Innovators part III: Netcast
Audio services on the Net have been using either RealAudio or Streamworks server and client software--products of Progressive Networks and Xing Technologies, respectively.
This October a new service called Netcast will be offering audio content with a new proprietary software that integrates audio with chat and streamed Web pages.
Whereas RealAudio and Streamworks are technologies that are used by a wide range of services--from the major radio networks to college stations and lone individuals--Netcast is a service that developed its own propreitary technology and will use that technology to deliver multimedia information and entertainment over the Internet.
Netcast President and CEO, Jim Butterworth, says:
The goal is to develop something far beyond audio on the Net. Radio's not broke. We're not trying to fix anything. We want to create a new medium with its own characteristics that will be different from all other media.
The technological core of Netcast is server and client software that utilizes a compression algorithm developed at AT&T Bell Labs. This technology allows them to combine CD quality audio with Web pages and text-based chat and deliver it all through a 28.8 pipe. (Higher quality audio is available at higher bandwidths.)
The client software is an OCX (Active X)-based combination audio player and Web browser. It is similar to the Intel Intercast browser and will be offered in Mac, Windows, and Unix versions free from the Netcast Web site. It can also be adapted to accept streaming video, but Netcast isn't going to explore that until more bandwidth is available. A Netcast plug-in for Netscape will also be offered this fall. Another important feature is that Netcast can run in the background while you use other applications, like a word processor or spreadsheet--like radio, it can be a companion, not just a single focus activity.
The server software is scalable to any number of users. It is not for sale and is not being licensed at this time. The client and server software were developed by Netcast Vice-President of Technology, Antonio M. Monteiro.
By the end of 1996, Netcast will offer over 30 channels of news, sports, and entertainment programming including talk radio-type call-in programs like One-to-One sports. The music formats range from alternative rock to "Cool Jazz" and "Hot Country." Listeners to an R.E.M. song, for example, will be able to call up the song's lyrics, the band's tour dates, information about the band, and a form to order their CD for next-day delivery.
Revenue will be obtained from advertising. Netcast is able to offer advertisers precise data on the size and demographics of the group of users that see their particular commercial. It can do this because it obtains information about the users from a registration form filled out when they download the browser. The accounting firm of KPMG Peat Marwick will attest to the validty the numbers.
The ads will appear in the lower half of the screen while the listener is tuned in. They'll feature Web pages and can be linked to the advertisers own site where promotions can be run and other kinds of interaction can take place. The only advertiser signed on so far is Snapple.
Butterworth says,
The long-term objective of Netcast is to create communities that users return to time and again. Just as television and radio programs have loyal followers, Netcast attracts users with compelling content but unlike television and radio, Netcast allows users to participate in the entertainment experience.
Netcast is clearly one important example of the "new media" that are developing out of the Internet. And it is truly a new medium--a hybrid of radio, print, and interactive content. This should remind us that there are potentially many new media waiting to be born out of the technologies that are now available to us. Too often we think "new media" is going to be a single thing--a stew combining TV, radio, CD-ROM, VRML, Java, video games, Web sites, and half a dozen things we haven't even heard of yet.
We can easily overlook the fact that specialized media types could evolve that exploit only some subset of the technology available. If a media type meets an important need it will thrive and foster the development of rich content. The needs may arise out of issues like portability and convenience of use in the workplace, the kitchen, or the shower. What type of media will be developed for PDAs (personal digital assistants), for example?
We don't know the half of it. But one thing's for sure, throwing everything into the stew doesn't always make it better.
