Interest level of internet radio coverage of Rockets game

video absolutely will not work from a residential connection....not for more than a couple of users at a time.

much less the fact that the resolution will be worse than what the p2p services have......adn getting worse with each additional viewer.

it just isnt realistic to do unless you have a WIDE WIDE pipe and a dedicated server.

 

I run a Shoutcast server that plays music - if you're running your own server, the biggest issue you'll have is the number of concurrent listeners x the upstream bitrate. For my music broadcast, I use a 96k stream which is good enough for me, but for an audio/voice broadcast, you probably won't need much more than a 24-32k stream and most people would be satisfied.

If you're running it from your home machine, consider that if your upload rate is capped by your provider at around 384kbps, and you stream at 24k, you'll be limited to about 15 listeners. If you have a 1 meg upstream, you'll be able to support something like 35-40 listeners.

That being said, I don't know what all the legalities around this are. I wouldn't think it's illegal unless you broadcast the broadcast itself, but then I have no idea when it comes to the law... I've seen comedies less funny than some legal verdicts and trials that are brought up routinely.

 

I travel all of the time, so it would be super cool to be able to listen to the game when I'm out of town.

 

good idea, i'd listen at least to try out and comment or whatever.

fyi to the poster that said he couldn't afford league pass...you can buy audio league pass for $20 for the year i believe?

 

i tried starting a radio broadcast a while back...from my research...most of the free services only allow 10 listens max at a time...unless you use your own server which will be overwhelmed most definitely...there are ISP's who will rent airtime out...so you'll have to fork out your own money...

 

Yeah, if the NBA views their copyright similarly to how MLB does (whom I've had experience with in a situation similar to this), then the *play by play* aspect of chat (not general discussion about the game) does in fact violate their copyright. It's most likely that they don't care, since like you said, it's not really competing with any of their affiliates/products.

Now, you move into a radio format, directly competing with local Rockets radio (ad revenue/rates for the Rox), satellite radio (contract w/ NBA), and NBA internet audio (subscription dollars to the league)...well, that's a bit different. Once they get wind of it, you'll get a politely threatening "cease & desist" email from a fancy sounding NYC law firm w/ in about 30 minutes.

 

I just wanted to point out that I found NewYorkers call of the game yesterday to be both welcome and hillarious. Especially the part where the roomate came in and started complaining towards the end.

 

My little server would be swamped. lol. Besides, I ain't gettin' involved in this... just giving out advice to those who may want to try it...