Should we Chat with the Audience or Broadcast?
The broadcasting systems we use daily, like BeLive and Restream, are integrated with Facebook and Youtube. When a viewer comments, we can see it in our studio and display it on screen. Comments and questions undoubtedly add something special to the broadcast.
We can do this because of the Application Programming Interface (API). The API gives developers access to the inner workings of Facebook and Youtube. Each company releases its API, which determines what broadcasters can do and not do.
Developers have two-way access; they can both send and receive data. They can, for example, send video and audio and received comments made on Facebook or Youtube.
A case in point, unless viewers grant permission to the streaming services. Facebook will not allow the showing of names or profile pictures in groups.
We are used to interactive live streaming and comments displayed on the screen. They have become an integral part of the experience.
Long before Facebook Live began, a method of transmitting live video around the internet existed; Adobe created the Real-Time Message Protocol (RTMP). They released part of this protocol into the public domain for everyone to use.
RTMP is a standard method of transmitting video, audio and data from one location to another. It does not have the API approach’s sophistication, but it does result in high-quality audio and sound.
With RTMP, you can broadcast live to any website that accepts RTMP. Virtually every video host does receive video, audio and data from broadcast sites.
The one downside of this approach is that using RTMP; you cannot access the facilities granted by the API approach. When using RTMP, we can only transmit data. We cannot receive it.
Transmitting and not receiving means we cannot see comments made whilst we are live.
We can reach a wider audience when we use RTMP to relay our broadcasts; we can stream to more sites. The broadcast can be live on up to 60 website pages, Facebook and Youtube, Twitch, Periscope and our websites.
At the moment, we spend our time creating content and networking on commercial websites. Someone is making money as a direct result of our activities.
We network to become Known, Liked and Trusted, hoping that people will visit our websites.
Our broadcasts’ quality has improved immeasurably in the last five years; our content has evolved, our video and sound quality improved. When we broadcast to our websites, we encourage people to watch live and surf our website, not someone else’s commercial site.
With RTMP, we have the technology to bring people to our website, read our blogs and visit our online shop whilst listening to us.
This video explains more about RTPM and API.
Originally Broadcast on Be.Live and hosted now on Vimeo
Where can you broadcast with RTMP?
