Unicast

is the opposite of multicast. In a unicast, each person who tunes into to a streaming media event receives his or her own private connection. In a multicast, 100 people might share the same streaming signal, while in a unicast, the same event would serve 100 individual streams; one to each viewer. Despite the advantages of multicasting large events, many still use unicasting because most networks cannot send multicasts. This is a major consideration for companies that are exploring the use of streaming media in their organization.

Related term: Multicast