IT IS NOT THE CHANGES THAT MIGHT
TAKE PLACE, BUT THE CHANGES THAT
ARE ALREADY OCCURRING AND HOW
TO MAKE THE MOST OUT OF IT

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More than talking about changes that can be expected in the media landscape because of the developments and the in-
fluence of on-line streaming media, it is more consequent and important to consider (and act up on) the influence that
these facilities already have in this particular area and the way in which information and communications as a whole have
changed and will continue to change because on-line streaming media.

Like with many other areas where digital communication technology is involved, at first it is impossible to detect changes
because situations are generally reviewed from the stand point of the sharply defined changes characteristic in “industri-
alist communications” and not as an organic transformation that is hardly noticeable but that is there changing rules and
protocols permanently. In practical terms, on-line streaming data supplies more in depth information that can be perma-
nently refreshed and a lot faster than with any other communication tool ever before; these are big assets for publishers
and broadcasters alike and because of this on-line streaming data is pushing communications to change and to change
fast because they also are developing a new different language that is becoming part of the standard vocabulary used to
communicate in the world of converging media. It is, to a great deal, because of digital communications technology (and
on-line streaming media) that it is hardly possible today to talk about “traditional broadcasting” any longer, this is simply
because at present there are many sorts of “traditional broadcasting": National Broadcasting in the shape of “American
Network (national) television:* ABC, CBS, NBC; Public and Private Commercial National Stations all over Europe and the
rest of the world; Regional and Local Stations that have become part of main stream, traditional broadcasting and the
Transnational Stations that telecast for the entire world: CNN (Cable News Network) Sky Channel, BBC World, National
Geographic, Discovery, etc. As far as television is concerned, it is important to remember that the image on the screen has
radically changed since the introduction of digital, automated, on-line data displays: Weather, Financial Information,
Breaking News, etc. are other permanent sources that form part of the image on the screen. Live, full motion, television is
only one of the many sources that form part of the package received by the viewer at home. An other common denomina-
tor in terms of digital on-line media is that broadcasting companies, as well as news papers and magazines can no longer
exist without e-mail and web pages; these features have since long passed the point of been “audio visual aids” for public
relations and marketing proposes and have become an integral part of the operation. Readers listeners and viewers alike
visit and consult more and more such sites for cross references, background information, etc. The webcasting of real
audio and real video is an integral part of radio and television programming and while networks “publish” information on
the net, newspapers and magazines generate radio and television through the webcasting of real audio and real video.
There is a merge between these two particular disciplines and Time Wagner is probably one of the best examples that can
be used to illustrate the situation. It is not important whether real video is full motion or not because, in the first place, that
is only a temporal, it won't be long before real video becomes full motion but what is more interesting is the challenge that
real video presents to “communicators” by not been full motion; What some consider a limitation can be turned into an ad-
vantage, a distinctive trade mark of the medium.

Globalization is probably one of the most radical elements incorporated by on-line streaming media in publishing and
broadcasting; it places those in charge in front a “no limit option" in geographical terms as well as in terms of time and