Broadcasting
is the distribution of audio and/or video signals which transmit programs to an audience. The audience may be the general public or a relatively large sub-audience, such as children or young adults.
The sequencing of content in a broadcast is called a schedule. As with all technological endeavours, a number of technical terms and slang have developed. A list of these terms can be found at list of broadcasting terms. 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.
The term "broadcast" originally referred to the sowing of seeds by scattering them over a wide field. It was adopted by early radio engineers from the Midwestern United States to refer to the analogous dissemination of radio signals. Broadcasting forms a very large segment of the mass media. Broadcasting to a very narrow range of audience is called narrowcasting.
Economically there are a few ways in which stations are able to continually broadcast. Each differs in the method by which stations are funded:
- in-kind donations of time and skills by volunteers (common with community broadcasters)
- direct government payments or operation of public broadcasters
- indirect government payments, such as radio and television licenses
- grants from foundations or business entities
- selling advertising or sponsorships
- public subscription or membership
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.
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BROADCAST TICKETS
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Recorded broadcasts and live broadcasts
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The first regular television broadcasts began in 1937. Broadcasts can be classified as
recorded
or
live
. 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 telecasts 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 called "live-to-tape"). This is particularly true of performances of musical artists on radio when they visit for an in-studio
concert performance. Similar situations have occurred in television ("
The Cosby Show
is recorded in front of a live studio audience") and news broadcasting.
A broadcast may be distributed through several physical means. If coming directly from the
studio at a single
radio or
tv station, it is simply sent through the air chain to the
transmitter and thence from the
antenna on the
tower out to the world. 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, now usually by satellite.
Distribution to stations or networks may also be through physical media, such as analog 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 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 satellite television. The term "broadcast television" can refer to the programming of such networks.
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Legal definitions
UK
The
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988 defines a broadcast as "a transmission by wireless telegraphy of visual images, sounds, or other information which is capable of lawful reception by the public or which is made for presentation to the public". It thus covers radio, television, teletext and telephones.
See also
- Broadcast television systems – contains the standards of the topic
- Broadcast safe
- Broadcast license
- Broadcasting network
- Cablecast
- Dead air
- European Broadcasting Union (EBU)
- History of broadcasting
- Internet radio
- Internet television
- List of broadcast satellites
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- NaSTA
- Nonbroadcast Multiple Access Network (NBMA)
- North American broadcast television frequencies
- Outside broadcast
- Radio Act of 1927
- Reality television
- Society of Broadcast Engineers (SBE)
- Streaming media
- Television studio
- Broadcast quality
- Television broadcasting in Australia
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References
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