Retrans Importance Grows As Landscape Shifts
With political advertising about to dwindle after the November elections, and core in an extremely low-growth mode, retransmission consent is seen as a key revenue generator for stations, according to a finance panel at TVB Forward. That could lead to further station purchases by the networks and makes the new revenue-producing abilities of ATSC 3.0 look more attractive.
“Given the stakes, I’m sure we’ll see both collaboration between the phone companies and broadcasters and head-to-head competition,” says Rick Ducey, managing director, BIA Advisory Services. And some broadcasters view 5G’s rollout — and the potential investment of the phone companies in broadcast capabilities of their own — as a potential opportunity for the traditional big-stick broadcasters.
The $3 “software defined radio” chips, developed by Saankhya Labs, an India-based company in which Sinclair’s ONE Media has a financial stake, will allow mobile devices like smartphones to receive ATSC 3.0. The challenge will be to get the chips in phones. There is no law or FCC rule requiring makers of mobile devices to include 3.0 chips, and, thus far, wireless companies have turned a cold shoulder to proposals to include broadcast receiver chips in the smartphones they control.
Weigel Testing ATSC 3.0 In Chicago
Weigel Broadcasting, Chicago-based parent company of WCIU and a host of other stations and digital networks, just switched on the future of television. On Sunday, Weigel launched “Chicago 3.0,” an experimental next-generation full-power station broadcasting from Willis Tower.
Collins | Connecting With Today’s & Tomorrow’s Viewers
Broadcaster adoption of the new ATSC 3.0 broadcast standard will allow stations to reach the growing number of portable media devices that are garnering more of the time Americans spend consuming media.
Executives of Sinclair and its Spectrum Co. joint venture say the mega-group’s commitment to the technology is unshaken by the collapse of its merger with Tribune and they are aggressively pursuing their plan for developing, testing and rolling out data-based, mobile-first 3.0 services.
Exclusives
Hyperlocal Political Ads: 3.0 Wake-Up Call
Next Gen TV will allow broadcasters to deliver hyperlocal content over-the-air, and they need to get serious about it.
Collins: Get Ready For Broadcast TV’s Next Generation
Technological and cultural advances on fronts other than ATSC 3.0 that are fundamentally important to TV’s key constituents, advertisers, MVPDs and its viewers are all converging to create what is likely to become a make-or-break period in the medium’s history.
3.0 To Enable New Services For Public TV
Marc Hand, the CEO and co-founder of the Public Media Co., discusses WKAR Lansing, Mich.’s inaugural 3.0 rollout for public TV and next-gen TV’s broader impact.
The complications of dynamic ad insertion is one factor keeping local broadcasters from making a bigger run at OTT. But with the promise of higher CPMs from ad targeting as motivation, broadcasters and vendors say solutions are on the horizon.
The former chair of ATSC’s TG3 discusses the creation of ATSC 3.0 and what it promises. “The new functionality and the new kinds of businesses enabled by ATSC 3 are really necessary. Without doing that, broadcasting is probably going to disappear and be overtaken by all of the other options people have for getting information and entertainment. So, if broadcast doesn’t get nimble and take advantage of the things ATSC 3 offers, there’s a problem.”
Investor Philip Falcone’s HC2 Broadcasting is buying up low-power stations that when aggregated and leveraged with OTT, cloud technology and the new ATSC 3.0 broadcast standard — will offer a near-national platform that he hopes will be attractive to cord-cutters and advertisers.
The Next Gen TV local simulcasting rules have received the approval of the Office of Management and Budget. This means that voluntary use of the ATSC 3.0 broadcast standard is a go — another milestone for TV operators seeking an addressable advertising solution and superior audio and visual quality.
Next Gen TV: It’s A Matter Of Numbers
Phil Kurz: I’ve had a few “aha” moments over the past couple of months when it comes to ATSC 3.0 that have given me some much-needed peace of mind. While I do believe the ATSC 3.0 standard offers TV broadcasters a legitimate path forward to compete with the burgeoning world of digital media alternatives, I must confess I have had a nagging feeling for some time about consumer uptake of Next Gen TV.
To take full advantage of the new broadcast standard, broadcasters have begun work on single frequency networks in Dallas and elsewhere that pump broadcast signals into strategic areas of a market to make sure they reliably reach smartphones and other mobile devices.
Rebecca Hanson will be responsible for the legal and regulatory operations of HC2’s growing portfolio of mostly low-power TV stations, including the transition to the new ATSC 3.0 standard and related broadcast innovations.
With ATSC 3.0, broadcasters expect to play a big role in delivering infotainment to autonomous cars, but there is another related emerging market where broadcasters may be able also play — “smart” highways designed to improve safety, relieve congestion and reduce greenhouse gases.
O’Rielly: Next-Gen TV Future Is Now
FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly warned broadcasters last week that if they snooze on ATSC 3.0 they could lose out to their online competitors. He said he feared the rollout was going to take time broadcasters might not have, and certainly not if they didn’t aggressively pursue the new standard, which allows for interactivity and targeted advertising.
Broadcasters have asked the FCC to dismiss cable operator petitions to reconsider parts of its framework for allowing broadcasters to roll out the new ATSC 3.0 transmission standard, saying cable ops are simply rehashing rejected positions in order to get different results.
Sales of most media technology companies are basically flat while their R&D and marketing costs continue to run high, forcing some to reexamine how they sell in a traditionally demanding and rapidly changing market. Above, a Vizrt virtual set demonstration this week at the NAB Show.
Enthusiasm runs high as the next-generation TV standard has its official ribbon-cutting launch in Las Vegas. In addition to panels, exhibit booths of new gear, NAB Show attendees can take a ride from the Central to South Halls in an autonomous vehicle equipped with ATSC 3.0 sets, receiving an ATSC 3.0 signal sent from an experimental Sinclair transmission facility 15 miles away.
Verance Aspect and Dolby partner to enhance next-gen TV by delivering personalized audio capabilities across all distribution paths.
On The NAB Exhibit Floor: Harmonic
Harmonic | Booth SU810| www.harmonicinc.com Harmonic will showcase its innovations in OTT and broadcast video delivery. Tackle OTT Challenges with Innovative Solutions Harmonic will highlight its award-winning VOS media processing […]
Under the aegis of Spectrum Co., the partnership of Sinclair and Nexstar, Dish is testing the transmission and reception capabilities of ATSC 3.0 using a swathe of its own 700 MHz E Block spectrum (former TV ch. 56) and Spectrum Co.’s 3.0-enabled single frequency network in Dallas.
As tests of the next-gen standard get underway and demos are being offered in Las Vegas, Sinclair’s Mark Aitken and Pearl TV’s Anne Schelle see a commercial launch of ATSC 3.0 services possible in about two years.
Sinclair’s Mark Aitken: “Our goal is that the platform will provide a framework for Sinclair to run its own ATSC 3.0 developed applications as well as integrate with other partners’ apps to create a common user experience and a platform to unlock vast new business opportunities for broadcasters to drive richness, interactivity and synchronicity of content across consumer devices.”
While big station groups are forging ahead with ATSC 3.0 deployments in Dallas and Phoenix, transmission vendors say most stations are taking a cautious approach to investing in the new […]
Both an ATSC 3.0 single-frequency network (SFN) launch in Dallas and a “model market” test in Phoenix have equipment ready to go and are simply awaiting legal approval to turn on, which could come as early as tomorrow.
Public Media Co. (PMC) today said it plans to pursue a strategic partnership with Triveni Digital, a broadcast technology equipment and consulting firm, to assist the Public Media Venture Group […]
On The NAB Exhibit Floor: DVEO
DVEO | Booth SU5624 | www.dveo.com DVEO, a supplier to leading telco TV/OTT and cable operators around the world, is now shipping an ATSC 3.0 version of the Verona 4 Tuner 8VSB […]
Its software-based media processing solution will work with Pearl TV and others in the first collaborative effort to deliver ATSC 3.0 in Phoenix.
Cox Media Group has deployed Triveni Digital’s StreamScope XM MT analyzer for dual-standards broadcasting and channel sharing. Offering support for both ATSC 1.0 and 3.0 standards, the StreamScope XM MT “will […]
Public broadcasters have asked the FCC to exempt noncommercial TV statiions from a regulation requiring them to broadcast using two different standards during rollout of the new ATSC 3.0 standard.
Big Data Portends Big Changes To Spot Buys
Ad sellers — broadcasters and cable networks — are wading deeper into data pools so that they are helping advertisers and their agencies program-target their buys and avoid undervaluing their time.
WRAL Shows Olympics In Next Gen TV Format
Hundreds gathered to see the future of television in Raleigh, N.C. Monday was the first time ATSC 3.0 was used to publicly show the benefits and features of the new standard with an Olympic event. The demo also included Advanced Emergency Alerting that can show location-specific, interactive warnings.
Hane Brings Know-How, Passion To 3.0 Push
The lawyer and former tech executive John Hane is a solid choice to lead Sinclair and Nexstar’s new Spectrum Co. He knows spectrum, he understands business and he clearly shares those groups’ passion for the non-broadcast potential of spectrum once enhanced and amplified by ATSC 3.0.
Broadcast TV Audio Riding The IP Wave
As broadcasters’ comfort level in doing things over IP networks has risen, more and more vendors are offering ATSC 3.0-compatible products that include such features as immersive sound and object-based audio. At the same time, wireless microphone vendors and their customers are tackling the present-day challenge of moving off of the 600 MHz UHF spectrum. Above: Audinate’s new line of Dante adapters bridges the gap between analog audio and IP networking. Click here to access TVNewsCheck’s NAB 2018 Resource Guide listing of broadcast audio vendors and products or here to download it as a PDF.
America’s Public Television Stations (APTS) will hold its 2018 Public Media Summit February 26-28 in Washington. The theme of the 2018 Summit will be The Power of Public Media. The 2018 Summit […]
