ATSC 3.0

Broadcasters and tech companies are high on the broadband-related prospects of ATSC 3.0, particularly for automotive applications as a near-term starter, but ultimately only as a complement to the mothership of a primary TV signal sporting major new upgrades due to that NextGen TV-branded broadcast transmission standard. That was one of the takeaways from a combined NAB/Consumer Technology Association webinar on the future of 3.0 on Monday.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a panel of broadcast stakeholders reported that they are proceeding to implement the U.S.’ voluntary NextGen TV broadcast transmission system, while identifying what could be potential opportunities for local broadcasters to use the new services to support their communities during the crisis. The remote panel discussion was held Thursday as part of NAB Show Express, a virtual event featuring some of the panels and content that had been planned for the 2020 NAB Show.

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.

Closure of the nation’s schools due to the COVID-19 pandemic has focused attention on the gap in access to broadband internet service between those with means and those without, those in cities and suburbs and those in rural America. Jim DeChant, of News-Press & Gazette Broadcasting, says there is an alternative to the internet that can fill this digital divide. By taking advantage of specific tools available in the ATSC 3.0 standard, broadcasters can deliver lessons over the air to students that can be stored on a NextGen TV home gateway and accessed via Wi-Fi from a home computer, media tablet or cell phone using a web browser, he says.

Synamedia is helping pay TV operators, telcos, and media companies change how they deliver, protect and monetize their content. In this interview, the company’s broadcast solutions manager, Mark Myslinski, highlights how NextGen TV (ATSC 3.0) will be a game changer for the consumption of live sports, in particular with stand-out video quality, immersive audio, and uncontested broadband broadcast.

Richard Friedel, Fox Television Stations’ engineering chief, says the pandemic will likely accelerate the industry’s transition to IP and the cloud, slow down the NextGen TV rollout this year and permanently shift many station operations remotely. “We are going to have different workflows,” he says. “Some will probably continue forever.”

Sinclair says KVCW, the company’s CW affiliate in Las Vegas, will begin broadcasting in ATSC 3.0 on May 26, marking the company’s first commercial deployment of the NextGen TV standard. KVCW was originally scheduled to launch 3.0 broadcasts just prior to the NAB Show in April, but the launch was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic, which also resulted in the cancellation of the annual event.

Madeleine Noland discusses the impact of COVID-19 on deployment, NextGen TV presentations at NAB Show Express, new 3.0 planning teams and 5G.

The Advanced Television Systems Committee says it will issue a spring 2020 progress report on May 11, just ahead of the NAB Show Express virtual event, May 13-14.

The coronavirus will not be the last disaster to rock the United States. In preparing for the next, policymakers must make sure that broadcasting is just as capable and resilient as the internet and wireless networks. To that end, they must mandate that smartphones, so crucial in emergencies, be equipped to receive FM and the new ATSC 3.0 TV signals.

COVID-19 is an international emergency — and it’s also a good opportunity to talk about the future of news with NextGen TV.

While TV sets will hit retail floors soon, low-cost gear for the masses is still elusive.

The FCC voted unanimously to adopt a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking comment on a proposal to allow broadcasters greater flexibility in using distributed transmission systems (DTS) to deliver new ATSC 3.0 signals. The FCC said, and broadcasters agree, that allowing that flexibility with the new advanced TV broadcast standard will get those signals to hard-to-reach viewers, improve indoor reception and be more efficient with the spectrum, a big priority for the FCC.

Las Vegas and Portland, Ore. will light up their NextGen TV markets in June from their initially-slated late April launch, but the broadcasters and coalition driving the new industry standard forward say major launches will still move ahead this year. The launches will coincide with the arrival in retail stores of the first 3.0-capable sets. Above, six LG sets will bear the NextGen TV logo, including the 55-, 65- and 77-inch class GX Gallery Series 4K Ultra HD models.

Stations from Meredith, Nexstar, Sinclair and Tegna have applied for FCC approval to launch NextGen TV in Oregon.

The APTS Public Media Summit looked at how public stations can be a rich testing ground for new ATSC 3.0 capabilities.

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.”

Nexstar sees more potential to transition to IP workflows with its acquisition of Tribune, says CTO Brett Jenkins. It’s also aiming to light up some major-market NextGen TV signals in the second quarter amid what Jenkins sees as a climate of strong consumer acceptance and adoption of the new ATSC 3.0 standard.

FCC commissioner Geoffrey Starks warned broadcasters that the new ATSC 3.0 transmission standard starting to be rolled out by TV stations across the country could bring with it the same kind of thorny issues that face tech companies — and have caused Washington to eye new regulations on the edge.

NAB, legal counsel for Pearl TV and the general counsel of Meredith met last week with staff of the FCC Media Bureau to discuss the transition to NextGen TV and recommend a change in what broadcasters submit to the agency as part of their ATSC 3.0 license applications to allay concerns over possible contractual indemnification issues.

The standard has been approved, testing is ongoing and new TV sets with support for NextGen TV (aka ATSC 3.0) debuted at CES2020 earlier this month. Now comes the hard part — marketing it. That was among the chief topics at SMPTE’s NextGen TV Summit hosted by WETA Washington last week.

The new Cast.era joint venture plans to provide NextGen TV solutions for the television industry rollout, starting with Sinclair stations this year. It will focus on three main business areas: cloud infrastructure for broadcasting, ultra-low latency OTT broadcasting and personalized advertising.

For many broadcasters, NextGen TV took up much of last week’s CES show’s oxygen in a series of announcements and presentations. But industry leaders shouldn’t miss what may have been the most tectonic, tangible announcement in Las Vegas: NBCU’s groundbreaking new One Platform, which simplifies the ad buying and selling process across any screen.

The annual consumer electronics bazaar offered an important stage for fledgling NextGen TV this week, while also allowing varied glimpses at 5G, anticipatory technology and acres of beautiful new screens including the Samsung Sero that shifts from a horizontal to vertical perspective.

The 10-year slog taking a new generation of digital television broadcasting from a mere concept to a complete system capable of delivering IP-based video and other services to receivers in the U.S. homes is ending as 20 NextGen TV receivers are debuting this week at CES — effectively closing the loop in the ATSC 3.0 ecosystem that long concerned broadcasters and fueled naysayers.

The introductions by LG Electronics, Samsung and Sony mirror the initial nationwide rollout of NextGen TV service, powered by the ATSC 3.0 broadcasting standard, planned for more than 60 markets across the U.S.

LG Electronics announced Monday that it will offer six premium OLED TV models supporting ATSC 3.0 in 2020, ranging in size from 55 to 88 inches. The announcement, made the day before the official opening of CES 2020, answers the question in the minds of many industry observers about whether 3.0 consumer receivers would actually make it to market in the United States, and offers one more indication for broadcasters that a voluntary transition to NextGen TV will actually be able to seen by viewers.

With NextGen TV set to take the mainstage at CES, Synamedia joins the largest industry test bed for ATSC 3.0 services.

WKAR Public Media at Michigan State University and Gaian Solutions have launched the Apollo PublicTV Platform, a NextGen TV accelerator platform for public broadcasters.