Internet Radio

December 18th, 2009 | View Comments | Posted in Features

www.norcalblogs.com

It’s a radio that receives the stations over the internet. Most of them are built with a Wi-Fi (It actually came from a word play Hi-Fi, Wi-Fi and was originally marketed as Wireless Fidelity – although it does not mean anything and Wi-Fi Alliance now discourages the use of that term) connection to the internet and are commonly also referred to as Wi-Fi radios, web radios ,net radios or e-radios.

The first internet radio to start webcasting was WXYC on the 7th of November 1994 in North Carolina USA. The first European Internet radio to follow suit was Virgin Radio in London in March 1996. Nowadays there are over 50000 stations all over the world and most current AM and FM radios are broadcasting (webcasting would be technically more correct as it is not transmitted broadly through wireless means + it sounds way cooler) their radios on line as well. Some of the biggest sites include Shoutcast, Live365, AOL radio and iTunes.

How it works?

The data is streamed over the net and then played back. The audio is not controlled by the user, so it’s like traditional radio in a way that it’s not “on-demand” service like Spotify. Nor is it like podcasts which have to be downloaded. The difference with terrestrial radios is that Internet Radio doesn’t have any geographic limitations. It allows a Japanese student to listen to the latest Drum and Bass played by a DJ in London or a media company having a conference with their clients all over the world. It is also not only limited to audio – it can be accompanied by graphics, photos, links, chat rooms and you can have interactivity with your listeners.

A broadcast or a stream works through 3 software packages – an encoder, a server and a player. Audio feed runs through the sound card of a computer running the encoder software at the broadcast location and the stream is streamed to the server. You connect to the URL of the server and the radio begins playing the music/news that is being webcasted.

That’s not at all as expensive as regular radio and finding a niche style can pay off with having thousands of listeners form around the world. If you want to open your own internet radio – please click the link here that transfers you to a how-to website. It’s also worth getting acquainted with popular streaming audio formats such as Ogg Vorbis, WMA, RealAudio, aacPlus and MP3. Different players play different files and you’d like to maximise your coverage and not sacrifice the quality of the stream.

Bridge ratings

As you can see from the graph – it is a growing business and as far as radios are concerned – the one to watch. There’s also the added benefit that we’ve not reached the peak of broadband speed. The prices keep going down and speeds keep going up. Meaning radios can start opting higher bitrates for broadcasting higher quality and/or multichannel audio. If you’re interested in where this might lead – please follow us to the next part – Multichannel Internet Radio.

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Tags: e-radio, Internet Radio, net radio, Shoutcast, web radio, wi-fi radio

Tony Orwin

I realy feel as though I am talking to one with closed ears here. Internet Radio CAN NOT be supported by theexisting or projected capacity available in ANY country.

It does not matter what type of radio we are talking about - the capacity would simply be swamped by a single radio Station, let alone the huge range of existing - let alone the new services that are expected to be in place overthe coming years.

once again though - the last writer is also entirley missing the point that NO ONE is projecting to role out Mobile (Wireless based) Internet to allow reception of ANY such services across the huge gaps between towns andcities where MOST radio recption is needed - by people in cars / busses / trains etc. I will conceed that some trains do and increasingly MAY have internet available at a premium - but that is not the point of the discusion. Witthat - I bow out of this discussion.
surround

As I said before, I understand your point entirely: "Internet Radio cannot be supported by the existing or projected capacity". I totally agree with you. Also "Internet TV cannot be supported by the existing or projected capacity", right? Essentially it's the same, radio and TV, both use waves to transmit data...

But! How come that YouTube has 1 billion views a day? How many viewers does BBC has? I can bet that less than 1 billion! Of course, if 1 billion users will try to watch videos simultaneously YouTube will black out, but that's not the point! The point is that such services are becoming INCREASINGLY popular and they gain more and more capacity every day (literary).

So this is my answer to your 'capacity' argument: Internet radio can't handle as many listeners as traditional radio can yet. But in last 10 years web services grew faster than any radio station, or even whole radio industry. Capacity is increasing, speed is becoming faster, servers more powerful.

Your other argument is 'huge gaps' in mobile Internet. Please check this map: http://img263.imageshack.us/i/screenshot2010010... It's AT&T data (not voice!) USA coverage. What do you think? First commercial 3G network appeared in USA in 2003! 6 years ago! Now you can go online ALMOST everywhere. I must admit, that there are problems: gaps, loss of signal, speed issues... But if you look at the progress of these technologies you understand where we are heading.

Also please be more specific with your arguments. I respect your opinion, but "NO ONE is projecting to role out Mobile..." doesn't make any sense. Look at the future plans of mobile networks first.

Unfortunately, there is no much sense in this conversation. You are talking about current state of things, I am talking about the future, relying on the current PROGRESS of things. Anyway, let's return to this conversation in 10 years time :)
Petten

I actually have a question about the chart .. Any ideas why does it predict such a slow increase between 2015 and 2020 ? New technology takes over ?
Tony Orwin

As is so often the case - "The devil is in the detail". The problem here is that the
"Detail" here is just too darn big.

Even in the Uk with our relativley large capacity, if just 4.5 million listeners decided to latch on to an internet radio service, it would cripple the entire countries internet capacity! To put that into perspective - the Radio 2 drivetime listening figures alone are more than twice that!.

Neiher does it address the fact that the largest amount of RADIO in the UK is consumed on the move - in cars - and internet can not adress that market.

Broadcast radio delivers a great service - and Digital Radio enhances it to a great degree delivering a huge range of service across the UK to Millions - with no degredation or drop outs, - even if all the houses in your street want to listen at the same time - (Have you trierd that little exercise using Internet Radio)?
surround

You know, at one point wireless Internet will cover 80-90% of the UK. 10 years ago I wouldn't have even imagined that it would be possible to use wireless in Starbucks or McDonald's... Ideas do not always follow the technology, sometimes it is the opposite.
In fact, youtube today is serving almost a billion videos daily (and videos are much heavier than audio). Also really important idea behind Internet radio is that it can be interactive, allowing listeners to choose tracks, vote, get local product and service information, allowing customers to use highly targeted ADs (and this what Internet is all about nowadays) etc.

Internet radio may sound futuristic, but not more than Google Street View to be honest ))
Tony Orwin

Internet Radio does not sound futuristic - its sounds an anachronism.

The medium of Radio is not designed for or intended to be carried and delivered in such via the net.

More importantly, the infrastructure for the Net itself is not currently nor is it planned to have the capacity or coverage that would deliver even a small percentage of the CURRENT let alone planned Radio Broadcast content.

Even when Wireless Internet is rolled out across the country, it will not be available to those who most use the radio – Car users on the Motorways, Major Trunk roads, and down to the small country lanes of areas across the country such as Cumbria nd North Wales (where I was over Christmas happily listening to BFBS, planet Rock, NME Radio and BBC7 via DAB).

Eureka 147 is also easily capable of interactivity and can deliver targeted ADs (if that is what we realy want). Red button technology was in use in the UK with Virgins Movio services in 2005.It seems the public did not actually want it though.

The Net is great, it is not however a panacea, nor is it a vector for delivering Radio to the masses.
surround

I am sure that you understand how pointless it is to argue. In 1997 I personally would doubt that it will ever be possible to serve 1 billion videos from one service (youtube). Now it is possible. Internet is constantly changing: new protocols are being introduced (SPDY), connection is becoming faster (Japan's 160Mbps) etc etc. Maybe not tomorrow, maybe not in next 5 years, but Internet radio will find its place and will definitely make all traditional broadcasters very unhappy (look at TV channels nowadays).
Tony Orwin

You are missing the point entirely. It is not a case of how fast internet access is, it is WHERE the internet access is - or rather, is not.

The internet is not planed to be delivered WIRELESSLY to the whole country - only to major conurbations.

Broadcast Radio IS designed to reach all parts - or nearly so. Hence Radio is and for the foreseeable future, will continue to be the medium to deliver Radio Services across the country.

This does not even begin to look at the capacity issues that are a major block to delivering radio via the web. I woudl refer readers to my earlier comments - " Even in the Uk with our relatively large capacity, if just 4.5 million listeners decided to latch on to an internet radio service, it would cripple the entire countries internet capacity! To put that into perspective - the Radio 2 drive time listening figures alone are more than twice that"!

I am continually amased at the small number of people in and around the periphery of the Technology and Broadcast industries who still are banging heir heads against the wall by declaring that "The Internet will solve All" - when even the most casual glance at the facts of the exiting and projected capabilities of the internet show the glaring truth of its sever limitations. - Especially when it is in relation to delivering Broadcast services. These are not my feelings, figures and pronouncements - they are those of the BBC - who after all should know a thing or two about it, - as they are both a Radio and Internet Broadcaster of some renown.

I realise also though that no matter what I say, there will be individuals who will only see the “Rosey Glow” of the internet in their future, however, please - before any further pronouncements, check the figures and the plans of the Broadcasters and Internet Service providers. They do know a thing or two bit about their own businesses.
surround

OK, I am with you on that, but again, you think of Internet from a point of view, that it's a finished "technology", that will not change in time.

3G coverage is already impressive, it will eventually cover almost all of the land. Then 4G will become more popular. What it means? That handheld devices (such as Apple tablet, Google Nexus One, iPhone etc etc) will be able to get online almost everywhere, and... make use of Internet radio.

When you talk about Internet radio I have a feeling that you are still talking about traditional radio. Well, it is not. Spotify-type stations with the great variety of channels, music on-demand, games and other content - it's our future.

Of course traditional radio will not just die out, but it will transform and loose a large number of listeners.

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