"Cast Hopping" Example
In a recent example, a WJ (Web Jockey) sitting behind his computer with the
WebCruise CastHopper© console was taking his audience on a web site 'cruise' to a
rock music webcast (of a radio broadcast station). He was NOT rebroadcasting
the station, merely setting his audience's media players to that
particular webcast URL.
But that evening Dave Navarro was going to interview the recently outcast
Storm Large from the Rock Star Supernova show. It was going to be of
interest to himself and his audience, so at the appropriate time he simply
entered the URL for Dave's Spread Sprectrum radio station into the
WebCruise CastHopper©, and he and the audience were transported to that 'station'.
During the Dave/Storm interview he polled the audience with questions about
what they thought, with instant results being shown. He also displayed the
Supernova website (rockstar.msn.com).
At the end of the interview, he just put the URL of his favorite rock
station back into the WebCruise CastHopper©, and the entire audience was back to rock.
(Actually there was news and commercials on, so he went to another
rock station for the duration, THEN went back to the original station.
That is the power of Cast Hopping. It's 'a la carte' listening, without all
cost and expense of your own broadcasting, and argueably, at least to their
own listeners, a better product for it. Just wait until the advertisers
find out!
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News...
"Cast Hopping" WJ's - The Future of WebCasting?Are "WJ"s (Web Jockeys) the future of WebCasting? Web Jockeys do not do their own or operate their own webcast streams; rather, armed with a WebCruise CastHopper© and directories of current webcasts such as Shoutcast and Icecast, they "arrange" and "broadcast" their own shows. And are capable of generating their own revenue streams without the cost of bandwidth, technical problems, etc., giving them virtually unlimited profit potential. They really don't even need (but it helps) a high-speed internet connection. A dial-up connection will do. Or even a wireless device like a PDA.How it works The WJ gets a few lines of html code (free) which he/she places on their own website. The code simply places graphics on the screen by which to access their "WebCruise CastHopper©" (both the control panel and the participants entrance), and the links to the application. The WJ accesses the control panel by simply clicking on the website, and their users do the same to become participants. The application then creates a virtual link between the WJ's internet browser and the browser of the audience, regardless of browser, operating system or computer type. It includes the new web capable wireless PDAs and cell phones. As soon as a user clicks, whatever the WJ displays on his/her computer is also displayed on every participant's computer. The WJ then chooses their favorite webcast station from among the thousand's available via the Shoutcast or Icecast directories (or any other source), and adds it to a field on their control panel. With the click of a submit button the link is transerred to all users, and their own media players begin playing the 'station'. As songs play, the WJ then moves his/her browser to the artist's official website, fan sites (including those of the audience) or any other web page; the audience browsers follow, display the same pages. The WJ can also pre-select sites by artist (or any other grouping) so that he/she only need click on their name and the system will 'send' the pages to all browsers at designated intervals during song play. The WJ can easily create and display "Snap" polls or surveys for the participating audience to give their opinions, and see instant results. Audience members can make requests, ask questions or give comments that immediately display on the WJ's control panel. Users can also "Pause" and "Resume" their own browsers if they want to remain on a particular web site to "browse". When they "Resume" their browser 'catches up' with the WebCruise. All of the preceeding could be done by normal webcasters with their own streams. But WJs have an advantage. They can do what's called "cast hopping". If they don't like a particular artist or song being played, or too many 'commercials' are being played on the webcast to which they (and their audience are tuned), he/she can consult the WebCast directory of their choice, and simply copy (or with a some browsers drag) the selection into the WebCruise CastHopper©, and the entire audience's media player will begin streaming the new selection. Some WJs may search for particular songs or artists for each 'play'... essentially making personal picks for each song. When there are 'breaks' (i.e. commercial spots, etc.) the WJ can put his/her own advertiser's web sites directly in front of the audience if they wish, creating a new and valuable advertising revenue stream. What WJs DON'T have are the licensing problems of traditional broadcasters and webcasters, because they don't do their own broadcasting. They simply bring their own audience to the stream(s) of existing webcasters. Without the cost of streaming, personnel, licensing, etc. but all of the capability to sell valuable advertising, WJs may have the best of all worlds! Will it catch on? It is too early to tell. But the coveted 13-18 year old market like the MySpace kids are having fun with it, but don't really know yet the marketing potential they hold in that market. But I don't think that the Nike's, Pepsi's and Coke's of the world will let this market go untapped. It will be interesting to watch it evolve. |