (University of North Carolina Press, 1946).
• Tom McCourt; Conflicting Communication Interests in America: The Case of National Public Radio Praeger Publishers, 1999
• Peers Frank W. The Politics of Canadian Broadcasting, 1920- 1951 (University of Toronto Press, 1969).
• Ray William B. FCC: The Ups and Downs of Radio-TV Regulation (Iowa State University Press, 1990).
• Rosen Philip T. The Modern Stentors; Radio Broadcasting and the Federal Government 1920-1934 (Greenwood Press, 1980).
• William A. Rugh; Arab Mass Media: Newspapers, Radio, and Television in Arab Politics Praeger, 2004
• Scannell, Paddy, and Cardiff, David. A Social History of British Broadcasting, Volume One, 1922-1939 (Basil Blackwell, 1991).
• Schramm Wilbur, ed. Mass Communications (University of Illinois Press, 1960).
• Schwoch James. The American Radio Industry and Its Latin American Activities, 1900-1939 (University of Illinois Press, 1990).
• Slater Robert. This . . . is CBS: A Chronicle of 60 Years (Prentice Hall, 1988).
• F. Leslie Smith, John W. Wright II, David H. Ostroff; Perspectives on Radio and Television: Telecommunication in the United States Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1998
• Sterling Christopher H. Electronic Media, A Guide to Trends in Broadcasting and Newer Technologies 1920-1983 (Praeger, 1984).
• Sterling Christopher, and Kittross John M. Stay Tuned: A Concise History of American Broadcasting (Wadsworth, 1978).
• White Llewellyn. The American Radio (University of Chicago Press, 1947).

 

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