I work for a large public radio network and producer "Where the women are strong, the men good-looking, and the children are above average". We are running into the Real/WinMedia/MP3 problems every day. One important line in the car talk letter that most folks missed is that Real is now providing free hosting for Car Talk's streams. This is going to save the car talk folks thousands of dollars a month!!! Any public radio station that was offered a deal like like would sell their soul to Clear Channel, Howard Stern and/or Paul Harvey to get it.
The PR Flak from Real.com is blowing hot air: if you choose "typical install", you will get all of the undesirable effects mentioned. Also, you have to sign up with Real.com to get a directl, ad-free link to the free player downlonad page. (BTW- we have one of these links, just like Car Talk).
As for MP3, we know it's patented protocol, but it it is one that is supported by both Real and MS. An MP3-encoded file can be streamed with either rtsp (real) or mms (windows media). This is a HUGE advantage to a station that does not want to get caught up in format wars. We stated encoding RealMedia 3 in 1995. That codec doesn't even ship in RealPlayer 10 / RealOne! You have to "upgrade" your system to listen to 9-year old content!
Our ideal audio codec standard is a "standard" that won't change and can be implemented by multiple parties. In the best of all possible worlds, this would be open source, but the costs for MP3 are low enough that we can handle it.
Many of us in the public radio IT community (yes, there is such a thing!) would love to use Ogg Vorbis or soem open-source player, but the fact of the matter is that we mostly rely on an older, less tech-savvy audience than the average slash-dotter.
As a public radio station, we are PO'd by Real and MS's advertising splurges. The defaults for both players take you to ad-heavy pages that have nothing in common with the public radio demographic. We actually get angry calls and emails from folks who tried to listen to some dry public radio show and ended up seeing an ad for 50-Cent or Brittney Spears.
You might be encouraged to know that the second-biggest Public Radio Network's websites are entirely run on linux, mysql, apache, php, perl, slashcode, and openSSL. Wherever possible we try to use open source products whose philosophical goals are close to ours. MP3 is an unfortunate case that isn't a 100% fit, but certainly works better than Real and/or Windows. (We've not transitioned yet, but we are talking about it)
NOTE: My opinions are mine, not my employer's.
PS: We all know that "underwriters" are actually "advertizers". The behind-the-scenes pubradio geeks would like to appologize for that, and think you for your support!
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Hi-
I work for a large public radio network and producer "Where the women are strong, the men good-looking, and the children are above average". We are running into the Real/WinMedia/MP3 problems every day. One important line in the car talk letter that most folks missed is that Real is now providing free hosting for Car Talk's streams. This is going to save the car talk folks thousands of dollars a month!!! Any public radio station that was offered a deal like like would sell their soul to Clear Channel, Howard Stern and/or Paul Harvey to get it.
The PR Flak from Real.com is blowing hot air: if you choose "typical install", you will get all of the undesirable effects mentioned. Also, you have to sign up with Real.com to get a directl, ad-free link to the free player downlonad page. (BTW- we have one of these links, just like Car Talk).
As for MP3, we know it's patented protocol, but it it is one that is supported by both Real and MS. An MP3-encoded file can be streamed with either rtsp (real) or mms (windows media). This is a HUGE advantage to a station that does not want to get caught up in format wars. We stated encoding RealMedia 3 in 1995. That codec doesn't even ship in RealPlayer 10 / RealOne! You have to "upgrade" your system to listen to 9-year old content!
Our ideal audio codec standard is a "standard" that won't change and can be implemented by multiple parties. In the best of all possible worlds, this would be open source, but the costs for MP3 are low enough that we can handle it.
Many of us in the public radio IT community (yes, there is such a thing!) would love to use Ogg Vorbis or soem open-source player, but the fact of the matter is that we mostly rely on an older, less tech-savvy audience than the average slash-dotter.
As a public radio station, we are PO'd by Real and MS's advertising splurges. The defaults for both players take you to ad-heavy pages that have nothing in common with the public radio demographic. We actually get angry calls and emails from folks who tried to listen to some dry public radio show and ended up seeing an ad for 50-Cent or Brittney Spears.
You might be encouraged to know that the second-biggest Public Radio Network's websites are entirely run on linux, mysql, apache, php, perl, slashcode, and openSSL. Wherever possible we try to use open source products whose philosophical goals are close to ours. MP3 is an unfortunate case that isn't a 100% fit, but certainly works better than Real and/or Windows. (We've not transitioned yet, but we are talking about it)
NOTE: My opinions are mine, not my employer's.
PS: We all know that "underwriters" are actually "advertizers". The behind-the-scenes pubradio geeks would like to appologize for that, and think you for your support!