A method and system for performing chaincast communication to multiple
communication systems within a system of coupled electronic devices. In
one implementation the electronic devices can be computer systems and the
system of coupled electronic devices includes the Internet. The present
invention provides a system wherein a broadcast source communicates
broadcast information (e.g., encoded audio radio content, encoded
audio/video television content, program instructions, etc.) to a first
group of electronic devices. The first group of electronic devices can be
instructed by a transmission scheduler to then communicate (e.g.,
forward) the broadcast information to other electronic devices which
devices can also be instructed to communicate to more devices, etc.,
thereby reducing the bandwidth requirements of the communication channel
between the broadcast source and the first group of electronic devices.