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Webcasting
Webcasting -- rich media broadcasts go online
September 26, 2005
By: Ben Davidson
If you think about it, the Internet can almost be
considered an interactive version of TV. Since that’s the
case, it’s only logical that many audio and video broadcasts
are also being broadcast online. Live or delayed
transmissions over the web are called
webcasts. For an
increasingly diverse number of people, webcasting fulfills a
valuable niche.
Who benefits?
For non-traditional college students, the days of long
distance, snail mail reliant correspondence courses may well
be over. By watching a professor’s lecture online, a student
can virtually replicate the classroom experience.
Many hospitals are finding webcasts extremely helpful.
Whether it’s a rural surgeon viewing an online broadcast of
difficult or innovative surgery, or a hospital using
real-time broadcasts to attract new patients or physician
referrals, streaming video is bridging numerous gaps between
doctor and patient alike.
With television airtime being prohibitively expensive to
acquire, many companies are turning to webcasts for
important press conferences. Let’s face facts: bandwidth is
far less expensive than most television and radio time.
Furthermore, your company webcast has global reach, while
that TV ad may only reach a limited market. Finally, webcast
material is far more easily retrieved by your target
audience in the form of archived audio or video than a 30
second commercial spot that only aired a few times.
Webcasts aren’t all about work though. It’s almost
guaranteed that you can find webcasts of some of your
favorite bands or TV shows. Some broadcast networks have
been known to promote their programs by offering webcasts of
an entire episode, and an increasing number of live music
venues offer webcasts of selected concerts.
A few more facts
Interactivity is what differentiates a webcast from a
video conferencing session. For situations where a great
deal of real-time, media-rich interaction is required,
you’ll go with the video conference, but for a
non-interactive viewing session, webcasts offer a suitably
simple solution. There is some crossover though. A student
viewing a professor’s lecture via webcast might be able to
participate in a question and answer session at the
lecture’s end.
Webcasts can be live or prerecorded, and they use either
a streaming viewer like RealPlayer or Microsoft Windows
Media Player. Media Player in particular may also offer
downloadable prerecorded broadcasts.
So if you’re looking to get your company or individual
message out there to a geographically diverse target
audience, the Internet is your global resource.
About the Author
Ben Davidson is a successful freelance writer and
contributor to Web-Conferencing-Zone.com. Your
definitive guide to
web conferencing services,
online collaboration software and
web meetings for business.
Also See:
[ PowerPoint
Presentation tool overview for online presentations ]
[ Flash presentation
creation via PowerPoint to Flash conversion tools ]
[ PowerPoint
presentation tips for effective PowerPoint presentations ]
Home Page:
[ Web-Conferencing-Zone.com ]
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