Imagine walking into the world’s largest television and stereo showroom. Screens line the walls; miles of flickering video float above the hum of sports, westerns, and the 24-hour news shows; and country music vibrates through the floor. You’ve either reached media heaven or broadcast.com.

Billing itself as the “leading broadcaster of streaming media programming on the Web,” broadcast.com (http://www.broadcast.com/) has come a long way since its humble start as AudioNet in 1995. This Internet video and audio powerhouse is presently logging 800,000 unique visitors a day, which means 800,000 potential consumers are braving light advertising for free access to a growing collection of broadcasts from radio and TV stations, movies, audiobooks, and CDs.

Where other sites have long streamed music, news, and other material, broadcast.com is unique for the assortment of programming it offers and for the enormous quantity of said programming. One technology makes this all possible: streaming.

Streaming is, simply, the process that lets users view content as it is being downloaded to their PCs. Through the use of streaming, broadcast.com can deliver hundreds of unique audio and video programs to hundreds of thousands of viewers at a time. The programming can be live, which means there is a continuous stream of information at a set time (much like television), or on demand, which is like a movie visitors can access at any time.

You’ll need two primary pieces of software to experience everything on this Web site: RealPlayer from Real-Networks and Microsoft’s Windows Media Player. These are both players that translate incoming streamed data into something you can view or hear. Sometimes you get a choice as to which one you can use, but usually it’s one or the other, and you may find your system works better with one of the programs. This is why you need to download both of these free programs. On broadcast.com, you will find a section (http://www.broadcast.com/faq) where you can test whether your current setup will do the job. If you don’t have them, broadcast.com will help you download the players you need.



  Using The Site

The Channel Guide serves as broadcast.com’s home page, letting users branch off to every other section of the site. Dead center on this page you’ll find Today’s Features. These are generally a set of live events to be broadcast that day or special features that broadcast.com recommends. In addition to several featured events up top, as you move down the column you’ll find other notables in the areas of sports, music, entertainment, and business. At the top of the Channel Guide, you can select a date to see what upcoming live events will be broadcast on that day or you can sign up for broadcast .com’s free newsletter.

The left margin under the Channel Guide features the channel list, a set of 17 sections including Business, Live Radio, Spiritual, and many others. These channels make up the main body of the site. (We will deal with these in more depth in the next section.) The right side of the page features a gray bar that links to more interesting events within the site. If you’re looking for something specific, however, then you might want to use the search field at the top of the page to return a listing of pages with your query term.

In addition to the channels themselves, you can access several other areas from the home page. For example, the Help button at the top of the page will lead you to broadcast.com’s Frequently Asked Questions section. The frequently asked questions (FAQ) section contains special sections for the first-time user, a troubleshooting area, and a technical and firewall (features that block Internet information from entering networks) FAQ. Below the channel list on the left side, you can get additional information on the company, including facts on how you can advertise on the site or take advantage of its business services. An online store (under Company Info) makes some of the site’s programming (as well as official broadcast.com apparel) available for purchase. The Tech Showcase menu highlights various player technologies, as well as a reminder that broadcast.com does come as an Internet Explorer 4.0 channel.



  The Channels

As mentioned, broadcast.com has 17 channels. Most are formatted much like the Channel Guide; at the center of each Guide Page, you’ll find the customary list of live and special events in that channel’s area of interest. The left margin breaks the channels down into various categories.

Auction. Oddly enough, the first channel on the list doesn’t offer streamed content. Instead, it lets you buy and sell everything from Beanie Babies to sports memorabilia. This is similar to other online auctions, with features such as Autobid and a buyer/ seller rating system.

AudioBooks. If you are a bibliophile, this channel’s contents will fill you with much glee. You can choose from among 500 full-length audiobooks to “read” in two dozen categories (such as Biography, Philosophy, or Western) or catch up on Author Interviews, Great Speeches, and other literaryish pursuits.

Business. If you are looking for business resources, then look no further. This site has everything from radio and TV business shows and press conferences to sections on small business, personal investing, and leadership. This area is quite extensive, with in-depth looks at specific industries, special sections for industry leaders such as IBM, and the obligatory newsfeeds from the likes of CNBC/Dow Jones.

CD Jukebox. Anyone with eclectic music tastes will love this channel. You can choose from a wide variety of formats, from Hawaiian to Zydeco, in the Browse Our CDs section. There are more than 2,400 full-length CDs to choose from here, as well as live and on-demand concerts, musician interviews, and videos.

Education. If you are thinking of college or just looking to become more knowledgeable in a given area, then turn to the Education channel. You can take a virtual campus tour, sit in on lectures and discussions, and then doze through a couple of hours of commencement exercises. You can also wade through miles of biology, business, and history footage. Think of this as a cross between PBS and your high school guidance counselor.

Entertainment. Like many other channels, this one really has no set borders; if you dig too deeply, then you’ll find yourself on the Video or Live TV channels. Television and movies and everything surrounding them share space with comedy and wrestling.

Live Radio. Ruled by the King and Queen of talk radio (Rush Limbaugh and Dr. Laura), the Live Radio channel is home to more than 385 live stations. You can browse for a station by call letters, format, or location or find specialized material, such as technology radio shows, sports radio, and the BBC. If you’re looking for something a bit more Fox-ish, then you can even link to fire and police scanners.

Live TV. Anchored by the likes of Court TV, NASA TV, and the American Independent Network, the Live TV channel beams a substantial selection of local and national TV programming to your computer. There is a broad selection of live and on-demand local coverage here, which is perfect for those eager for news from Pensacola to San Francisco.

Music. In addition to links to the CD Jukebox and Live Radio channels, the Music channel features live concerts and other music events, interviews and chats, and music videos.

News. Those who need regular CNN fixes will find much to love on the News channel. One can choose from various regional, national, or international newscasts. You can also look for news by category. And yes, there are even a few flavors of CNN to choose from.

Public Affairs. Because the news junkies can never seem to get enough, there is the Public Affairs channel. This channel provides live and archived broadcasts from places such as the Kennedy School of Government and the Simon Wiesenthal Center. Tune in for daily scheduled shows, such as The Hill Reporter, or wade through special features in the Freedom Forum. Special sections on environmental issues and an on-ramp to the Speeches archive round out this channel.

Shopping. When you don’t feel like engaging in a bidding war on the Auction channel, turn to the Shopping channel. The Shopping channel offers merchandise in three primary categories: Health, Fitness & Weight Loss, Housewares, and Beauty & Skincare. Shows by the likes of Sunworks and Susan Powter entertain and illustrate the benefits of workout machines, cookware, and other merchandise, much of it along the “look good/feel good” lines. This area is a bit more infomercial-ish than other channels.

Special Interest. The Special Interest channel would also work as the Hobby channel, although that label probably wouldn’t go far enough. Choose from a sizable list of categories, from Auto and Collecting to Home Matters and Relationships. There are a number of shows packed in here, from the nationally known to the more regional/local.

Spiritual. The Spiritual channel is also known as Lightsource.com, the “leading Christian multimedia resource on the Internet.” Tune in for shows such as “The 700 Club” and “Faith & Family with Dr. Richard Land,” or check out special sections on Christian music, radio, television, and teaching. There is a tremendous wealth of information here covering various Christian denominations, such as Baptist, Presbyterian, and Catholic.

Sports. Welcome to sports fan nirvana. This channel is immense, covering a wide array of mainstream sports and a fair amount of those overlooked sports, such as cricket and gymnastics. Get press conferences, shows, and stories on your favorite sport; in many cases you can even catch the latest game/match/race on radio or video! If you are an NCAA fan, then you can choose from a sizable list of schools with complete game archives. Want to take your participation up a notch? Link to fantasy football, hockey, and basketball leagues.

Technology. Whether your interest in technology, computing, and the Internet is profound or slight, you’ll find information in the Technology channel to satisfy it. From tech television and radio shows, such as “Geek Free Computer Talk,” to in-depth looks at the business side of technology and Year 2000 issues, this channel covers a variety of topics.

Video. “Bride of the Gorilla,” anyone? You can find this and other celluloid tidbits, as well as sports, television, and music videos on the Video channel. There is also quite a large array of documentary and education titles.



  Running Video & Audio

Once you find a movie or song you want to listen to, just click the Click Here To View link. (It may take you more than one click to find this link.) The correct player will then pop up. First, you will probably see a short commercial. Then, the fun will begin. 

by Rich Gray