While some Web sites have difficulty supporting streaming video under high traffic situations, Broadcast.com's partnership with Yahoo! has given the network a competitive advantage with "scalable multicasting." Previous efforts to deliver digital audio and video content online have revolved around the concept of unicasting, a delivery method whereby individual streams are sent to each user separately. As the demand for online programming escalates, ISPs are adopting the technology of multicasting, which, like a radio or TV signal, sends audio and video to several users simultaneously with a single stream. In addition, the audio/video distribution channel is also moving into digital content delivery via broadband. "As people get connected at faster speeds, we're able to deliver the biggest and best content in broadband mode," says Cuban.
In upcoming months, Yahoo! Broadcast will continue to increase its broadband selections in several categories and maneuver digital content distribution to wireless devices. Cuban says the future of broadcasting is bright, and predicts even further integration between already-established broadcasting sources and emerging online technologies: "The PC morphs into a living room entertainment device, and we will be right there in peoples' living rooms entertaining them."
Previously featured in issue 16 page 158
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