News and the Video Podcasting Revolution
Does anyone remember a time when getting the news of the day consisted of waiting until 6pm to watch the local news and then 630pm to watch the national news? For that matter, does anyone one remember the days when the only means of watching the news was through a television set? Yes, even though those days seem like a million years ago the reality of the situation is that these Stone Age days occurred slightly less than 15 years ago! Now, in the modern era, news is often delivered in the form of video podcasting, a means of streaming video/audio signals and broadcasting the stream over the internet.
The Way the Industry Changes
Video podcasting has a way of completely revolutionizing the way the news is broadcast. Actually, the revolution is putting the final nail in the coffin of broadcasting because there is no actual broadcast involved as video podcasting does not utilize a broadcast signal. Instead, it utilizes the internet to send its message across the entire world for what is essentially an extremely low cost method of transmitting video.
To consider how radical video podcasting is, at one time local, limited broadcast transmission signals were required to relay audio/video signals. This would cost literally million of dollars in technology and had a limited broadcast range. Today, for virtual pennies, one can upload video on a podcast and launch the signal world wide!
The Cable Media Gets It
The cable news media has jumped on the video podcasting bandwagon by providing podcast streams on their websites and blogs. Often, these podcasts are not original or exclusive information, but rather they reproduce broadcasts that appeared on the station earlier in the day or evening. (Of course, there are instances of original podcasts as well)
This is a smart idea on the part of these broadcasters mainly because it helps promote their channel in a cheap and effective manner. If people skimming the internet come across a podcast that they enjoy, they may turn around and start watching the cable channel. Again, this is another example of how video podcasting is revolutionizing the news business.
Needless to say, video podcasting has radically altered the way in which news is delivered. Because of this, news and information is transmitted quickly, cheaply and efficiently and in a manner that reaches large audiences on an "on demand" basis. This is an amazing achievement that has forever altered the way news is transmitted.
