Narrowcasting/Broadcasting

Narrowcasting and broadcasting are two ways to disseminate mass-mediated messages. Narrowcasting indicates that some sort of strategic discretion is being used in the selection of a specific audience for a message (zip code of residence, household income, political or religious affiliation, etc.). Broadcasting is the opposite; here the primary consideration is how to reach as large an audience as possible. The strategic decision of whether to narrowcast or broadcast a message can happen at several levels, and across types of messages and different mass media.

One example is television. The traditional television broadcast era began in the 1950s with four networks, each represented as a unique channel. With the advent of cable television, narrowcasting became a possibility. The number of channels expanded from four to hundreds—and satellite systems push the channel options even further—with each channel representing new possibilities.

Although increasing the number of channels promotes audience fragmentation, it also promotes demographically better-defined audiences. Content providers can fine-tune (or target) their messages. Advertising and public relations firms are also to be considered. With audience demographics better defined now than ever before, advertisers and public relations firms reap the benefits of being able to further refine messages for a specific audience. Added to this is the existence of two strata in the commercial breaks that run between programs— local and national.

Television is not the only medium to consider. The term narrowcasting is increasingly associated with radio. Radio networks came into being during the 1920s, only to be replaced by television as the dominant electronic broadcast medium a few decades later. Long in decline, the Internet provides massive bandwidth, where Internet Radio stations represent the potential of tens of thousands of channels of content, each of them—creativity willing—unique.

Another medium to consider is the magazine. Computer technology and work force globalization has made it much less expensive to enter the print magazine business. Some magazines are in name only, existing solely on the Internet, where the cost of ink and paper is swapped for Web [Page 594]server space. As the capabilities of the Internet grow, television is going through the same upheavals that radio and print have experienced.

Narrowcasting does have its problems. As an audience is further defined, it shrinks in size. That drives up the cost per mile (CPM) of the message (program, public service announcement, or advertisement) per message consumer. A balance will always have to be struck between the size of the audience to be reached and the cost of a message for that audience.