The FCC will be making some big spectrum-related decisions Friday (Feb. 28) at its February public meeting that will affect broadcast and cable operators. The commission is scheduled to vote on freeing up 300 MHz of the 500 MHz C-Band satellite spectrum for next-gen terrestrial wireless, in the process repacking satellite operators and their broadcast and cable clients into smaller space and potentially paying those satellite operators billions to exit the spectrum early.

A “Broadcasters’ Panel” has been a fixture at the HPA Tech Retreat program for years. This year was no exception, with panelists discussing the future with NextGen TV and the the impact that the cloud and IP will have.

Vendors see the end of a long RF repack process ahead with FCC deadlines being met, sometimes assisted by Special Temporary Authorities and interim transmission facilities. RF vendors are now looking to other revenue opportunities as the repack slows down. (Dielectric photo)

The association says it is closely monitoring COVID-19, commonly known as coronavirus, and is “prepared to devote whatever resources necessary to ensure a safe and productive NAB Show experience.”

New jobs posted to TVNewsCheck’s Media Job Center include openings for a media specialist at a top 5 market O&O, a maintenance technician for a Hearst station in the midwest, and a programming and content distribution director for Illinois Public Media.

The decision to scrap the Feb. 24-27 event in Barcelona was taken after dozens of tech companies and wireless carriers dropped out over the COVID-19 virus, including major companies like Ericsson, Nokia, Sony, Amazon, Intel and LG. The companies cited concerns for the safety of staff and visitors. But the Spanish government said in a statement it “believes it is not public health reasons in Spain that have motivated the cancellation.”

The media organizations worldwide that form the alliance will focus on enabling improved open interoperability among service-based applications.

The massive NBCUniversal Boston Media Center in Needham, Mass., houses the company’s NBC and Telemundo stations plus regional cable news and sports networks in a new $125 million, 160,000-square foot headquarters. “It’s a complete game-changer,” says one GM of the greenfield build.

The recipients of TVNewsCheck’s annual Women in Technology Futurist Award — Perspective Media Group’s Janet Gardner and Latakoo’s Jade Kurian — epitomize the quality of taking a long-range view of where the television industry should be moving and figuring out how to get it there. They will be honored on April 21 during the NBA Show in Las Vegas.

NPR Video Producer Kara Frame got involved with live digital reporting when Facebook first launched its live video capabilities in 2016. Just a couple of years later,  Facebook reported that one in five videos were shot and shared live by the platform’s millions of daily users. Frame talks about lessons learned for NPR’s launch of live digital video including the tools her and the video team used to create high-quality segments and news stories with DSLR cameras.

He joins Hudson MX following a 19-year tenure with Turner Broadcasting. Based out of the Atlanta headquarters, Diez will be overseeing the company’s rapidly expanding engineering team — which has grown by 46 engineers in the last six months alone.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has laid out his plan for how the C-band will be used to spur 5G development, announcing his plans to conduct a public auction of 280 MHz of the spectrum with a potential launch date of Dec. 8.

Francois Vaillant, executive director of engineering at CBC/Radio-Canada, says the group opted to build an IP-based broadcast center to move CBC/Radio-Canada into the future. The greenfield project was an opportunity to be more future-proof.

Sinclair Broadcast Group is the latest station group and ATSC 3.0 proponent to join the Pearl TV consortium. Sinclair CEO Chris Ripley: “Since the rubber is really going to hit the road here this year, it just made sense to join Pearl and speak … with one industry voice. I think it will speed up the rollout and the ultimate adoption of NextGen TV.”