Internetradio
As an Internet radio (also web radio ) refers to an Internet-based range of radio programs. Transmission is usually considered streaming audio; to use appropriate streaming clients are required.
- 5.1 Distribution and range
- 5.2 sound quality
- 5.3 Basic Democracy
- 5.4 Internet - specific differences
- 5.5 Licensing and Costs
- 6.1 Streaming Server
- 6.2 streaming clients
- 6.3 Radio Equipment
- 6.4 televisions
- 6.5 Distribution
History
Already 1995-1996 hosted the newly founded Info - Radio Berlin -Brandenburg ORB and SFB together with the Technical University of Berlin streaming service Info radio on demand.
A similar project led by the SWF. Here is a part of the SWF Send archive has been digitized. Mid-1995 had already received over 190,000 hours of words and music posts.
The media public became aware of streaming media around 1998, in the heyday of the New Economy so. It set up a sort of automatic Zugzwangs, for example, started numerous radio stations, easy to stream parts of their programs because it others did. In parallel, independent radios were founded. An example of this was youwant.com.
The end of 2002, so in the midst of the crisis of the commercial Internet use, America Online launched the exclusive radio program Broadband Radio @ AOL for its broadband customers; it sat AOL not the streaming technology of strategic partner RealNetworks, but instead used a programmed by Nullsoft house development called Ultravox; Nullsoft was acquired along with Spinner.com to AOL in 1999.
Similar to the U.S. press affairs, there is also the radio cases where Internet stations were founded by employees set of established channels. This resulted in Berlin Radio multicult2.0 in response to the closure of the RBB radio station Radiomultikulti.
Provider
As with terrestrial radio stations many sectors and types of music are served. However, a greater variety of thematic channels for all kinds of musical styles and verbal contributions is here alone by the very low cost in comparison to terrestrial radio widespread ability to run an internet radio possible. The number of receivable on an Internet web radio station is in the tens of thousands, at the same time, however, only a few " stations " are used. Most terrestrial radio stations broadcast their signal over the Internet. In addition, there are many pure web radio provider. Sends a provider on the Internet, the signal at ( almost) any Internet connection worldwide receivable.
In April 2010 there were, according to a study by the Bavarian Regulatory Authority for Commercial Broadcasting around 2700 German radios. Of these, 80 percent exclusively on the Internet receivable ( Internet -only offers), the others are mostly live streams from the FM radio transmitter ( simulcast streams). Compared to 2009, the number " 2010 Webradio Monitor" rose loud BLM study by over 700 stations. Since 2006 ( with then 450 Internet channels) the number of suppliers grew up in Germany per year by about 56 percent.
Dissemination
After the ARD / ZDF Online Study 2010 listen 8 % of internet surfers weekly web radio via live stream, 26.6 % at least rare. In 2003, there were 5.3% and 17.6% respectively. In parallel, the proportion of DSL-/Breitbandnutzer rose between 2003 and 2008 from 24% to 70%. Back in 2006, heard in Europe more than 20 million people Webradio. In the spring of 2010 there were 12.4 million listeners in Germany alone, according to e Arbeitsgemeinschaft Media-Analyse V..
Primary and secondary recyclers
Native Internet stations
As an Internet broadcaster ( english internet broadcaster ) refers to an Internet " channels ", which either sends only the Internet, or performs at least its initial exploitation on the Internet and part of the program, then later sold to other stations ( content syndication ).
Internet broadcasting (English internet broadcasting ) differs from conventional transmitters mainly due to the lower compared to conventional stations handset number because the majority still predominantly terrestrial receivable broadcast stations will be used. One example is the University of stations that provide their programs via the Internet. In these cases, the term Web radio is also used synonymously for the provider or program.
In addition, there are usually headed by individuals radios.
Regular radio stations
The online radio is used by numerous radio stations as an alternative transmission technology for secondary exploitation of their programs. The reception is to be so also allows listeners who can not receive the program via terrestrial or cable or satellite.
Radio on the Internet for example, offer to the German public broadcasters, the regular listener want to reach outside their coverage area, such as expats or students when going abroad.
Also, almost all independent radio stations and open channels to stream their entire program on the internet because they are terrestrial usually equipped only with very low transmit power and so be received in a very limited area.
The transfer of current programs is often supplemented by storage and access of previously sent Contributions ( audio-on -demand or on- demand streaming ).
Numerous German language radio stations provide at least parts of their programs via live streaming on the Internet. In the quest for market share, it look almost all program providers as essential to to show on the transmission path Internet presence, but this results in a financial dilemma, the most of the regular radio with its high base cost by the transmitter networks and the additional new challenges posed by the transfer is exposed to the Internet.
Internet radio versus traditional radio
Internet radio is fundamentally different from traditional radio:
Distribution and range
In contrast to conventional broadcasting, which reaches full number of receivers within its transmission area using radio waves, limited the Internet the maximum number of concurrent receivers by the available bandwidth. Approaches are multicast streaming as well as the use of dedicated streaming services or provider. Households, replacing the more conventional radios through Internet radio can receive a DSL connection 7-112 radio stations simultaneously. Internet connections with lower bandwidth than 128 kb / s to not even receive a single station to reach the quality of traditional broadcasting. If the bandwidth is used by broadcasting content, sacrificing other Internet-specific applications can occur. The load of the networks, however, is less serious than by video - streaming services that go with increasing image quality well into the megabit / s range. The conventional broadcasting is increasingly digitized. By digitizing the transmission infrastructure is constantly expanding. This benefits not only the broadcasting, but the internet.
A transmitter, which has a satellite channel reaches in the catchment area of the satellite an unlimited number of recipients, because the receiver does not need a return channel, still need to make your own network bandwidth available to receive the channel.
Broadcasting with return channel via private networks can only reach a limited number of recipients. The communication networks are a high number of transmitters that are to simultaneously achieve unlimited number of receivers, not suitable as an Internet station is not assigned permanently available bandwidth. Internet stations often use foreign transmission infrastructure to get the information to the recipient to carry. The information must pass through sender foreign server systems, they are received there and resent. Faults or technical problems therefore are often beyond the control of the respective transmitter and disorders designed to fix usually more difficult than the conventional broadcasting.
An advantage of the internet radio is the world's receptivity. While radio stations on the FM band are regionally limited or rely on satellites to transmit their content, the worldwide access to Internet radio station designed much lighter and, in principle, can be accessed from anywhere in the world at a specific Internet radio station. So it's a real " world receiver ". Many thousands of programs from around the world can be received via portals such as Shoutcast. In contrast to the traditional shortwave world recipients who also receive stations from around the world, the music quality on the Internet, the number of radio stations is usually very high and significantly higher. The most well-known radio stations transmit in parallel on the Internet now. There are exceptions to the accessibility when the Internet is, for example, by national authorities or providers partially or completely blocked and / or filtered.
The web radio is also a not insignificant distribution medium for independent labels and music styles that find very little space and attention in the conventional air radio.
Sound quality
The sound quality (or the transmission quality ) depends largely on the bit rate used and the compression methods (eg, Advanced Audio Coding or MP3). In principle, anything is possible, of " telephone quality " up to CD quality. Most radios have a pretty good, noise-free audio, comparable to the FM radio. If the pieces of music (sound files) are equal recorded digitally, there are no losses due to analog conversion more. Many stations from overseas offer of bandwidth shortage only bit rates of 32 kbit / s For music that's too bad, but language is so very clear to understand. The quality is typically much better than with a short-wave receiver world.
People power
Every PC user with Internet access can be to the sender when it sends its own material, such as self-composed or royalty-free music and own moderation. The potential audience is limited for a typical DSL connection to only a few listeners. During the Serbian Revolution in 1997 the regime - critical FM transmitter B92 plunged into the digital underground and only sent over the Internet.
Internet - specific differences
Web radio is not limited to the secondary recycle or archiving of existing programs; there have been developed a number of new formats and technologies; see webcasting, netcasting, narrowcasting and Broad Catch. Also the recording of radio broadcasts can be facilitated. So the Streamripper plugin Winamp allows simultaneous recording of MP3 streams.
Licensing and Costs
Who spread radio programs exclusively via the Internet, requires no approval in Germany ( § 20b of the Broadcasting Treaty - Interstate Broadcasting Agreement ). However, a tender must, which is distributed from a server in Germany, which displays the competent state media authority. The display is possible free of charge via the Internet portals of all 14 State Media Authorities in Germany; the failure to report or a false indication can be assigned to a fine of up to 500,000 euros ( § 49 Section 1 Sentence 1 No. 18 Interstate Broadcasting Agreement ). However, the Bavarian Regulatory Authority for Commercial Broadcasting ( BLM) is called a capacity threshold of 500 simultaneous listeners from a display has only recently been required. This gives the legal right again. While talking to § 20b and § 49 Section 1 Sentence 1 No. 18 Interstate Broadcasting Agreement only exclusively on the Internet widespread " radio programs ". However, it should be noted that after the exemption in § 2 par 3 No. 1 RStV such offers are not broadcasting that " in any event less than 500 are offered to potential users for simultaneous viewing ." Electronic information and communication services that neither broadcasting within the meaning of the Broadcasting Treaty telecommunication services are still within the meaning of the Telecommunications Act, Teleservices are defined in § 2 para 1 sentence 3 Interstate Treaty on Broadcasting and as such gem. § 54 Section 1 Sentence 1 RStV licensing or registration free.
In addition, for example, fall in Germany fees for GEMA ( minimum fee 30 € / month) and GVL ( minimum remuneration for non-commercial: 500 € / year, commercially: 1500 € / year) if the taxable web radio playing music. Further costs of the "Traffic" ( the amount of data transmitted ), the more people listen, the more expensive it is for the transmitter. Traditional broadcasters that their broadcast on VHF broadcasts over the Internet second- use ( " simulcasten ") have generally concluded lump sum contracts with their streaming providers.
Technology
Streaming server
To reduce the transmitted via the Internet to the amount of data usually lossy audio compression methods such as MP3, Ogg Vorbis or RealAudio be used (see streaming formats); for encoding are various highly specialized streaming codecs. The main requirement of such special streaming codecs is the strongest possible data compression, while the streaming data formats, additional information (eg, metadata, advertising, management information, etc.) must contain.
As a streaming server can use programs such Icecast or Shoutcast; for computers with the Apple operating system Mac OS, the program Nicecast or flounder can be used.
The transfer is made using special streaming protocols ( live streaming ) or via the file transfer protocols HTTP and FTP ( on-demand streaming). The main requirement of specific streaming protocols is a high fault tolerance, so that as at least five percent of packet loss without visible or audible loss of quality can be compensated.
Streaming clients
To receive the radios in addition to an Internet connection so-called streaming clients are required. As a streaming client computer programs can be used on PCs or smartphones. But special hardware solutions such as media center or player are possible. These are often in the commercial Internet, or also known as web radio. Some streams work only with a few proprietary client, Flash, or only in the browser the radio website. Many MP3/AAC-Stream-Angebote, for example, are from the Shoutcast Directory, however, as far as standardized so that they with the most common media player programs ( such as Winamp, VLC, Windows Media Player, etc. ) are compatible. This simplifies considerably the Zapping through various channels.
Radio equipment
In particular, since the proliferation of wireless Internet connections over WLAN ( WiFi) and mobile telephony, the reception of radio transmitters on the Internet is no longer largely confined to the PC. There are now more independent Web radio receiver, for example, for the living room that can be connected via the ( wireless ) router to the Internet. The devices can search for stations around the world, as far as these are noted in the extensive lists of manufacturers portals. According to the selection criteria Country ( Location) and genre (genre ) offers quick access navigation. Since there are very few manufacturers of the chipsets installed, the menu navigation is often identical across brands. Most devices also offer the opportunity to manage the station selection on the web portals of the manufacturer on the PC. Some of these devices offer good sound quality and can also be connected to the stereo. Other devices feed a signal from the router to the TV. Web radio via the phone is standard in smartphones. Latest game consoles can also play web radio. In addition, various radio stations also have additional reception for DAB and / or FM stations.
TVs
Even modern Fensehgeräte with an Internet connection and HDMI sticks with a corresponding software can listen to Internet radio.
Distribution
The distribution of the streams can be centralized or distributed by P2P technology. While the central distribution, the technical or financial requirements are high, offers the P2P technology due to the low bandwidth requirements at the transmitter a simple and inexpensive way to produce web radio. A disadvantage of the P2P technology is the unsteady flow data under certain circumstances. The most well known software producers in this area are peer Cast and Flatcast.