[e-mail]3

[e-mail]3 is a former radio station that was the first radio station in the world to transmit music in MP3 format over the television signal. The vertical blanking interval was used for this, in which otherwise teletext data is transmitted. The transmission technology for this is called TV Radio Cast .

The transmitter

On March 13, 2000, the Munich-based company MusicPl @ y GmbH launched [e-mail]3, the first radio station in the world to be broadcast via the television signal. Back then, you could legally save MP3 files on your computer without online costs or fees . The broadcaster [e-mail]3 sent digital radio data over the vertical blanking interval of the television broadcaster NBC Europe , in which teletext is normally transmitted. The rights to the transmission technology with the blanking interval are held by Hypermedia GmbH, Munich. In addition to the music compressed in MP3 format, information and mini-covers were broadcast at the same time. The MP3 files could be saved on the user's PC with the help of the software. With a standard TV tuner card and the [e-mail]3 reception software, which was developed by RapidSolution Software AG, Karlsruhe, the program could be received by around 90 percent of cable households and also digitally via Eutelsat Hotbird .

The transmitter systems were in Düsseldorf in the media harbor at NBC-Europe. The software filtered out the data stream transmitted in the blanking interval and played the MP3 sounds encoded at 128 kBit / second in real time using an integrated player.

[e-mail]3 was a registered and licensed radio broadcaster. Saturdays could e.g. B. all titles of the program "TOP 50" are recorded. A current CD was played in full every day. There were also programs like "80ies", "90ies", "Rock-It", "HipHop", "Clubbing", "Chillout" and others. [e-mail]3 had over 600,000 registered users.

On May 31, 2001, MusicPl @ y GmbH had to apply to the Munich District Court to open insolvency proceedings . The economic survival could not be ensured, as [e-mail]3 was financed exclusively through advertising. Various rescue attempts failed, so that [e-mail]3 was liquidated on September 12, 2001. What was left is a reminder page to [e-mail]3.

Megaradio.mp3

Almost eleven months after [e-mail]3 was liquidated, a new broadcaster called Megaradio started using this technology on April 18, 2002 . The software used was in turn developed by RapidSolution Software AG, Karlsruhe, and it was broadcast again via the blanking interval of the television station NBC Europe . However, at first you could only hear the live program, which was also available via medium wave or WebStream. Almost two months later, Megaradio decided to use the blanking interval to broadcast a program other than the live stream, and so from now on, track information was also broadcast. The other program was called Megaradio.mp3. Megaradio.mp3 started the premium service on September 16, 2002. For this purpose, Megaradio broadcast up to five current albums encrypted per day in its encrypted program, which could initially be purchased for 5 euros per month. The rest of the broadcast time was unencrypted.

On March 17, 2003, Megaradio filed for bankruptcy at the Munich District Court; broadcasting initially continued, but was discontinued on April 4, 2003. There is also a reminder page for Megaradio.

RadioeasyMP3

Further efforts to found a similarly designed blanking gap transmitter with the planned name “RadioeasyMP3” failed in 2003 because the main investor had dropped out at short notice and no replacement could be found.

technology

The transmitter systems were in Düsseldorf in the media harbor at NBC Europe . The system was divided into broadcast and file servers. The file server ran under Windows 2000 and managed all MP3 files, the covers and the broadcast lists. It was connected via network to the sending server, which then sent the MP3 files on to the users. A special card, the "inserter", was built into the sending server. For this card there were only drivers for Windows 98, so the transmitter ran under this operating system. From this inserter card it went via coaxial cable to the transmitter bridge, which inserted the VBI stream into the blanking interval of NBC-Europe. Since Windows 98 is known to be unsuitable as a server, it could crash, and when that was the case, no music came from the radio. Both servers were usually equipped with a watchdog card that automatically rebooted the server if a certain program no longer ran.

Web links

• [e-mail]3, Megaradio.mp3 and RadioeasyMP3 in the Stadtwiki Karlsruhe

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Reminder page [e-mail]3
2. ↑ Megaradio reminder page
3. ↑ Infoworld megaradio WebRing ( Memento from September 10, 2007 in the Internet Archive )