"Video Killed the Radio Star" sing 'The Buggles' nostalgically of the golden age of radio. The song tells of a singer whose career is cut short by television. Looking back broadcast automation was the 'most unkindest cut of all' to the thousands of radio station employees who lost their jobs to computerized automation systems that could smoothly and professionally run less personalized shows in a consolidated industry.
As today's broadcast engineers battle with static, hiss, pops and fades caused by multipath, noise and interference. A new paradigm gains momentum in the form of IBOC – In-Band On-Channel digital audio broadcasting and the IBOC-based HD Radio technology. HD Radio technology enables AM and FM radio stations to broadcast their programs digitally – a tremendous technological leap from the analog broadcasts of the past.
As broadcasters transition out of analog broadcasts and begin to offer HD Radio a robust digital architecture will have to be in place, for enhanced services such as increased data capacity, surround sound or other multicasting solutions to be made available across unused bandwidth.
To feed the consumers insatiable demand for higher-definition wide-screen pictures iconoclastic broadcast engineers will have to negotiate the balance between terrestrial, satellite and cable networks. Increased variety of digital programming available to the consumer will call for revisiting how broadcasts are to be delivered and receivers are engineered.
Broadcasting solutions for the digital domain are scarce, such as digital rights management (DRM) for digital broadcasting based on home servers (DBHS) using receivers with large-capacity storage devices.
Video-On-Demand systems require broadcast, multicast and unicast transmission technologies to be developed to select the appropriate delivery channel and quality of service for each customer.
Efficient networking distribution, efficient spectrum usage and dynamic sharing of the maximum data rate among several applications will be challenges broadcasters have to face with the ongoing evolution of software-defined compression, modulation formats and receivers. Obstacles for future communications architecture will be employing bandwidth management policies and using available broadcast bandwidth for effective multimedia information delivery.
New business models will dictate how file-based audio-video content is broadcast to consumers in today’s fringe markets such as wireless network operators and internet service providers. Tomorrow’s broadcast network services will be carrying interactive data services with both high data rate and high mobility.
2 comments:
Arun,
In my view, this isn't something that can even be introduced in one
page. I expect they are looking for discussion about described video,
assest management, transmission capacity, interactive applications,
deployment of HDTV in Canada and possibly the consumers’ impact upon
the Canadian deployment of digital television. But this just isn't a
one page essay.
If I were judging, I would say that you begin to approach the subject
in your last two paragraphs, but as I say - I don't understand how
they can expect this to be accomplished in one page.
Good luck,
-Brian
Arun,
Broadcast Automation as it applies to radio? Or television? I can comment on the radio aspect only, since I do not have a television background.
Radio Automation has been with us since the mid-90's. It has streamlined the process for producing a radio show substantially. In the past, the radio announcer would have to assemble a stack of broadcast tape cartridges (each containing either a song or a commercial), load fire each of them manually, then return them back to the rack where they are stored. This process was repeated for every hour the radio announcer was on-air. Considerable time was saved when broadcast automation software was introduced. Now, all on-air audio elements are pre-loaded in digital form on server or hard drive, and the software automatically fires the elements according to the order in which they were assembled. Broadcast automation software merges data from a number of different sources. The two most important are the music log and the commercial schedule log. The broadcast automation software puts both together in one cohesive log, and all the radio announcer needs to do now, is just fire the first element of a segment and the rest fire automatically. That (in its simplest form) is the way broadcast automation software works for radio.
Is it a good thing? Well, yes and no. On the plus side, it saves the radio station money. They no longer need to have large numbers of tape cartridges, or large numbers of CD cartridges anymore. All music and commericals are digitally loaded into the system. It also affords the program director to automate his non-peak-hours programming, elimintating the need for a live announcer. This is were the negative side comes into play. If a radio station is able to broadcast automation software to emulate itself in a fashion that appears to have a live announcer on duty, when in actual fact there is no announcer in the studio, it effectively eliminates a job. Multiply the number of radio stations in Canada by the number of times their automation software replaces a live announcer, and you have an awful lot of employment going out the window.
In the future radio broadcasting will have to begin to develop and nurture new talent. They can't do that by eliminated jobs (entry level). They will have to balance the lure of saving money with the need to invest in their product.
Hope this helps.
___________________________
Les Palango
Media Manager
Mohawk Students' Association
G108-135 Fennell Avenue West
Hamilton, ON. L8N 3T2
905-575-2175, ex. #4
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