anne schelle

With NextGen TV broadcasts now within reach of more than 240 million Americans and sales of televisions and upgrade accessory devices expected to top 5 million units this year (according to the Consumer Technology Association), local TV broadcasters transmitting in NextGen TV are ramping up to support High Dynamic Range (HDR) video and immersive audio as an “always on” viewer benefit.

Organizers expect a larger turnout of attendees and exhibitors to CES in Las Vegas next week, where generative AI, IP delivery and new developments in NextGen TV are likely to draw broadcasters’ focus.

As broadcasters continue to deploy ATSC 3.0, the current reach of 70% was achieved with the launch of NextGen TV in New York earlier this month with the WNET Group. That figure will jump to 75% with the anticipated launch of 3.0 in the nation’s third largest market, Chicago in early 2024.

The six reflect on the rewards that come not just from their work, but also from serving as advocates and mentors for diversity and equality in the predominately male-dominated segment of the industry. Pictured (l-r): Anne Schelle, Suzana Brady, Hannah Barnhardt, Emily Stone and Chrystelle Le Gall. Nadia Khan was also honored. (JohnStaleyPhoto.com)

Anne Schelle is managing director of the Pearl TV consortium and recipient of TVNewsCheck’s Women in Technology Leadership Award, the publication’s highest honor. She earned it through her tenacity and faith in the ATSC 3.0 standard as broadcasting’s crucial way forward.

ATSC 3.0 has hit a sludgy stretch of path toward its end goal of broad U.S. adoption and providing new content services. It will take many hands — a potential FCC task force, station group cooperation and an elongated pipeline for receivers included — to get the standard’s implementation flying again.

Anne Schelle, managing director of the Pearl TV consortium, will receive the highest honor in TVNewsCheck’s Women in Technology Awards for her tireless efforts to rally the broadcast industry around the ATSC 3.0 standard while convincing manufacturers to produce compatible sets. She’ll receive her award at the NAB Show in Las Vegas on April 18 at 6 p.m.

Broadcasters kept their focus largely on a NextGen TV narrative headed into this week’s CES in Las Vegas, where around 100,000 attendees are expected. Sinclair is discussing its own flurry of ATSC 3.0 developments, while the demise of pay TV service Evoca was one setback in the NextGen saga.

Most of ATSC 3.0’s audio delay in the U.S. is attributable to the same factors that have held back the rollout of UHD content: there is still a small base of NextGen TV-capable sets; the distribution chain from networks to stations is not fully ready for new formats; and broadcasters are somewhat hamstrung in experimenting with their 3.0 content because of FCC rules that require them to effectively simulcast their 1.0 programming. But despite that, progress is being made.

The early consumer experience of NextGen TV has been hampered by government regulations that make it hard for viewers to differentiate the new services from the legacy ATSC 1.0 programming already delivered over-the-air, according to broadcasters. Capacity is tight for both the 3.0 and 1.0 broadcasts, and broadcasters are aggressively using video compression to make it all work. L-r: E.W. Scripps’ Kerry Oslund, Pearl TV’s Anne Schelle, Fincons Group’s Francesco Moretti and ATSC’s Madeleine Noland (Alyssa Wesley photo).

Leaders from E.W. Scripps, ATSC, the Pearl Group and Fincons Group will look at how station groups will balance content, marketing, tech and revenue needs for both their NextGen TV and OTT platforms in a panel at TVNewsCheck’s TV2025: Monetizing the Future conference at the NAB New York Show on Oct. 19. Register here.

A new campaign from the consortium will run through Jan. 30 in 34 DMAs where NextGen TV stations are on the air.

Representatives from NBCUniversal Local, E.W. Scripps and Pearl TV claim that NextGen TV’s ability to deliver targeted ads to connected TVs is the most promising and immediate among the technology’s potential revenue streams, and a proliferation of NextGen-ready sets is bringing monetization closer.

Executives from NBCUnversal, E.W. Scripps and Pearl TV will zero in and talk about the state of the art of ATSC 3.0 deployment, revenue, marketing as well as future opportunities and obstacles on Sept. 22 during TVNewsCheck’s sixth annual TV2025: Monetizing the Future conference. Register here.

Around 10 markets should be on-air with 3.0 broadcasts by the end of the third quarter and perhaps 20 by year’s end, according to representatives of Pearl TV and BitPath. Broadcasters are also exploring the full capabilities of the NextGen standard with several new initiatives this summer, including the launch of a NextGen-capable smartphone and a trial of advanced alerting capabilities in Washington, D.C. Above, one of the six 2020 LG OLED sets that have earned the NextGen TV logo from the Consumer Technology Association.

Ongoing impacts from COVID-19 could mean broadcasters won’t hit their goal of launching ATSC 3.0 in 40 markets this year, according to Pearl TV’s Anne Schelle. The broadcasting group’s managing director commented as part of a remote panel at a virtual IABM conference and discussed the pandemic’s effects on ATSC 3.0 rollout plans. Coming out of CES in January 2020, she said, the industry was in a good position to launch ATSC 3.0 in 40 markets this year, including multiple new TV models with built-in support for the new over-the-air broadcasting standard. But the pandemic has essentially delayed plans by about a quarter compared to where it should be at this point.

Next week’s CES in Las Vegas will once again take over the Strip with a sprawling, frenetic glimpse into tomorrow’s consumer technology. This time, NextGen TV will make its show floor debut, and hopes are high consumers will notice.

The newly-rechristened NextGen TV will start showing up in working sets at January’s CES with launches slated for the top 40 markets. But a ramp up to revenue will be slow going with advocates saying revenues are at least five years away. The TV2020 panel on the topic comprised (l-r): Anne Schelle, Pearl TV; John Hane, Spectrum Co.; and Joe Chinnici, Public Media Group. (Photo: Wendy Moger-Bross)

Executives driving ATSC 3.0’s implementation take on its costs and potential profits at TVNewsCheck’s annual TV2020: Monetizing the Future conference in New York in October.