BROADCASTING
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and/or video signals which transmit programs to an audience. The audience may be the general public or a relatively large sub-audience, such as children or young adults.
There are wide variety of broadcasting systems, all of which have different capabilities. The largest broadcasting systems are institutional public address systems, which transmit nonverbal messages and music within a school or hospital, and low-powered broadcasting systems which transmit radio stations or television stations to a small area. National radio and television broadcasters have nationwide coverage, using retransmitter towers, satellite systems, and cable distribution. Satellite radio and television broadcasters can cover even wider areas, such as entire continents, and Internet channels can distribute text or streamed music worldwide.
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Broadcasting used to consist of a limited number of large, government-licensed organisations distributing a small number of radio and television channels to massive, captive audiences. The audiences, generally divided into national markets, would turn on their TV or radio to receive the programmes the broadcaster decided to produce for them – at the time they decided to transmit them – often paying taxes and enduring advertising for the privilege. New communication technologies are turning this model on its head, putting programme consumers and creators first.
