Webcasting

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Brief Description:

Much like a podcast, a webcast is a way of making video available from a website, either to be played immediately or for users to download it and play it at a time that suits them.

Description:

Much like a podcast, a webcast is a way of making video available from a website, either to be played immediately or for users to download it and play it at a time that suits them.

Webcasting is a way of delivering recorded and/or live audio and video content over the internet or intranet.

You can also add media to a webcast page, such as agendas and minutes that can be read alongside the video. In addition, if the webcast is an archived one, users will be able to skip to the relevant part of the video.

Used For:

Live events, such as council meetings, are broadcast to online users as they happen in 'real time'. After the event the content can be made available for access at anytime as 'on-demand' webcasts.

Content can also be pre-recorded and webcast 'as live'. This is a useful technique when rehearsal or editing is needed before the content goes live.

Suitable participants:

The advantage of this method is that anyone with an internet connection (of broadband speed) is able to access the webcast at a time and in a location that is entirely suitable to themselves.

Webcasting is also interactive. Users can send in comments and questions via a text tool while the webcast is running, and get an answer straight away. Webcasts can also take place from any location, as long as the broadcaster has a computer with the right permissions as well as the necessary software and hardware (such as a webcam and a microphone).

Cost:

The main advantage of webcasting is the cost. Webcasting your council meetings may mean an initial outlay of a few thousand pounds, but after that, the only outlays are bandwidth costs and support agreements. If you were to try and broadcast council meetings on TV, the cost would run into many millions of pounds, something beyond the reach of most, if not all local councils.

Time Requirements:

After the initial setup of the website and apparatus, then it should require relatively little time to set up the equipment and transfer to the website on each occasion.

When To Use / What It Can Deliver:

It could be argued that such a method helps to make council meetings much more transparent, and local government decisions easier to understand as a result. It allows people the opportunity to be engaged at a time and a place that suits their own lifestyle and commitments.

Using it for council meetings or for an organisation's AGM when not all members can make a fixed time and date is the ideal occasion to use webcasting to include everyone interested.

When Not To Use / What It Cannot Deliver:

On itï¿½s own, webcasting will not improve relations between local government and the people who live in the area, or the management of an organisation and it's individual members.

Webcasting would not be appropriate if the issues being discussed are of a sensitive nature, or should only be discussed between a few people.

Strengths:

The main advantage of webcasting is the cost. If you were to try and broadcast council meetings on TV, the cost would run into many millions of pounds, something beyond the reach of most, if not all local councils.

In live webcasting, an obvious benefit is the increase in transparency and accountability that comes with allowing more people to access council meetings, for instance.

Webcasting allows what could be seen as dry and technical content to be explained in a number of more interactive and engaging ways, thus increasing the potential number of interested parties in the content.

Weaknesses:

As with all online methods, the content can only be accessed by people with access to broadband speed internet. Despite this, the increase in broadband penetration indicates that this will potentially become a less significant issue in the future.

Origin:

At the end of the 1980s and in the early 1990s, a number of individuals and organisations in the USA started to experiment with streaming audio and video content on the internet. More recently, webcasts such as NetAid in 1999 and Live8 in 2008 stand out as examples of how popular and accessible webcasting has become.