ATSC 3.0

The ATSC TG3 Technology Group voted May 2 to elevate the A/342 audio standard — both AC-4 and MPEG-H AA audio — to ATSC 3.0 Candidate Standard status, an ATSC spokesman confirmed today.

The idea that some broadcasters floated about a decade ago to use their then-new subchannels to provide low-cost packages of cable programming never came to fruition. But with the advanced technical capabilities that ATSC 3.0 will provide, it’s an idea worth rethinking. The interest in skinny bundles, which rely on broadband instead of broadcast for distribution, suggest that dissatisfaction with the bloated, expensive bundles of cable and satellite has risen to a point where consumers are ready to act. The demand is there.

Without comment, the agency asks for public comment on the broadcasters’ petition to permit the use of ATSC 3.0 as an optional broadcast standard without disrupting the existing ATSC 1.0 service. Comments are due May 26; replies, June 27.

The CBS tech exec says he has two big questions over plans to move to the next-gen standard: will viewers lose programming now available on subchannels and what is the business plan?

As the push to move TV broadcasting to the more powerful and versatile ATSC 3.0 transmission standard picks up steam almost daily, this week’s NAB Show let attendees get up close and personal with the new tech. The show featured two 3.0 pavilions (one with broadcast gear, the other with consumer tech); more than 15 vendors, universities, researchers and the NAB’s own initiative demoing different pieces of the 3.0 ecosystem. At the opening of the ATSC 3.0 Consumer Experience were: ATSC President Mark Richer (center), flanked by Richard Friedel of Fox Networks (left) and Glenn Reitmeier of NBCUniversal.

The FCC Chairman tells an NAB Show audience: “Hooray for the creative thinking of the broadcast community that brought ATSC 3.0 from an idea into reality. We need to move with dispatch to get that in the public debate.” He says the proposal will be put out for comment by the end of the month. He also says the FCC will announce how much spectrum it wants by the end of the month and reassures broadcasters that he will lead the push to get more money for the post-auction repack if that proves necessary.

Even though the German research institute came out on the losing side of the battle between it and Dolby to be the audio standard for the ATSC 3.0 in the U.S., it’s won over South Korea and is pushing hard elsewhere around the globe.

The ATSC 3.0 Consumer Experience at the 2016 NAB Show offered a look into a future that includes reception of ATSC 3.0 TV signals in next-gen consumer televisions and powered indoor antennas that receive 3.0 signals and retransmit them via Wi-Fi to smart TVs in the home —both next-gen sets and existing HDTVs. Opening the exhibit were (l-r): Mark Richer, ATSC president; Sam Matheny, NAB CTO; and Brian Markwalter, CTA SVP of research and standards.

Sinclair’s top tech, Mark Aitken, says the next-gen TV standard will offer stations a plethora of new business opportunities. “There will come a day shortly where the kinds of services broadcasters are capable of offering” will top those consumers will be able to get anywhere else. “The business opportunities of tomorrow are totally open to the imagination.”

Now that the NAB has asked the commission to authorize the use of next-gen TV transmission standard ATSC 3.0 on a voluntary basis, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has a chance to create a wonderful legacy for himself. If he moves to quickly approve the request, he could say that on his watch, he not only found new spectrum for wireless broadband through the incentive auction, but also put broadcasting on a new course that will insure the availability of free, universal over-the-air television for years to come.

There is a lot of buzz in the broadcast industry about ATSC 3.0. At the NAB Show next week, there will be countless displays showing off the potential of “Next Generation TV.” With that backdrop, we thought that it would be a good time to highlight several things that broadcasters should know about the proposed new TV transmission standard.

The FCC just received broadcasters’ request to permit use of ATSC 3.0 and has not yet said whether it will even consider the petition. Nonetheless, Sinclair is charging ahead with plans to exploit the technology that include a national “wireless IP pipeline” that can deliver TV and data to consumers and other clients.

The trade group along with noncommercial broadcasters and the consumer electronics industry ask the FCC to authorize use of the ATSC 3.0 standard that they say will enable stations to broadcast 4K, reach smartphones and other mobile devices and offer new IP-based services. ATSC 3.0 is “the bedrock for continuing innovation by the television industry for decades to come,” they say.

Next week at the 2016 NAB Show in Las Vegas, San Diego-based watermarking specialist Verance will demonstrate how television broadcasters can use its open watermarking technology, designed for ATSC 3.0 implementation, with today’s ATSC 1 (A/53) service to open up a world of new possibilities.

Yes, affiliates will face increasing demands for reverse comp, but that’s the price of belonging to America’s most-watched network and joining CBS in exploiting new broadband pay media like CBS All Access. The ever-bullish CEO also says CBS is open to ATSC 3.0 and is willing to take a run at more first-run syndication, and he sees no end to the lucrative broadcasting-NFL partnership.

Former broadcast lobbyist Preston Padden: “ATSC-3 and SFN’s may be the just what broadcasting needs to prosper in the future. Certainly there are smart and dedicated women and men working hard to make these technologies a reality. However, I would offer a few cautions.” Also, “The [affiliation] dispute between NBC and [WHDH’s] Ed Ansin is unfortunate on many levels. If I was running a network today, I would want him as a part of my distribution platform.”

The Advanced Television Systems Committee has voted to approve the “Bootstrap” mechanism of the ATSC 3.0 as a full standard for the physical layer of the next-gen TV system.

One Media, the joint venture of Sinclair and Coherent Logix, is leading the effort to show benefits of the next-gen standard in a single-frequency network and to help finalize the standard.

The Dolby AC-4 audio format has been recommended by the group testing candidate ATSC 3.0 audio systems to be the new next-generation TV audio standard for the United States.

Television is on the cusp of major changes that will give viewers the ability to personalize their TV audio experience and ultimately even immerse themselves in sound as a new standard for television becomes a reality. Two other developments likely to be center stage at next month’s NAB Show in Las Vegas are acceleration of a transition from baseband to IP transport of media on the production side of the equation, and preparation for a new era of wireless-enabled audio acquisition. For a resources guide to the companies mentioned in this story, click here. See all 2016 NAB Hot Topics stories here.

If the proposed next-gen TV transmission standard is adopted, Sinclair Broadcast Group stands to profit from its contribution of intellectual property, the company’s execs say. “You should assume that anybody who is going to watch television, whether it is on virtual reality devices, cars, machines, phones, pads, TV sets is going to [be using] our technology,” said CEO David Smith.

New high-power solid-state transmitters can provide a superior alternative to first-gen digital units. They are more efficient, cheaper to run and will be paid for by the government. (Photo: Rohde & Schwarz)

Coming on the heels of the TV spectrum repack will likely be ATSC 3.0, the next-generation TV standard that will, among other things, allow stations to deliver HDTV to mobile […]

This is the year in which policymakers and broadcasters will decide whether over-the-air broadcast TV is worth preserving. The decision will come in the way they conduct themselves in the repacking of the TV band that will follow the incentive auction this spring and how far they go in embracing the next-generation broadcast TV standard.

From repacking TV spectrum to make way for wireless companies to the next-generation ATSC 3.0 television transmission standard; from IP-based workflows to news technologies and workflows, the television industry expended a lot of time, money and effort this year to position itself for where it must go. This is Part 3 of TVNewsCheck’s annual Year in Review for 2015. Part I, which appeared Monday, reviewed the year’s happenings in local and broadcast network news. Part 2, which ran Tuesday, recapped the year’s highlights in business, regulation, syndicated  and broadcast network programming and new media. And Part 4 on Thursday will remember the electronic media luminaries who died during 2015. Read all of the 2015 Year in Review stories here.

The IP foundation of next-gen transmission standard ATSC 3.0 means the new standard will make it easier for broadcasters to distribute content across multiple devices, according to Anne Schelle, managing director of Pearl TV. She says it will also allow targeted advertising, improved emergency warning capabilities and other advantages.

In October, the Advanced Television Systems Committee adopted a candidate standard for the next-generation broadcasting system called ATSC 3.0. And it’s capable of some pretty impressive tasks, including broadcasting 4K content without the use of an outdoor antenna. “With ATSC 3.0, broadcasting may enjoy a renaissance — new services, truly ubiquitous reception and, because it’s IP-based, integration with the world of the Internet,” writes Harry Jessell, editor of TVNewsCheck.com. “Who doesn’t enjoy a good come-back tale?”

What issues are likely to keep engineers, managers and other tech types awake at night in 2016? TVNewsCheck’s Phil Kurz offers his predictions of next year’s trends that range from ATSC 3.0 to a serious rethink of how to define the business of television.

The inaugural Smart Spectrum Summit demonstrated to the public safety community how adoption of the ATSC 3.0 next-gen TV transmission standard will also give them a reliable, robust wireless communications service that can sidestep current wireless network congestion to deliver potentially lifesaving information.