What is a Webcast? | The Nuts and Bolts

Chances are you might’ve heard about webcasting but are confused about what exactly is it. The word is being tossed around for a while now. As the era changes and technology takes stride, there is always a solution for evolving needs. A webcast is an important virtual communication tool Speak tool to address a wider larger audience where you can listen and communicate with them in real time. to address a larger audience in real time.

According to research, 93% of the event professionals plan to invest in virtual events. The pandemic has forced the world to turn towards virtual communication, and webcast is just one of the methods they opted for. Webcasts can be used for a multitude of events and projects. Almost 97% of the event marketers believe to see more hybrid events in 2021.

Before we take a deeper dive, let’s see what is a webcast.

What is Webcasting? | Web + Broadcasting

We would define a webcast as basically a combination of “Web” and “Broadcasting”, where an event takes place in real-time, over the internet.

If we try to explore the history of webcast, we would have to understand that it is merely a type of live stream. The first live webcast was held not far back in 1993 by a band named “Severe Tire Damage”. Fast forward, to today live streaming is a common form of virtual one-way communication.

This type of technology uses streaming media distributed over the internet as a live broadcast and can be recorded and streamed later on as an on-demand video. In short, the definition of a webcast is that it is an event presented over the internet to reach a larger, geographically diverse audience instead of utilizing traditional communication mediums like a TV or radio. It helps in cost saving while being more engaging due to various interactive elements.

Leverage Your Webcasting Technology and Strategy

You can create a webcast using a webcast software such as VIDIZMO combined with a thoughtful webcasting strategy.

The first part is the production itself. Whether you have a whole team or you’re single-handedly managing the virtual event, you need to make sure the microphones, internet and presentation area are ready. If you want more control over webcasting; let’s say you want to record, store, manage and share them later as an on-demand video, use VIDIZMO as the ultimate tool.

The second part is conducting the webcast itself. This is where the webcasting solution comes into play. An enhanced webcast software encompasses many capabilities, such as encoding, streaming, management and sharing. Since webcasts consume a lot of bandwidth, the encoder can create multiple renditions for optimized playback. You may also utilize multiple media sources. On top of it, VIDIZMO’s out-of-the-box Content Delivery Network (CDN) technology provides bandwidth optimization and ensures a quality viewing experience.

For a private webcast, you may also opt for an on-premise live webcast and benefit from VIDIZMO’s various other security features like SSO integration and content encryption. You may also keep a backup live stream and make it interactive through elements like Live Chat and Q&A functionality. Additionally, Viewers who join late can rewind or jump to relevant parts via Live DVR technology.

Now that you understand how webcasting is essential and a game-changer when used with an enterprise webcast software, let us explore some type of webcasting events.

Webcasting Events

Webcasts have proven to be very versatile events that help in transforming communication and outreach strategies from every aspect of your business. Here is a list of a few of these events:

Corporate Communication

The growing organization faces challenges of communication and engagement among employees. With webcasting, companies have found a way for higher management to swiftly communicate with the entire workforce no matter how dispersed they are.

Product Launches

Thinking of launching your product? Or want to show off its unique selling points? A webcast is a unique way to do that. Virtual event to aid in a product launch may include:

Multiple keynote speakers
Panel discussion
Downloadable event resources
Educational breakout rooms
Human Resources

A great way to for HR professionals to provide information regarding onboarding new employees to communicating benefits updates is by using webcasting.

Tradeshows and Conferences

Don’t cancel your events due to covid. Turn in-person events into virtual events. By webcasting, an organization can host conferences and tradeshows virtually, from presentations to breakout sessions.

Education

Another webcast event is in the education sector. Universities and colleges can use webcasting to broadcast lectures, organize presentations, educational conferences, and virtual graduation.

Webcasting vs. Webinar – What’s the Difference?

So, you might be wondering, is there any difference between a webcast and a webinar? Both are quite similar, and the differences are minute. Webcasting is an excellent option to host the type of events mentioned above. Although they generally have the same functionality; however, the difference lies in the upscaling or outreach.

Webinars are typically intended for smaller audiences, whereas webcasts are held in case of large-scale events to reach geographically dispersed audiences. Some webcasts can also incorporate elements of webinars in them where the audience can engage and interact more.

Conclusion

Webcasting is evolving and what makes it more powerful is selecting the right product to webcast. VIDIZMO can be your best bet. It ensures smooth delivery of a high-quality webcasting that is secure and caters to all your privacy needs. It provides you with optimized playback, analytics, accessibility with enrichment and interactive features for your webcast.

That’s not all, VIDIZMO is a broader end-to-end video platform which will allow you to securely host your webcast as an on-demand video, readily available for playback. The platform will also allow you to stream other types of live and on-demand videos. It can even be integrated with your existing IT applications such as LMS, CMS, SSO and many more as it is a highly interoperable software. The white-label video video platform is also brandable according to your corporate guidelines.