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Simulcast (a portmanteau of " simultaneous broad cast") is the broadcasting of programs or events across more than one image resolution, bitrate or Mass media, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultaneously). For example, Absolute Radio is simulcast on both AM broadcasting and on satellite radio. Likewise, the BBC's The Proms were formerly simulcast on both BBC Radio 3 and BBC Television. Another application is the transmission of the original-language soundtrack of movies or TV series over local or Internet radio, with the television broadcast having been dubbing into a local language. Yet another is when a sports game, such as Super Bowl LVIII, is simulcast on multiple television networks at the same time. In the case of Super Bowl LVIII, the game's main broadcast channel was CBS, but viewers could watch it on other CBS-owned television channels or Streaming media as well; Nickelodeon and Paramount+ showed the American English broadcast, while Univision showed the same visual but had Spanish-language broadcasters for its audio.
In its earliest days, the BBC often transmitted the same programme on the "National Service" and the "Regional Network".
An early use of the word "simulcast" is from 1925.
Between 1990 and 1994, the BBC broadcast a channel of entertainment (Radio 5) which offered a wide range of simulcasts, taking programmes from the BBC World Service and Radio 1, 2, 3 and 4 for simultaneous broadcast.
Similarly, in the 1980s, before Multichannel Television Sound or home theater was commonplace in American households, broadcasters would air a high fidelity version of a television program's audio portion over FM stereo simultaneous with the television broadcast. PBS stations were the most likely to use this technique, especially when airing a live concert. It was also a way of allowing MTV and similar music channels to run stereo sound through the cable-TV network. This method required a stereo FM transmitter modulating MTV's stereo soundtrack through the cable-TV network, and customers connecting their FM receiver's antenna input to the cable-TV outlet. They would then tune the FM receiver to the specified frequency that would be published in documentation supplied by the cable-TV provider.
With the introduction of commercial FM stations in Australia in July 1980, commercial TV channels began simulcasting some music based programs with the new commercial FM stations and continued to do so into the early 1990s. These were initially rock based programs, such as late night music video shows and rock concerts, but later included some major rock musicals such as The Rocky Horror Picture Show and The Blues Brothers when they first aired on TV. During the mid-1980s the final Australian concert of several major rock artists such as Dire Straits were simulcast live on a commercial TV and FM station. The ABC also simulcast some programs on ABC Television and ABC FM, including the final concert of Elton John with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
In South Africa, the SABC radio station Radio 2000 was established in 1986 to simulcast SABC 1 programming, especially imported American and British television shows, in their original English language, before South Africa adopted a stereo standard which allowed secondary audio tracks through the television spectrum.
The first cable TV concert simulcast was Frank Zappa's Halloween show (31 October 1981), live from NYC's Palladium and shown on MTV with the audio-only portion simulcast over FM's new "Starfleet Radio" network. Engineered by Mark G. Pinske with the UMRK mobile recording truck. A later, notable application for simulcasting in this context was the Live Aid benefit concert that was broadcast around the world on 13 July 1985. Most destinations where this concert was broadcast had the concert simulcast by at least one TV network and at least one of the local FM stations.
Most stereo-capable video recorders made through the 1980s and early 1990s had a "simulcast" recording mode where they recorded video signals from the built-in TV tuner and audio signals from the VCR's audio line-in connectors. This was to allow one to connect a stereo FM tuner that is tuned to the simulcast frequency to the VCR's audio input in order to record the stereo sound of a TV program that would otherwise be recorded in mono. The function was primarily necessary with stereo VCRs that didn't have a stereo TV tuner or were operated in areas where stereo TV broadcasting wasn't in place. This was typically selected through the user setting the input selector to "Simulcast" or "Radio" mode or, in the case of some JVC units, the user setting another "audio input" switch from "TV" or "Tuner" to "Line".
In the mid to late 1990s, video game developer Nintendo utilized simulcasting to provide enhanced orchestral scoring and voice-acting for the first ever "integrated radio-games" – its Satellaview video games. Whereas digital game data was broadcast to the Satellaview unit to provide the basic game and game sounds, Nintendo's partner, satellite radio company St.GIGA, simultaneously broadcast the musical and vocal portion of the game via radio. These two streams were combined at the Satellaview to provide a unified audiotrack analogous to stereo."Satellaview: juegos desde el espacio." Atomicx. pp.54-57. July 2009.
Presently, in the United States, simulcast most often refers to the practice of offering the same programming on an FM and AM station owned by the same entity, in order to cut costs. With the advent of solid state AM transmitters and computers, it has become very easy for AM stations to broadcast a different format without additional cost; therefore, simulcast between FM/AM combinations are rarely heard today outside of rural areas, and in urban areas, where often the talk radio, sports radio, or all-news radio format of an AM station is simulcast on FM, mainly for the convenience of listeners in office buildings in urban cores which easily block AM signals, as well as those with FM-only tuners. In another case, popular programs will be aired simultaneously on different services in adjacent countries, such as animated sitcom The Simpsons, airing Sunday evenings at 8:00 p.m. (Eastern and Pacific times) on both Fox in the United States and Global (1989 to 2018) and Citytv (2018 to 2021) in Canada and entertainment show Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, airing Saturday nights at various times between 7:00 pm and 7:30 pm on ITV in the United Kingdom and Virgin Media One in the Republic of Ireland.
During apartheid in South Africa, many foreign programmes on SABC television were dubbed in Afrikaans. The original soundtrack, usually in English language, but sometimes in German language or Dutch language was available on the Radio 2000 service. The voice, the vision: a sixty year history of the South African Broadcasting Corporation, Malcolm Theunissen, Victor Nikitin, Melanie Pillay, Advent Graphics, 1996, page 120 This could be selected using a button labeled simulcast on many televisions manufactured before 1995.
Radio programs have been simulcast on television since the invention thereof however, as of recent, perhaps the most visible example of radio shows on television is The Howard Stern Show, which currently airs on Sirius Satellite Radio as well as Howard TV. Another prominent radio show that was simulcast on television is Imus in the Morning, which until the simulcast ended in 2015, aired throughout the years on MSNBC, RFD-TV and Fox Business Network, in addition to its radio broadcast distributed by Citadel Media. Multiple sports talk radio shows, including Mike & Mike, The Herd with Colin Cowherd and Boomer and Carton also are carried on television, saving those networks the burden of having to air encores of sporting events or other paid sports programming which may draw lower audiences. In New Zealand, breakfast programme The AM Show airs on television channel Three and was simulcast on radio station Magic Talk; both networks were owned and operated by MediaWorks New Zealand until December 2020, when Three was sold to Discovery, Inc. In 2022, the programme was rebranded as AM and ceased simulcasting on Magic Talk, becoming a TV-only format.
Following the acquisition of the assets of the professional wrestling promotion World Championship Wrestling (WCW) by the rival WWE (WWF), a segment simulcast between their two flagship programs— WCW Monday Nitro on TNT (which was airing its series finale from Panama City) and the WWF's WWE Raw on TNN (from Cleveland)—on March 26, 2001, featured WWF owner Vince McMahon addressing the sale, only for his son Shane McMahon to reveal Kayfabe that he had bought WCW instead, setting up an "Invasion" storyline to begin integrating WCW talent and championships into WWF.
It is not uncommon for broadcasters to simulcast a particular program (such as a marquee event or special) across all of their networks as a "roadblock" in an effort to maximize Nielsen ratings by preventing self-cannibalizing counterprogramming; for example, Paramount Global (and corporate predecessor Viacom) has simulcast Awards ceremony produced by its flagship properties across its cable channels, such as the MTV Video Music Awards and Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards. Certain events—particularly major Telethon (such as Hope for Haiti Now and Stand Up to Cancer)—may be jointly simulcast by a consortium of networks in order to ensure a wide audience.
In the 2021 season, the Toronto Blue Jays broadcast the audio of the Sportsnet play-by-play with Dan Shulman (who has previously been a radio voice for MLB on ESPN Radio) and Buck Martinez over their radio network in what was stated to be a COVID-19-related measure. Media outlets disputed the decision and felt it was actually a cost-cutting move by Blue Jays and Sportsnet owner Rogers Communications, as the team had maintained dedicated radio broadcasts in 2020 with a remote crew.
As all NFL television broadcasts are done by the national networks or via cable, there are no regular TV-to-radio football simulcasts. In order to ensure that all of a particular team's games are available on free-to-air television in their home market, NFL rules require that games not aired by a broadcast television network (including cable networks and streaming platforms) be simulcast on a broadcast station in the main market of each participating team.
In greyhound racing and horse racing, a simulcast is a broadcast of a greyhound or horse race which allows gambling at two or more sites; the simulcast often involves the transmission of wagering information to a central site, so that all bettors may bet in the same betting pool, as well as the broadcast of the race, or bet from home as they watch on a network such as TVG Network or the Racetrack Television Network.
The regional sports network MASN previously used simulcasts for MLB games Beltway Series the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals—regional Beltway Series who share the same market and broadcaster. MASN and MASN2 simulcast a single feed of the games with a commentary team featuring personalities from both teams, featuring Jim Hunter and Bob Carpenter alternating play-by-play duties, and the teams' color commentators. This arrangement ended in 2014, with both channels now originating their own Orioles- and Nationals-specific telecasts as normal.
A more recent trend by sports broadcasts have been Altcast offering different viewing options, including specialty camera angles, alternative commentary, or enhanced in-game statistics and analysis. In 2021, ESPN introduced a Manningcast of selected Monday Night Football games featuring Eli Manning and Peyton Manning, joined by celebrity guests; the success of these broadcasts prompted ESPN to extend the format to other sports, with the Mannings' production company Omaha Productions being involved in some of these broadcasts.
Multiplexing—also sometimes called "multicasting"—is something of a reversal of this situation, where multiple program streams are combined into a single broadcast. The two terms are sometimes confused.
In University with multiple campuses, simulcasting may be used for a single teacher to teach class to students in two or more locations at the same time, using videoconferencing equipment.
In many public safety agencies, simulcast refers to the broadcasting of the same transmission on the same frequency from multiple towers either simultaneously, or offset by a fixed number of microseconds. This allows for a larger coverage area without the need for a large number of channels, resulting in increased spectral efficiency. This comes at the cost of overall poorer voice quality, as multiple sources increase multipath interference significantly, resulting in what is called simulcast distortion.
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