Broadcasting

Broadcast redirects here. For other uses, see Broadcast (ham) and citizens band (CB) radio operators are not
(disambiguation).
allowed to broadcast. As dened, transmitting and
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and/or broadcasting are not the same.
Transmission of radio and television programs from
a radio or television station to home receivers over
the spectrum is referred to as OTA (over the air) or
terrestrial broadcasting and in most countries requires a
broadcasting license. Transmissions using a combination of satellite and wired transmission, like cable television (which also retransmits OTA stations with their
consent), are also considered broadcasts, and do not require a license. Transmissions of television and radio via
streaming digital technology have increasingly been referred to as broadcasting as well, though strictly speaking
this is incorrect.

1 History

Broadcasting antenna in Stuttgart

Main article: History of broadcasting

video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic

mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), in a
one-to-many model.[1] Broadcasting began with AM radio broadcasting which sprang up spontaneously around
1920. Before this, all forms of electronic communication, radio, telephone, and telegraph, were one-to-one,
with the message intended for a single recipient. The term
broadcasting, borrowed from the agricultural method
of sowing seeds in a eld by casting them broadly about,[2]
was coined by either KDKA manager Frank Conrad or
RCA historian George Clark[3] around 1920 to distinguish this new activity of one-to-many communication;
a single radio station transmitting to multiple listeners.

The earliest broadcasting consisted of sending telegraph

signals over the airwaves, using Morse code. This was
particularly important for ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore
communication, but it became increasingly important for
business and general news reporting, and as an arena
for personal communication by radio amateurs (Douglas, op. cit.). Audio broadcasting began experimentally in the rst decade of the 20th century. By the early
1920s radio broadcasting became a household medium,
at rst on the AM band and later on FM. Television
broadcasting started experimentally in the 1920s and became widespread after World War II, using VHF and
Over the air Broadcasting is usually associated with UHF spectrum. Satellite broadcasting was initiated in
radio and television, though in practice radio and tele- the 1960s and moved into general industry usage in the
vision transmissions take place using both wires and ra- 1970s, with DBS (Direct Broadcast Satellites) emerging
dio waves. The receiving parties may include the gen- in the 1980s.
eral public or a relatively small subset; the point is that Originally all broadcasting was composed of analog siganyone with the appropriate receiving technology can re- nals using analog transmission techniques but more receive the signal. The eld of broadcasting includes a wide cently broadcasters have switched to digital signals using
range of practices, from relatively private exchanges such digital transmission. In general usage, broadcasting most
as public radio, community radio and commercial radio, frequently refers to the transmission of information and
public television, and commercial television.
entertainment programming from various sources to the
U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, title 47, part 97 de- general public.
nes broadcasting as transmissions intended for reception by the general public, either direct or relayed.[4]
Private or two-way telecommunications transmissions do
not qualify under this denition. For example, amateur

Analog audio vs. HD Radio

Analog television vs. Digital television
1

4 RECORDED BROADCASTS AND LIVE BROADCASTS

Wireless

The worlds technological capacity to receive information

through one-way broadcast networks more than quadrupled during the two decades from 1986 to 2007, from
432 exabytes of (optimally compressed) information, to
1.9 zettabytes.[5] This is the information equivalent of 55
newspapers per person per day in 1986, and 175 newspapers per person per day by 2007.[6]

Methods of broadcasting

Historically, there have been several methods used for

broadcasting electronic media audio and/or video to the
general public:
Telephone broadcasting (18811932): the earliest
form of electronic broadcasting (not counting data
services oered by stock telegraph companies from
1867, if ticker-tapes are excluded from the denition). Telephone broadcasting began with the advent
of Thtrophone (Theatre Phone) systems, which
were telephone-based distribution systems allowing
subscribers to listen to live opera and theatre performances over telephone lines, created by French
inventor Clment Ader in 1881. Telephone broadcasting also grew to include telephone newspaper
services for news and entertainment programming
which were introduced in the 1890s, primarily located in large European cities. These telephonebased subscription services were the rst examples
of electrical/electronic broadcasting and oered a
wide variety of programming.

programming, or both, with dedicated satellite radio programming. (See also: Satellite television)
Webcasting of video/television (from circa 1993)
and audio/radio (from circa 1994) streams: oers a
mix of traditional radio and television station broadcast programming with dedicated internet radio

3 Economic models
There are several means of providing nancial support for
continuous broadcasting:
Commercial broadcasting: for-prot, usually privately owned stations, channels, networks, or services providing programming to the public, supported by the sale of time to advertisers for radio
or television advertisements during or in breaks between programs, often in combination with cable or
pay cable subscription fees.
Public broadcasting: usually non-prot, publicly
owned stations or networks supported by license
fees, government funds, grants from foundations,
corporate underwriting, and audience memberships
and/or contributions, or a combination of these.
Community broadcasting

Broadcasters may rely on a combination of these business

models. For example, in the United States, National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service
(PBS, television) supplement public membership subscriptions and grants with funding from the Corporation
Radio broadcasting (experimentally from 1906, for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which is allocated bicommercially from 1920); audio signals sent annually by Congress.
through the air as radio waves from a transmitter,
picked up by an antenna and sent to a receiver. US public broadcasting corporate and charitable grants
Radio stations can be linked in radio networks are generally given in consideration of underwriting spots
to broadcast common radio programs, either in which dier from commercial advertisements in that they
are governed by specic FCC restrictions, which prohibit
broadcast syndication, simulcast or subchannels.
the advocacy of a product or a call to action.
Television broadcasting (telecast), experimentally
from 1925, commercially from the 1930s: an extension of radio to include video signals.

4 Recorded broadcasts and live

Cable radio (also called cable FM, from 1928)

broadcasts
and cable television (from 1932): both via coaxial
cable, originally serving principally as transmission
media for programming produced at either radio or The rst regular television broadcasts started in 1937.
television stations, but later expanding into a broad Broadcasts can be classied as recorded or live. The
former allows correcting errors, and removing superuuniverse of cable-originated channels.
ous or undesired material, rearranging it, applying slow Direct-broadcast satellite (DBS) (from circa 1974) motion and repetitions, and other techniques to enhance
and satellite radio (from circa 1990): meant for the program. However, some live events like sports teledirect-to-home broadcast programming (as opposed vision can include some of the aspects including slowto studio network uplinks and downlinks), provides motion clips of important goals/hits, etc., in between the
a mix of traditional radio or television broadcast live television telecast.

3
are included in another broadcast, such as when electronic
news gathering (ENG) returns a story to the station for inclusion on a news programme.
The nal 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 television station to an antenna and
radio receiver, or may come through cable television[7]
or cable radio (or "wireless cable") via the station or directly from a network. The Internet may also bring either
internet radio or streaming media television to the recipient, especially with multicasting allowing the signal and
bandwidth to be shared.
A television studio production control room in Olympia, Washington, August 2008.

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 Pacic time
zone (See: Eects of time on North American broadcasting). This restriction was dropped for special occasions,
as in the case of the German dirigible airship Hindenburg
disaster 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 radio stations around the world.

The term "broadcast network" is often used to distinguish networks that broadcast an over-the-air television
signals that can be received using a tuner (television) inside a television set with a television antenna from socalled networks that are broadcast only via cable television (cablecast) or satellite television that uses a dish antenna. The term "broadcast television" can refer to the
television programs of such networks.

5 Social impact

A disadvantage of recording rst is that the public may

know the outcome of an event from another source, which
may be a "spoiler". In addition, prerecording prevents
live radio announcers from deviating from an ocially
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-totape"). 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 production ("The Cosby Show is recorded
in front of a live television studio audience") and news
broadcasting.
A broadcast may be distributed through several physical
means. If coming directly from the radio studio at a single station or television station, it is simply sent through
the studio/transmitter link to the transmitter and hence
from the television antenna located on the radio masts and
towers 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.

Radio station WTUL studio, Tulane University, New Orleans

The sequencing of content in a broadcast is called a

schedule. As with all technological endeavors, 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 a cable converter
box with decoding equipment in homes, the latter also
enables subscription-based channels, pay-tv and pay-perview services.

In his essay, John Durham Peters wrote that

communication is a tool used for dissemination.
Durham stated, "Dissemination is a lenssometimes a
usefully distorting onethat helps us tackle basic issues
Distribution to stations or networks may also be through such as interaction, presence, and space and time...on the
physical media, such as magnetic tape, compact disc agenda of any future communication theory in general
(CD), DVD, and sometimes other formats. Usually these (Durham, 211). Dissemination focuses on the message

8 BIBLIOGRAPHY

being relayed from one main source to one large audience

without the exchange of dialogue in between. Theres
chance for the message to be tweaked or corrupted once
the main source releases it. There is really no way to
predetermine how the larger population or audience will
absorb the message. They can choose to listen, analyze,
or simply ignore it. Dissemination in communication is
widely used in the world of broadcasting.

Narrowcasting

Broadcasting focuses on getting one message out and it

is up to the general public to do what they wish with it.
Durham also states that broadcasting is used to address an
open ended destination (Durham, 212). There are many
forms of broadcast, but they all aim to distribute a signal that will reach the target audience. Broadcasting can
arrange audiences into entire assemblies (Durham, 213).

Radio Act of 1927, United States

In terms of media broadcasting, a radio show can gather

a large number of followers who tune in every day to
specically listen to that specic disc jockey. The disc
jockey follows the script for his or her radio show and
just talks into the microphone.[8] He or she does not expect immediate feedback from any listeners. The message is broadcast across airwaves throughout the community, but there the listeners cannot always respond immediately, especially since many radio shows are recorded
prior to the actual air time.

See also
1worldspace worlds rst commercial satellite radio direct-to-home broadcaster
Analog television
Bandplan
Broadcast engineering
Broadcast quality
Broadcast television systems contains the standards of the topic
Broadcasting in the United States
Cablecast
Dead air
Digital television

NaSTA
Nonbroadcast Multiple Access Network (NBMA)
North American broadcast television frequencies
Outside broadcast

Reality television
Society of Broadcast Engineers (SBE)
Television broadcasting in Australia
Television transmitter
Transposer

7 Notes and references

[1] Peters, John Durham (1999). Speaking into the Air. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226662763.
[2] Douglas, Susan J. (1987). Inventing American Broadcasting, 1899-1922. Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN
9780801838323.
[3] Greb, Gordon; Adams, Mike (2003). Charles Herrold,
Inventor of Radio Broadcasting. McFarland. pp. 220
221. ISBN 0786483598.
[4] eCFR: Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Government Publishing Oce (GPO)
[5] The Worlds Technological Capacity to Store, Communicate, and Compute Information, Martin Hilbert and
Priscila Lpez (2011), Science (journal), 332(6025), 6065; free access to the article through here: martinhilbert.
net/WorldInfoCapacity.html
[6] video animation on The Worlds Technological Capacity
to Store, Communicate, and Compute Information from
1986 to 2010. Ideas.economist.com. Retrieved 26 December 2011.
[7] http://www.diwaxx.ru/
[8] Schlosberg, Justin (2011). Why Does Illegal Broadcasting Continue To Thrive In The Age Of Spectrum Liberalization?". Academic Search Premier: 7. Retrieved 19
February 2013.

Electronic media
European Broadcasting Union (EBU)
List of broadcast satellites

8 Bibliography

List of broadcasting terms

Carey, James (1989) Communication as Culture,

Routledge, New York and London, pp. 20130

List of over-the-air broadcasters in Englishspeaking countries

Kahn, Frank J., ed. Documents of American Broadcasting, fourth edition (Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1984).

5
Lichty Lawrence W., and Topping Malachi C.,
eds. American Broadcasting: A Source Book on the
History of Radio and Television (Hastings House,
1975).
Meyrowitz, Joshua., Mediating Communication:
What Happens? in Downing, J., Mohammadi, A.,
and Sreberny-Mohammadi, A., (eds) Questioning
The Media (Sage, Thousand Oaks, 1995) pp. 39
53
Peters, John Durham. Communication as Dissemination. Communication as...Perspectives on Theory. Thousand Oakes, CA: Sage, 2006. 211-22.
Thompson, J., The Media and Modernity, in
Mackay, H and O'Sullivan, T (eds) The Media
Reader: Continuity and Transformation., (Sage,
London, 1999) pp. 1227

Further reading
Gilbert, Sean; Nelson, John; Jacobs, George, World
Radio TV Handbook 2007, Watson-Guptill, 2006.
ISBN 0-9535864-9-9. The 2007 edition of the
World Radio TV Handbook.
Wells, Alan, World Broadcasting: A Comparative
View, Greenwood Publishing Group, 1996. ISBN
1-56750-245-8

10

External links

Radio Locator, for American radio station with format, power, and coverage information.
Jim Hawkins Radio and Broadcast Technology
Page History of broadcast transmitter
Indie Digital Cinema Services - Broadcast Industry
Glossary

11

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Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

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Broadcasting Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadcasting?oldid=681497364 Contributors: JeLuF, Christian List, Mintguy,

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