Kerry Oslund

As ATSC marked its 40^th anniversary at last week’s conference, conversations resoundingly turned to alternative uses for the NextGen TV spectrum including datacasting and PNT applications.

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).

The leadership and employees of The E.W. Scripps Co., TVNewsCheck’s 2022 Station Group of the Year, are guided by a devotion to impactful journalism and the long-term sustainability of the group. They’re not averse to bold moves and risks that will deliver it. This is the first installment of a three-part series. You can read part two here and part three here.

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.

ATSC 3.0 infrastructure will position TV stations to not just create their own OTT platforms, but also lease a portion of their spectrum for datacasting, location services and many other new revenue possibilities. Leading experts on monetizing NextGen TV offered their predictions and blueprints at a TVNewsCheck webinar last week sponsored by LTN Global. Above, map showing ATSC 3.0 coverage at the end of 2021 from E.W. Scripps.

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.

Kerry Oslund, VP of strategy and business development for E.W. Scripps, has been spearheading testing of automotive applications of ATSC 3.0 at the Motown 3.0 Test Track in the Motor City. He’s learning a lot about data transfer to vehicles, receivability and where single and multifrequency networks will be playing a role. Note: This story is available to TVNewsCheck Premium members only. If you would like to upgrade your free TVNewsCheck membership to Premium now, you can visit your Member Home Page, available when you log in at the very top right corner of the site or in the Stay Connected Box that appears in the right column of virtually every page on the site. If you don’t see Member Home, you will need to click Log In or Subscribe.

Adam Symson, president and CEO of The E.W. Scripps Co., says leading the company isn’t a quarter-to-quarter proposition, but rather about taking a decades-long view. From that vantage, he sees a growing marketplace for podcasts and multicasting, along with a deepening the OTT sales business and ATSC 3.0’s longer-term potential as crucial fronts to buttress the company’s core broadcast business.

The former VP of strategy and business development for Tribune Broadcasting will lead the company’s next-generation television efforts including its ATSC 3.0 strategy and will help identify, develop and evaluate investment and partnership opportunities.

Crafting the right strategy for each service is crucial, broadcast executives say at TVNewsCheck’s OTT News Summit.

ABC News’ Kaizar Campwala, CBC’s Roma Kojima, Graham Media’s Jonathan Beard and Tribune Broadcasting’s Kerry Oslund will make up a panel examining some of streaming’s more vexing challenges at TVNewsCheck’s OTT News Summit on June 11. The Weather Channel’s Michael Senzon will moderate.