XM Satellite Radio to Broadcast on Web
Grok Headline matches for XM Satellite Radio to Broadcast on Web
XM Satellite Radio to Broadcast on Web
(AP)
XM Satellite Radio to Broadcast on Web
(AP)
09/15/2004 05:16 PMAP - XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. will soon begin broadcasting
some of its stations to subscribers over the Internet, fresh on the
heels of the company's discontinuation of a receiver for PCs that some
users used to circumvent the music industry's crackdown on illegal
file sharing.
Telesat to build new broadcast satellite
Telesat to build new broadcast satellite
12/18/2003 08:37 PMglobetechnology.com Dec 18 2003 8:04PM ET
Jobs' Macworld Keynote to be broadcast
via satellite
Jobs' Macworld Keynote to be broadcast
via satellite
01/05/2004 09:47 AMIn addition to webcasting Steve Jobs' Macworld Expo San Francisco
keynote tomorrow (see related story), Apple has announced that the
event will be broadcast live via satellite...
A Broadcast Flag For Digital Radio?
A Broadcast Flag For Digital Radio?
05/24/2004 06:59 PMThe RIAA isn't exactly known for understanding concepts like fair use,
or that giving consumers what they want generally helps to grow a
market, but now they're just wasting everyone's time. Their latest
move is to
push for a
broadcast flag for digital radio, so that you may no longer be
able to record what you hear on the radio. In other words, just as
the industry is trying to convince people to switch over to digital
radio for the better sound quality, they're also going to be taking
away the rights people have enjoyed for ages concerning what they can
do with the content they hear.
RIAA wants a broadcast flag for digital
radio
RIAA wants a broadcast flag for digital
radio
05/24/2004 09:41 PMLast fall the FCC approved broadcast flags for digital television,
marking a big win for broadcasters. It was only a matter of time
before the RIAA would request similar treatment of radio.
Developing a URL structure for broadcast
radio sites...
Developing a URL structure for broadcast
radio sites...
06/27/2004 05:38 PMOne of the most common questions I've had about the Radio 3
redesign work that we've been doing has been about the URL structures
that we have used to identify individual episodes of individual
programmes. I'm really keen to address these questions with a full and
maniacally over-detailed post because I think the issue of how we map
broadcast programming to web URLs is a really interesting one, and
because I think we've done some good work here that other people might
find useful or interesting. Drew McLellan writes:
I see URLs like /radio3/showname/pip/randomcode which, as
I understand it, would require a user to locate a particular show
through the site's navigational system. It looks like there's no way
of guessing a URL. Is that right? What's 'pip'? That makes no sense to
me. My preference for date-based material is a path with the date in
it - like /radio3/showname/2004/06/27/ Is there a reason why a URL
format similar to this wasn't chosen?
So the first thing to explain is that Radio 3's new site is
particularly interesting and ground-breaking because it doesn't just
have a page for every broadcast, it has a page for every
episode. This is way cooler than having a page for every
broadcast, but the full implications of it aren't immediately easy to
digest. Basically it means that there would only be one page for any
documentary no matter how many times that documentary is repeated.
That one specific page then becomes the definitive home for that
episode of that documentary on the BBC and all subsequent information
or supplementary material that is relevant to that episode can be
stuck onto that page at any point in time. Imagine it as being a bit
like having an entry in IMDB for
that particular radio episode. It's like creating the basis for an
ever growing encyclopaedia of Radio 3 programming, and it should make
it really easy to search for information about a programme without
getting overwhelmed by dozens of versions of the same page, each
containing little odds and sods of information, none of which are
aware that they're all talking about the same thing.
Having said all that, lots of programmes don't ever get repeated on
Radio 3. Let us take as an example, "Morning on 3". This is basically
the equivalent of the DJ-led shows that we're all familiar with and
which are common to radio networks the world over. These things are
just broadcast live. That's the whole point! It wouldn't make any
sense for it to be repeated. Some of the music on it will
clearly be repeated - just like any popular music radio show, but the
programme itself will not. For programmes like "Morning on 3" Drew's
URL structure (which is familiar to all of us who run weblogs) would
work perfectly. You can imagine very easily getting to today's
episode of Morning on 3 via the URL
bbc.co.uk/radio3/morningon3/2004/06/27/. That would be the
perfect weblog-like kind of programme, where every individual
entry/episode could only be connected to one moment in time.
But if wouldn't work if they programme ever got repeated. By
definition a programme that gets repeated has been broadcast on
multiple occasions in time. Imagine a programme that was originally
broadcast on June 27th 1985 and which is then repeated the following
evening and then again nineteen years later (tonight). What would be
the date-based URL for a programme like that? Well one approach would
be to go for the date on which it was first broadcast. But
what's the experience of that for a user? They've gone to a schedule
page for today (say) and they've clicked on the link to a programme
that's on this evening and found themselves with a URL from 1985. A
plausible reaction would be to think that you'd got lost somewhere
along the line and were on the wrong page. How did I end up
here?. This situation gets worse when you consider that since we
started capturing programmes on the 4th of June, any programme that
was originally broadcast before that date would be assigned a URL
based on a fairly meaningless broadcast date...
So, a date-based URL structure would work fine for programmes that
never get repeated, but wouldn't work very well for any programme that
did get repeated. Immediately, we've got a problem then, because even
though 99.9% of the time we know that "Morning on 3" won't get
repeated, we can't exactly guarantee it. Just recently on the BBC
we've had an unedited re-broadcasting of the live coverage of the 1979
General Election and the daily re-broadcasting in real-time of the
Home Service's commentary on the D-Day landings. So even those topical
programmes we've talked about could quite easily be repeated.
But let's pretend for a moment that isn't too much of a problem.
Let's also pretend that we can easily distinguish between those
programmes that almost certainly won't get repeated on the one hand
(and say they might work with a date-based URL structure) and those
that very easily could or will get repeated on the other (say anything
that's pre-recorded before it goes out on air). What kind of URL
structure should we use for the latter?
One obvious and simple answer is that we should use episode
numbers. The Radio 3 show Composer of the Week is
broadcast each weekday around lunchtime and then is repeated the
following week at midnight. This means that there are two episodes
broadcast on each day (another place where date-based URLs might get
confusing or seem broken). If we used episode numbers, however, that
wouldn't be so much of a problem. So you can imagine the URL being
something more like bbc.co.uk/radio3/cotw/episode/2345. This
would allow you to predict sequence and order and would make the URL
structure nice and hackable by users. Except then you have to think
about what you should base that episode number on. Should you base it
on the definitive numbers for that episode - ie. the ones that the
makers of Composer of the Week use? How should you source that number?
Do you trust that numbering scheme to be consistent and reliable? On
the other hand should you start with an arbitrary number? And what
happens if your system for determining repeats isn't fool-proof and
you accidentally assign the wrong number to an episode at some point?
The worst eventuality would be that you end up with episode numbering
schemes that start to wander out of sync with one another because
someone pulls and episode or a schedule changes. And then you get gaps
in your URL structure, or programmes out of order. Imagine a
circumstance where after six months of perfect running you
accidentally pick something up as being a repeat when it isn't...
Suddenly that episode has to be reinserted into the scheme somewhere
by hand, or you have to change the URLs for any episodes that have
been made into pages before you realised. The URLs break or what they
point to change, and that whole part of the site stops being human
hackable or readable and starts becoming institutionally and forever
broken.
Or you could do it by subject for some of the URLs. Again -
Composer of the Week is broken into five part weekly chunks. You could
have a URL structure for programmes like this which highlighted those
divisions: bbc.co.uk/radio3/mozart/part/4 or
bbc.co.uk/radio3/mozart/4. Here the problems are potential URL
length and namespace issues. And while they might remain
human-readable, they're not machine predictable in any way. So even
this kind of URL structure has its problems.
I want to make something clear at this point - each one of these
URL schemes could have worked very nicely for that particular kind of
programming. But in the end that's not enough. Because fundamentally
as soon as you've decided to use different URL structures for
different kinds of programming you're immediately in trouble - because
radio programming isn't a static thing, it changes and evolves - an
individual programme brand (say Choral
Evensong) might change format, change frequency or be cancelled.
Another programme might be created with the same name ten years later.
And each week there will be a number of specials and one-offs and
schedule fillers (this week on Radio 3 there were around seven
one-offs, including tonights zeroPoints
) as well as regular short-series or new brands. Suddenly there's a
time-consuming and fairly-skilled job that has to be undertaken every
day - which URL structure should this new programme use... And you're
never going to be one hundred percent correct. And so pages are going
to be moved and URLs break and all hell will break loose...
Which brings us to the URL structure that we went with in the end
and the rationale for it. Our first principle was that in order to
stop URLs breaking and to stop the possibilities of human error in
assigning URL structures to brands incorrectly (and to deal with the
possibility of random repeats et al) the URLs should all follow
exactly the same structure. Fundamentally, this meant that date-based
URLs had to go out of the window straight away because they weren't
suitable for every episode of every brand. The only URL structure that
we could identify that didn't actually break in any
circumstances is one that's based on an episode number or identifier
of some kind. After careful consideration we decided that we didn't
want to give the impression of human readability or order or structure
where that structure was inevitably likely to be broken or flawed or
mismatched with other identifiers. And we decided that whatever
additions to the URL that we made had to be short - it had to be able
to be appended onto the end of a brand name without sprawling out of
control. More importantly still, we decided that it shouldn't break
any naming conventions already used around the site or make the site
harder to maintain.
Which is where 'pip' comes in. We'd already decided that we didn't
want to have the episodes sitting in the top directory of the brand.
We're in this for the long-term, and we wanted to make sure that we
could guarantee that whatever future changes were made to the content
management of the site, however many new things or features were added
to it, we'd never have collisions between these features and the
episode pages. We decided to place all episode pages into a
subdirectory, and after much discussion of what that should be called
(episodes - too long, not always an obvious term for a news programme
/ eps - too likely to already be used and too close to the name of a
file format for us to be sure that it wouldn't overwrite anything at
any time in the future etc) we eventually decided to stake our claim
on the directory name /pip/ meaning (if you really want to know)
nothing more than 'programme information page'. [PS. In a few weeks
time, this directory should contain a list of all the episodes for
each brand, meaning that you can hack back the directories and keep
going up a level in the site heirarchy from individual episode to all
episodes to brand to network to broadcaster.]
With the final part of the URL - the episode number itself - having
taken into account all the problems that we might have with sourcing
and guaranteeing the integrity of the 'definitive' numbers for any
given series of programmes, and having considered the problems
associated with any and all possible bugs that might emerge (what if
two random programmes started to be considered as repeats of each
other and had to be broken apart - what URLs to give them? What if the
programmes were broadcast out of sequence oor we started running the
site halfway through the broadcasting of a run and had to move around
the episode numbers later etc) we came to the conclusion that the
actual episode number should be a non-human readable short code. After
much deliberation we came to the conclusion that a five-character
alphanumeric hash would be short enough to not break URLs in e-mail
and long enough to give us up to 60 million different identifiers. And
of course we've kept it as a directory level URL to future proof the
URLs against changes in the technology that we've used to build the
site. (You'll notice some index.shtml's around the place, but we're
going to clear that up).
The alphanumeric short code that we've got now also opens up a
whole range of new possibilities. Because these identifiers are unique
across all of Radio 3, we suddenly have a way to point to (and
potentially manipulate) every episode that's broadcast on the network.
We're still looking into the various affordances that this identifier
might provide us with and we'll let you know what we come up with.
So - in summary - we have a URL structure that is eminently
suitable for dealing with the breadth and wealth of programming that
could come out of a radio network - a URL that will shortly be totally
hackable to the extent that each and every level of the directory
structure will contain content appropriate to its place in the site's
structural heirarchy ( broadcaster / network / programme brand /
episode list / individual episode), and which is human readable as far
down its length as is practical. Drew's quite right - in order to
guess the URL for an entry you do need to use the site's inbuilt
navigational systems. However, it's almost impossible to be able to
build URLs for radio programming that are completely human guessable
and as reliable and stable as we're determined to make
them.
We're thinking five to twenty-five years in advance here, making
sure that the URLs of pages about radio programmes on Radio 3 could
conceivably last as long as the web does. We're in this for the
long-haul...
Read the
comments
Jordanian net-radio station gets state
OK for FM broadcast
Jordanian net-radio station gets state
OK for FM broadcast
01/03/2005 12:14 PMXeni Jardin:
Five years ago, Palestinian journalist
Daoud
Kuttab launched an internet-only radio station in Jordan called
Ammannet. The group has finally received approval from the state to
request an FM license. With that move, Jordan enters the age of
independent radio broadcasting.
The license for AmmanNet doesn't include news reporting, but the
stations founder and owner feels that it has enough municipal issues,
cultural, social, and economical and sports programming to satisfy the
culturally hungry Jordanian public. "Since the new Audio Visual Law
was enacted, all the stations that have been licensed have broadcast
only music. We are sure that the public is interested in a more
holistic approach to broadcasting in the form of a community radio
rather than just entertainment radio."
Kuttab expects the new FM station to be operating by the spring.
Established in October 2000 under the auspices of UNESCO and the
Greater Amman Municipality, AmmanNet has since grown to become a
leading liberal voice, exercising a wider degree of freedom than most
Jordanian media operations. Among its programs on the Net is a unique
monitoring program of the Parliament and the Municipality, eye on the
media, school radio, sportsnet, IT in Arabic, book reviews, legal
awareness programs
(HAQI) and various cultural and artistic programs.
Link to Ammannet home page, and
Link
to background on the project via UNESCO. Congratulations, Daoud.
Use an iPod Mini to Broadcast Pirate
Radio
Use an iPod Mini to Broadcast Pirate
Radio
07/02/2004 04:20 PMReport: No Live Webcast Or Satellite
Broadcast Of Apple CEO Steve Jobs'
Macworld Expo Keynote
Report: No Live Webcast Or Satellite
Broadcast Of Apple CEO Steve Jobs'
Macworld Expo Keynote
01/06/2005 07:58 PM By MacDailyNews
The Radio Experience of Seattle Acquired
by Broadcast Electronics
The Radio Experience of Seattle Acquired
by Broadcast Electronics
02/01/2005 08:46 PMBroadcast Electronics and The Radio Experience finalize a merger of
datacasting technologies that will enhance broadcasters' HD Radio and
RBDS text services. New products to support "now playing" song title
and artist information datacast to text-enabled receivers. [PRWEB Jan
27, 2005]
Satellite Radio Comes Around
Satellite Radio Comes Around
08/02/2004 08:13 AMXM leads a fast-growing sector with its earnings this week.
Satellite radio looks to take-off
Satellite radio looks to take-off
03/08/2004 11:27 PMUS consumers are taking a growing interest in the crystal clear sound
of satellite radio.
Satellite May Be Cable TV of Radio (AP)
Satellite May Be Cable TV of Radio (AP)
04/16/2004 02:17 PMAP - If traditional radio decides Howard Stern is too hot to handle,
satellite radio is waiting with an armload of wet T-shirts.
Satellite Radio Streams On
Satellite Radio Streams On
04/19/2005 09:04 AMXM and Akamai hook up to make the satellite radio's online streaming
service more efficient.
Satellite radio scores
Satellite radio scores
01/06/2005 04:59 PMUSA Today Jan 6 2005 8:03PM GMT
Satellite Radio Goes for a Spin
Satellite Radio Goes for a Spin
12/31/2003 06:13 AMWhen it comes to variety and sound quality, satellite-radio
competitors Sirius and XM deliver the goods. Once you've heard it, you
might never listen to FM or AM radio again. A review by Lewis Wallace.
Sirius Satellite Radio
Sirius Satellite Radio
05/26/2004 02:59 PMSirius Buy Signals?
Satellite May Be Cable TV of Radio
Satellite May Be Cable TV of Radio
04/16/2004 02:26 PMAP via Newsday Apr 16 2004 7:21PM GMT
Satellite Radio Subscriptions Rising
Satellite Radio Subscriptions Rising
12/28/2003 10:34 PMaSiTiC writes "Apparently, satellite radio is finally catching on. I'm
an avid internet radio listener on stations such as KEXP, BBC 6Music
and SomaFM. I am ...
US satellite radio gets boost from web
deal (AFP)
US satellite radio gets boost from web
deal (AFP)
04/11/2005 03:29 PMAFP - XM Satellite Radio and America Online (AOL) announced a new
web-based radio service aimed at boosting the spread of satellite
radio in the United States.
AOL and XM Satellite to set up online
radio service
AOL and XM Satellite to set up online
radio service
04/11/2005 11:38 PMComputer Business Review Apr 12 2005 4:14AM GMT
AOL Will Offer 20 Stations of XM
Satellite Radio for Fee
AOL Will Offer 20 Stations of XM
Satellite Radio for Fee
04/11/2005 11:27 PMXM will also provide programming on AOL Web sites for an expanded free
radio service supported by advertising.
Satellite Radio Extends Its Orbit
Satellite Radio Extends Its Orbit
12/17/2003 10:48 PMNew York Times Dec 17 2003 9:50PM ET
Satellite Radio: Hey, Shock Jocks
Satellite Radio: Hey, Shock Jocks
04/19/2004 05:52 AMFederal indecency scrutiny does not apply to satellite radio because,
like cable TV, it is only available to paid subscribers. So
traditional radio's dust-up around Howard Stern has satellite radio
execs salivating.
Users flock to satellite radio
Users flock to satellite radio
12/27/2004 03:53 PMglobetechnology.com Dec 27 2004 8:18PM GMT
Satellite Radio Systems Compared
Satellite Radio Systems Compared
12/22/2003 02:03 AMThe NYT has a review/comparison of XM radio and Sirius, the two
systems of digital satellite radio. Not everyone wants to pay for
radio, but I guess if you ...
Satellite radio hits landmarks
Satellite radio hits landmarks
04/05/2005 02:44 PMLeading maker of receivers reports 5 million sold, around the same
time the combined subscriber roster for XM and Sirius hits 5 million.
Sirius satellite radio gets seriously
Dish-y
Sirius satellite radio gets seriously
Dish-y
05/19/2004 08:39 PMRecord songs from your XM PCR satellite
radio
Record songs from your XM PCR satellite
radio
08/30/2004 06:52 AMWant to record your XM Radio directly onto your PC in MP3 Format. I
am not sure if XM Radio is available in Hawaii but this would sure
make it easy for me to record some of the talk radio programs that are
on before I get out of bed. [www.nerosoft.com/TimeTrax
]
XM satellite radio control via Pocket PC
XM satellite radio control via Pocket PC
12/29/2004 01:45 PMEngadget Dec 29 2004 4:44PM GMT
Satellite Radio to Expand into Canada
Satellite Radio to Expand into Canada
06/17/2005 04:36 PMXM and Sirius both received approval this week to market their
satellite radio services directly to Canadians, thanks to a ruling
handed down by the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications
Commission. Both companies agreed to follow certain stipulations in
order to provide service in the country.
Hearing date set for satellite radio
Hearing date set for satellite radio
07/08/2004 05:31 PMglobetechnology.com Jul 8 2004 9:54PM GMT
Satellite Radio Recording To iPod
Satellite Radio Recording To iPod
01/05/2005 01:59 AM By Ployer
Satellite Radio Battle Heats Up (AP)
Satellite Radio Battle Heats Up (AP)
03/24/2005 04:29 AMAP - The CD player, cruise control and heated seats are standard
features on many new cars — is the satellite radio far behind?
AOL, XM Satellite to Start Web Radio
Service
AOL, XM Satellite to Start Web Radio
Service
04/11/2005 10:21 AMAmerica Online on Monday announced plans to launch a Web-based radio
service with XM Satellite Radio in a move that may help XM win
customers from AOL's 24 million subscribers, driving XM shares higher.
The service, which will offer about 200 channels streamed over the Web
in CD-quality sound for a monthly fee, will combine existing stations
from both partners and will begin to roll out this summer. The
service, which will cost an estimated $5 a month, will be available
for free to AOL's current paying subscribers.
News source:
ReutersRead full story...Satellite Radio Makes the Locals Sweat
Satellite Radio Makes the Locals Sweat
04/19/2004 12:35 PMAre Sirius and XM out to replace local radio? In some cases, you bet
they are.
Satellite radio battle moves to cars
Satellite radio battle moves to cars
03/31/2005 02:28 PMglobetechnology.com Mar 31 2005 6:41PM GMT
FCC Indecency Rules Don't Apply to
Satellite Radio
FCC Indecency Rules Don't Apply to
Satellite Radio
12/19/2004 03:49 PMAs Satellite Radio Takes Off, It Is
Altering the Airwaves
As Satellite Radio Takes Off, It Is
Altering the Airwaves
04/04/2005 11:52 PMThe new medium of satellite radio is fast emerging as an alternative,
and broadcasters are fighting back.
Grok Description matches for XM Satellite Radio to Broadcast on Web
GrokA matches for XM Satellite Radio to Broadcast on Web
XM Satellite Radio to Broadcast on Web
