Editing Broadcasting (section)

{{short description|Distribution of audio or audiovisual content to dispersed audiences}}
{{Redirect|Broadcast|other uses|Broadcast (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2022}}
[[File:Broadcasting1.JPG|alt=|thumb|A broadcasting antenna in [[Stuttgart]]]]

'''Broadcasting''' is the [[data distribution|distribution]] of [[sound|audio]] [[audiovisual]] content to dispersed audiences via a electronic [[medium (communication)|mass communications medium]], typically one using the [[electromagnetic spectrum]] ([[radio wave]]s), in a [[:wikt:one-to-many|one-to-many]] model.<ref name=peters >{{cite book |last1=Peters |first1=John Durham |title=Speaking Into the Air: A History of the Idea of Communication |date=1999 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-66277-0 |oclc=40452957 |title-link=Speaking Into The Air }}{{pn|date=January 2025}}</ref> Broadcasting began with [[AM radio]], which came into popular use around 1920 with the spread of [[vacuum tube]] [[radio transmitter]]s and [[radio receiver|receivers]].  Before this, most implementations of electronic communication (early [[radio]], [[telephone]], and [[telegraph]]) were [[wikt:one-to-one|one-to-one]], with the message intended for a single recipient. The term ''broadcasting'' evolved from its use as the agricultural method of sowing seeds in a field by casting them broadly about.<ref name=douglas >{{cite book |last1=Douglas |first1=Susan J. |title=Inventing American Broadcasting, 1899–1922 |date=1987 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |isbn=978-0-8018-3832-3 |location=Baltimore |url-access=registration |oclc=15485739 |url=https://archive.org/details/inventingamerica00doug}}</ref> It was later adopted for describing the widespread distribution of information by printed materials<ref>{{cite book |last1=Strahorn |first1=Robert Edmund |title=The Hand-book of Wyoming and Guide to the Black Hills and Big Horn Regions: For Citizen, Emigrant and Tourist |date=1877 |publisher=R.E. Strahorn |isbn=978-5-87089-407-2 |chapter=Forest Productions |hdl=2027/uc1.31822031033079?urlappend=%3Bseq=80%3Bownerid=9007199276777726-84 |quote-page=74 |quote=in the case of the estimates sent broadcast by the Department of Agriculture, in its latest annual report, the extent has been sadly underestimated. }}</ref> or by telegraph.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015070278273;view=1up;seq=340 "Medical Advertising"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801211136/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015070278273;view=1up;seq=340 |date=1 August 2020 }}, ''Saint Louis Medical and Surgical Journal'', December 1886, p. 334: "operations formerly described in the city press alone, are now sent broadcast through the country by multiple telegraph".</ref> Examples applying it to "one-to-many" radio transmissions of an individual station to multiple listeners appeared as early as 1898.<ref>[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101050973286;view=1up;seq=841 "Wireless Telegraphy"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727033000/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101050973286;view=1up;seq=841 |date=27 July 2020 }}, ''The Electrician'' (London), 14 October 1898, p. 815: "there are rare cases where, as Dr. Lodge once expressed it, it might be advantageous to 'shout' the message, spreading it broadcast to receivers in all directions".</ref>

Over-the-air broadcasting is usually associated with [[Radio broadcasting|radio]] and [[Terrestrial television|television]], though more recently, both radio and television transmissions have begun to be distributed by cable ([[cable television]]). The receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively small subset; the point is that anyone with the appropriate receiving technology and equipment (e.g., a radio or television set) can receive the signal. The field of broadcasting includes both government-managed services such as [[public radio]], [[community radio]] and [[public television]], and private [[commercial radio]] and [[commercial television]]. The U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, title 47, part 97 defines ''broadcasting'' as "transmissions intended for reception by the general public, either direct or relayed".<ref>Electronic Code of Federal Regulation. (28 September 2017). Retrieved 2 October 2017.</ref>  Private or two-way [[telecommunications]] transmissions do not qualify under this definition. For example, [[amateur radio|amateur]] ("ham") and [[citizens band]] (CB) radio operators are not allowed to broadcast. As defined, ''transmitting'' and ''broadcasting'' are not the same.

Transmission of radio and television programs from a radio or television station to home receivers by [[radio wave]]s is referred to as ''over the air'' (OTA) or [[Terrestrial television|terrestrial]] broadcasting and in most countries requires a [[broadcast license|broadcasting license]].  Transmissions using a wire or cable, like [[cable television]] (which also retransmits OTA stations with their [[retransmission consent|consent]]), are also considered broadcasts but do not necessarily require a license (though in some countries, a license is required).  In the 2000s, transmissions of television and radio programs via [[streaming]] digital technology have increasingly been referred to as broadcasting as well.<ref>{{cite web |first=Diana Larrea |last=Maccise |author2=Montaser Marai |url=https://institute.aljazeera.net/sites/default/files/2018/mobile%20journalisn%20english.pdf |title=Mobile Journalism |publisher=AlJazeera Media Training and Development Centre |year=2018 |access-date=24 June 2021 |archive-date=24 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624205928/https://institute.aljazeera.net/sites/default/files/2018/mobile%20journalisn%20english.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>