Internet Broadcasts
Village Computer Club - June 24th 2003


Internet Broadcasts - What are they then?



Just like radio, but received over an Internet connection instead of the airwaves.

What kind of broadcast stations can you get?



Ones you already know in the UK (BBC, Classic FM, Virgin FM), ones from broadcasters elsewhere in the world (KGO San Francisco, WNJL Jazz, PBS Melbourne) and a huge number you can only get from the Internet (British Comedy classics, OldTime Radio, 3WK Alternative)

Amazing - How does that work?



It’s not too different from downloading a file from the Internet, except instead of there being a start and an end to what you’re downloading, it’s ‘pushed’ out all the time from whichever system is doing the ‘broadcasting’. All you have to do is ‘tap in’ to the stream and listen in.

Do I need any special programs on my PC to receive these stations?



Yes – you need programs that can play back these stations, but Windows Media Player (included in all copies of Windows these days) is one the programs that can do this. You can also get other players at no charge from the Internet, like RealPlayer, QuickTime or WinAMP. Most of these play all kinds of other files as well, such as MP3 music or video files, but some are dedicated to just playing radio stations (Spinner). Some of them even integrate with your Web browser, allowing you to play back stations directly.

Can I just choose one program which will allow me to receive all stations?



Afraid not – this is the Internet after all and most stations ‘playback’ using special code only available to a particular player. Your best bet is to install the main ones (Windows Media Player, RealPlayer and WinAMP) to be able to receive most stuff, then pick a couple of programs dedicated to just doing radio stations. Some will want a fee, but many are still at no charge once you’ve registered.

OK then – where would I get these programs from?



The main ones often turn up on magazine cover CDs but failing that you get them from the following places on the Internet

Player Type Address
Windows Media Player General playback program. Needed for radio playback in windows media formats. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/default.aspx
RealPlayer General playback program. Needed for radio playback in RealAudio/RealMedia formats. http://uk.real.com/freeplayer_r1p.html
WinAMP General playback program Needed for radio playback in MP3 formats. http://www.winamp.com/
Spinner Dedicated Radio Player http://www.spinner.com/

Great - all I need now then is a list of stations to get me started



Indeed, and here’s such a list These are just the tiniest drop in the ocean though – try searching the Internet for some of your own, by typing ‘Internet radio’ into Google for example, or going to the Google directory link at the end of this list

Name Type Address
‘Home’ pages for Windows Media Player and Realplayer Web based multimedia centres for all kinds of stuff, including radio Built-in to both players
Shoutcast Internet home for MP3 based Radio. http://www.shoutcast.com/ then click on one of the stations in the list
BBC Radio All BBC radio stations, plus archived recordings http://www.bbc.co.uk and click on ‘Launch radio player’
Radio Station Locater Find stations across the world, by country, type, callsign etc http://www.radio-locator.com then search by category before clicking on one to listen to
Live365 Dedicated to live stations and sound. Claims 5000 channels http://www.live365.com/index.live then browse and choose. Need to register & uses its own web based player but worth it.
Virgin Radio Virgin Radio Channels http://www.virginradio.co.uk and click on ‘Listen now’
Choice Radio Multiple channels and genres to choose from http://www.choiceradio.com/ then click to launch the provided web player
Big Band Swing Seattle Swing Dancers http://www.swingdancers.com/seattle/radio.htm
LBC News Direct London based news & talk service (FM 97.3) http://www.newsdirect.co.uk/listenonline.asp
Goon Show Radio Goon Show Episodes http://www.umfm.net/radio/stations.php?stationid=20
Joe Frank radio shows Surreal http://www.joefrank.com/shows.html
Greek Radio It's all Greek to me http://www.media.net.gr/liveintonly.htm
Internet Radio Hawaii Get your Hawaii fix here http://www.hotspotshawaii.com/irhpages/irhlive.html
Internet Radio Index Index to loads of stations http://www.internetradioindex.com
Staten Island police scanner Live feed from New York http://www.silive.com/policescanner/popup1/index.frame

Last of all, and maybe as one of the best bookmarks in the list, go to

http://directory.google.com/Top/Arts/Radio/Internet

for an extensive list of everything to do with radio and the Internet !

How come some stations break up all the time, or sound quality varies?



This is caused by a combination of the speed you connect to the Internet at, and how tortuous the journey is from the broadcaster’s system to your own. The lower the speed, or more twisted the journey, the more likely that the signal might break up or drop in quality. Most player software can try and adjust for this, so it’s important to specify your connection speed correctly when you set them up.

One of the ways of solving this problem is to connect to the Internet at a much higher speed than the radio station broadcasts at - a good reasons for changing from dial-up to a broadband connection.

Just a shame you can’t setup & broadcast your own radio station, eh?



Ah, but you can ! That’s another lecture though …