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November 11, 2004
10 Years and Streamin'
(L to R: John Streck, David McConville, Mike Shoffner, Paul Jones)
This past Sunday, WXYC put on a panel discussion in honor of the 10th anniversary of the first-ever webcast by a radio station. I had very recently (re)discovered much of the WXYC/SunSITE-specific history while researching my In/Audible article, but even with this fresh familiarity, I still found Sunday's conversation to be really enlightening and eye-opening. The talk started with the 1994 webcast but gradually bounced around a broad array of topics related to technology and media and all the ways in which they intersect. Paul Jones and David McConville told some fascinating tales about the very early days of the World Wide Web, John Streck from NC-ITEC and NCSU explained the genesis and benefits of Internet2 & IPv6 (on which WXYC and WCPE are now streaming), and before long we were all talking about podcasting, disruptive technologies, low-power FM, Creative Commons, etc.
The UNC Production Services folks completely dropped the ball by not showing up with a PA for us to use, so we almost had to scrap all of the plans to simulcast the panel over the radio and record it for posterity. But luckily Brian Russell of audioactivism.org had shown up to say a few words about podcasting...and within moments, audio activism was happening in front of our very eyes via one portable digital recorder, two small mics clipped to upside-down coffee cups, some sound cables, a laptop, and an internet connection that streamed the sound over to the WXYC studio on the other side of the Student Union. When we realized that this last-minute setup was actually going to work, we had a collective chuckle about how appropriate it was that this webcasting panel broadcast would be just as creatively jury-rigged as the initial 1994 webcast (in which the output from a yard sale radio was sent into a Mac soundcard, which then converted the sound into a digital signal, which was then sent to a Solaris box running a videoconferencing/chat "reflector" capable of multicasting the audio to any videoconferencing software clients wishing to receive it).
Since the panel discussion was recorded as it went out over the airwaves, we wound up with a copy to archive online. And while I'm mp3-blogging audio files about streaming audio (the early MBONE users would probably feel right at home with this meta-ness), I should also plug the full version and partial transcript of the early 1995 DRS-3 report about the WXYC simulcast. A partial excerpt of this report wound up being the first track on Bandwidth, but I prefer the full version of Swiss people talking in German, typing away at a keyboard, and debating the future of radio while listening to a really choppy WXYC signal. Name That Tune buffs, take note: those two chopped (not screwed!) songs being heard via the WXYC simulcast are Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two's "Get Rhythm" and MC Ren's "Mayday on the Front Line". If you were forced to try and capture WXYC's musical format in a mere two songs, you could do a hell of a lot worse....
Posted by Tim at November 11, 2004 12:17 AM
Comments
Thanks for the plug & tha props! I really enjoyed the discussion. The future of college radio and independent media is BRIGHT! BTW...do you have trackbacks turned on? :-)
Posted by: Brian R, at November 11, 2004 11:57 AM