Business Considerations
The first issues to consider when undertaking any webcast are business issues. You can have the best content in the world and produce a flawless webcast, however, if you don’t have a way to measure its success, then it’s hard to justify the time, effort and expense you put into it. Specifically the questions to ask yourself are:
• Who is the audience for this broadcast?
• What is the purpose of the webcast? Is it satisfying a particular need? Is a webcast the most efficient method of getting the message out to the audience?
• Where is the webcast taking place? Is the location appropriate?
• When is the event? Is there sufficient time to plan adequately?
• Why? Is there really a demand for this webcast? Will this webcast pay for itself either through revenues or by cost savings?
Thinking long and hard about these questions should enable you to put a rough dollar value on the webcast, which needs to be balanced against the projected cost of the event. If there isn’t a good answer for all of the above questions, particularly the last one, do yourself a favor and politely decline. You’ll save everyone involved a lot of time and effort, and your stress levels will decline significantly.
If, however, you’ve got good answers for all of the above questions, or are doing a webcast to learn the process involved, you can start assembling what you need to pull off a successful webcast. To help you with this process, this chapter covers the following subjects:
• Does it have to be live?
• Cost considerations
• Return on investment
Does It Really Have to Be Live?
While broadcasting content live on the Internet has its advantages, it is also more expensive than simply recording the audio and video and archiving it for later use. Often, the nature of the content warrants a live webcast, such as breaking news, distance learning where interaction with the instructor is required, an investor’s relations call, or a special sports or entertainment event. However, if the content is not of a time sensitive nature you may want to reconsider allocating the resources and budget of broadcasting it live and seek other options for recording and playing it back later as a “simulated” live webcast.
In the early days of webcasting many people broadcast everything live because they wanted the excitement that only comes with a once in a lifetime, truly live event. But these days, with webcasting now looked to as a communication tool (be it for consumers or corporations), using the right form of streaming media is more important that ever before. No longer are people broadcasting live just because they can; they do it when it makes business sense and they have a clear and direct need for the content to be live.
It is also important to keep in mind that it is virtually impossible to tell the difference between a truly live webcast and a “simulated” webcast. A simulated webcast is one that is recorded in advance, encoded, and then rebroadcast as if it were a live stream. The audience experiences it as a live broadcast, since they cannot fast-forward or rewind, and the player often displays some sort of indication that the stream is live. This is how many radio stations, for example, stream on the web stream in a “simulated” live environment.
Choosing which solution is best for you should be based on your budget, the type of content, and your perception of what your viewers expect and want. Users have always wanted and liked the ability of being able to view content based on their own schedule so always archive the content whenever possible.
Author’s Tip 
If you do broadcast live you generally have the ability to archive it for later on-demand viewing, which, as any webcaster will tell you, is where the majority of the traffic really comes from.
Cost Considerations
Clearly, the single most important aspect of any successful webcast is the cost to produce the event. The final cost associated with your time as well as production services and webcast delivery (bandwidth) will determine if you can show a positive return on investment.
When considering what to spend on a webcast, keep in mind that budget determines both the quality and reliability of a webcast. For instance, having a single backup encoder versus having two or three can change your cost drastically. Shooting an event with three cameras creates a more professional looking webcast, but is much more expensive than using a single camera. At some point, unless you have an unlimited webcast budget, you have to decide where to spend your money.
For those who have already spent the money to acquire the equipment you need and have your own network to deliver the streams, your initial capital purchase is your cost of entry. But for those who plan to outsource some or all of the different webcast pieces there are some general guidelines you can follow which will help you figure out what will be the most expensive.
Author’s Tip
Since every webcast has three core elements consisting of audio and video capture, encoding, and delivery it is important to remember that you can’t produce a successful webcast and only expect to have a budget for one of the three pieces.
Production Costs
For most webcasts, audio and video capture and encoding are the most expensive components. This is because you need equipment and crew to capture and process the audio and video, and computer equipment to encode these feeds. As the complexity of the production and the number of different streams you’re encoding increases, so does your cost. For example, a one-camera shoot encoded into a single format and bit rate could be done with two-experienced people: one person operating the camera and one to handle the audio and encoding tasks.
For a webcast requiring a three-camera shoot, you now need three cameramen, video switching gear, a director and other additional audio and video equipment. All of these factors quickly increase the cost of the production. The number of cameras you use in the webcast is probably the single biggest factor affecting your production cost. For most corporate webcasts consisting of a talking head behind a podium, one camera generally is sufficient. For media and entertainment events that have a lot of action, multiple cameras are typically used.
The incremental cost of adding support for multiple bit rates for your webcast is minimal. With the right hardware encoder, you can encode at multiple bit rates in the same format on one machine. If you want to add another format, you’ll need another hardware encoder. But for the most part, one encoding technician can operate three to four encoders before you need to add additional personnel.
Bandwidth Costs
When it comes to delivering your content via the Internet, one of the most confusing and asked about components of the webcast is bandwidth. Much confusion still exists today about what type of network you should use, how that network should be built and what type of bandwidth you must be able to sustain. For those not building their own network, none of those questions matter, but it cannot not be understated how big of a role bandwidth plays in a successful webcast.
If there is one flaw in webcasting versus traditional broadcasting it’s that each viewer incurs an incremental cost. With radio for instance, the broadcast signal is in the air for anyone to pull down. It is a limited geographical reach, but radio stations don’t pay per listener. With webcasting, you must pay for the additional bandwidth you use each time someone tunes into your webcast. However, unlike terrestrial radio, your webcast can be accessed worldwide. There are pros and cons of every broadcast medium out there and many reasons why you should choose one over another.
While the webcasting industry has matured somewhat, the costs associated with webcasting are still not standardized. Webcasting is slowly becoming commoditized, yet any of you who have tried to get quotes for webcasting services know how frustrating the experience can be. One service provider may charge $500 for bandwidth while another provider may charge $3,000 for the exact same request, delivering the exact same service.
ALERT
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Raw Internet bandwidth has rapidly become commoditized in the past few years. If you are buying bandwidth based on a per megabit sustained model, you can expect to pay somewhere between $75 to $35 per megabit from network carriers. Bandwidth pricing is pretty much even across the board; the more you buy, the cheaper it is per megabit. |
If you plan to use a content delivery network (CDN) to distribute your streams, the pricing models can vary widely between different providers. Some providers charge a setup fee per webcast, some don’t. Some charge you based on an RSVP model, for instance you say you need to be able to support 1,000 simultaneous users, you pay for that bandwidth whether you get 1,000 users or not. Other providers only make you pay for what you use and charge you on a MB delivered model, anywhere from $1.50 GB to $0.50 GB and lower based on volume. These providers usually have a small minimum ($500) to make sure their expenses are covered.
Bandwidth Measurement Basics — How do you know how large your webcast audience will be? How do you calculate the amount of bandwidth you will use? Once you know how streams, bandwidth, and storage are measured, you can figure this out with some simple math.
Webcast streams are measured according to how much information is sent concurrently, measured in bits per second (bps). For ease of use, larger numbers are measured in Kilobits per second (Kbps) and Megabits per second (Mbps). A Kilobit is 1024 bits; a Megabit is 1024 Kilobits, or 1024 × 1024 bits.
However, the total amount of data sent is measured in bytes instead of bits. There are eight bits in a byte. The Kilo- and Mega- prefixes are used to denote larger amounts. However, since these measurements tend to get very large, a third prefix is used: Tera. A Terabyte is 1024 Megabytes. The other thing to know is that a capital “B” is used as an abbreviation for bytes, to differentiate it from bits.
For example, let’s assume you’re going to have exactly 100 viewers, and they are all going to watch a 300 Kbps (kilobits per second) stream. Let’s first calculate what the concurrent bandwidth usage will be:
300Kbps * 100 = 30000Kbps
30000kbps / 1024 = 29.3Mbps
So to deliver this webcast you need at least 29.3 Mbps of bandwidth. You should always add 20% on top of this for overhead, which means you need about 35 Mbps of bandwidth for your webcast. That’s the concurrent or sustained bandwidth you need. The next step is to calculate the total amount of data you’ll transfer. Assuming your broadcast is one hour long:
35Mbps * 60 seconds/minute * 60 minutes/hour = 126000Megabits
But remember, bandwidth transferred is measured in bytes, not bits. So we have to divide by eight, and we can also convert to Gigabytes by dividing by 1024:
126000Megabits = 15750 Megabytes / 1024 = 15.38 Gigabytes
So now when talking to CDNs with different pricing models, you can figure out what the final charge will be. For your webcast, you need approximately 35Megabits of concurrent capacity, and you plan on transferring approximately 16 Gigabytes of data.
Real-World Bandwidth and Throughput Calculations Example — No webcaster ever truly knows in advance exactly how large their audience will be. In known environments, for example an enterprise, a webcaster may knowthe potential maximum audience size, but they never know exactly how many will show up. Estimating webcasting bandwidth is always a calculated gamble but one you can become better at as you get to know your audience.
Author’s Tip
A full-featured bandwidth calculator that does the calculations for you is available for free as a download from www.danrayburn.com. And, you may contact the authors at anytime for help at [email protected].
ALERT
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One thing to bear in mind is that when it comes to large, public events on the web, virtually all of the numbers after an event are inflated. We know, because we have both done webcast after webcast where audience figures given to the client seem to double, triple or even grow ten-fold when the client puts out a press release. |
There are many different measurements of webcasts, such as unique viewers, stream requests, successful stream requests, and average viewing time. For the purposes of estimating your total cost, you need to estimate the total audience size, and the average viewing time. The example in the previous section assumed that each viewer would watch the entire webcast. This is rarely the case, except for webcasts of niche content where valuable information is on offer.
No one knows your content better than you, so you have to judge how long you expect people to watch what you have to offer. For a two-hour webcast, the industry measured average viewing time is about 20 minutes. Obviously this can be shorter or longer depending on the type of content and audience, but it can be a very useful estimating tool.
Let’s work through an example. A webcaster is doing a two-hour webcast encoded at 300k and each viewer is expected to watch for 30 minutes. The webcaster doesn’t know how many users they expect to get but estimate that in the two hours they may get a total of 10,000 requests for the video stream. Notice the word requests and not users because one user could watch the stream twice and it would be counted as two requests. You can do the math the long way as per the previous example, or use the figures in Table 4-1 for some short cuts.
Table 4-1
Handy transfer numbers for estimating webcast throughput.
Looking at the Table 4-1, a 300k stream transfers roughly 65 Megabytes in 30 minutes. Multiply that by the 10,000 requests you expect and if your calculations are correct you will have transferred a total of 650,000 MB or 635 GB. If you’re paying $1.50 per GB of transfer, your cost for the webcast will be $952.50.
Now that you understand the basics of calculating bandwidth, determining your bandwidth usage will enable you to better measure your return on investment and estimate what distributing your digital media will cost. Keep in mind this is just an example and depending on the deal you have structured with your provider you may pay more or less for delivery depending on the volume of data you are delivering and the level of commitment you are making.
Return on Investment
Whether you spend $1,000 on a webcast or $10,000, no investment is worth the money if you can’t judge how successful it was. Having a defined set of parameters that allow you to see your return on investment is essential. For most people, a large portion of their return on investment is based on the metrics delivered after the webcast. These reports vary in detail based on the distribution service provider chosen but will typically tell you how many people watched your broadcast and the average length of time they watched the webcast.
You also should judge the metrics based on the quality of the message delivered. Was it clear, concise and delivered in the format and manner you intended? Also, if you made your viewers pre-register before the event you have the ability to send them a follow-up questionnaire asking for feedback. This is another great way to measure the effectiveness of your webcast.
The purpose of some webcasts is to make money, the purpose of others to save money, and many are intended for marketing and promotions. Before undertaking any webcast, make sure you have a way to measure for yourself and your organization whether the webcasting medium was the proper and effective way to deliver your message and if you did so in the manner and with the results you were expecting.
Legal Considerations
In the land of entertainment webcasting and especially with content such as radio and music, rights and clearances must always be considered. If you don’t own or have rights to the content you are webcasting you need to make sure you secure the proper rights and clearances well in advance.
Get the Right Clearances
There are various legal considerations depending on the content and location of the webcast. For example, anyone webcasting music is required by law to pay royalties to various bodies that have been created to collect payment from webcasters. The radio industry in particular has gone through many years of battles trying to negotiate webcast royalty rates in their favor and has taken the brunt of the legal battles.
Inside the Industry
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Because the laws, governing bodies, and rates tend to change frequently, it is best to go to any of the following websites for the most up to date rules for licensing music: |
It’s not just music that requires clearance; for example a publisher may have rights to an author reading from a published work. Be sure to research rights clearances thoroughly, and ALWAYS have something in writing that grants you permission and states in detail what you can and cannot do with the content, for instance how long you can host archived versions of the webcast, any geographic restrictions, etc.
Location and Union Permissions
Whenever encoding from a remote location, be aware that some venues may charge a “location” fee just for you to be able to webcast from their facility. This fee can range from a few hundred dollars to thousands of dollars depending on the location and scope of the event. In many cases, paying a few hundred dollars to have the venue allow you to use their Internet connection, phones, security and miscellaneous equipment is a bargain. Those who work at venues, especially the large ones, know who to talk to when you need something and usually know how to get things done quickly, especially if you are in a tight spot. Don’t try pushing them aside just to save a few hundred dollars—many times working with people on location can mean the difference between success and failure.
Another location concern is union fees. Many large conference centers and theaters have union contracts, and in these situations you have no choice but to pay them. Unfortunately, these fees can add substantially to the budget, and may prohibit you from using certain locations for live webcasting. As an example, a webcast of the Allman Brothers was scheduled to be out of the Beacon Theatre in NYC until we found out that the union fee was $20,000. Once we let the client who hired us know this cost, they decided to do an audio only webcast as the union fee for audio was only $5,000. Bottom line: do your research, meet the venue manager and learn the details about any location.
Streaming and Digital Media Patents
Beginning in 2003, a number of patent holders claimed that streaming media technology infringed upon their patents, and therefore claimed that they were entitled to licensing fees from any and all streaming content. These patent holders are trying to earn money from their patents as streaming and digital media become mainstream.
Companies big and small are being taken to court and the industry is having both wins and losses. Unfortunately, as with any industry that begins to be successful, these lawsuits and legal challenges are only going to increase. At this time there are so many cases under consideration it’s hard to go into detail on any of them.
Author’s Tip
For the latest up to date info on some of the more mainstream legal battles taking place you can visit http://www.streamingmedia.com/patent/
StreamingMedia.com provides updated information on streaming media patent cases and how this may affect your business. At this website you can find links to the patents, court documents, contact information for patent lawyers and other resources your company may need.
While this should not scare you away from utilizing streaming media technology you should at least be educated as to what is taking place in the industry so you can plan accordingly and also make your voice heard.
Conclusion
Understanding these business and legal variables is the first step in planning a successful live webcast on the Internet. Remember that no webcast is worth undertaking if you don’t have a way to measure its success, and have a clear and detailed business plan that enables you to leverage the technology. No technology is worth anything if it does not move your business forward.