How do FM radio and old analog TV broadcasts operate without lag and how do so many radios/TVs tune in to a broadcast without causing issues?

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There’s only static when the signal is bad and some delay due to the travel time of signals, but analog broadcast never lags or stutters like TV and radio broadcasted over the internet.

Also, what makes it possible for thousands/millions of analog TV’s and FM radios to view and listen to broadcasts without causing issues when TV and radio broadcasted over the internet requires packet scheduling and lots of servers to serve the same number of viewers and listeners?

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Anonymous 0 Comments

Think of an analogue broadcast like music from a loudspeaker, If the speaker is loud enough, you are close enough or have good enough hearing you can hear it no matter what, and anyone nearby can hear it instantly.

Digital broadcasts are broken up into tiny packages. You have to grab them, open them and put them all back together to understand the message, that’s where the lag comes from because a computer has to do that work.

When you watch a digital broadcast over the internet it doesn’t come through the air directly from a transmitter, it has to come through your internet connection and contend with everything else going back and forth through that connection.

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