NEXTGEN TV

The latest of the new wave of hybrid DTV/analog FM radio stations—WNYZ-LD—took to the air on March 22 as a fully-licensed NextGen TV station in the New York City borough of Queens, and in doing so, bested the full-power TV operations for the title of being the first in the Big Apple to air ATSC 3.0 broadcasts. The 3 kW ERP TV ch. 6 (82-88 MHz) station is licensed to Sound of Long Island Inc. (SOL) and transmits Korean language TV and radio broadcasts to the metropolitan New York City area and eastward towards Long Island, using a directional antenna in order to avoid interference with a full-power ch. 6 operation in Philadelphia, southwest of WNYZ-LD’s transmitter location.

WTEN, WRGB, WXXA, WCWN and WMHT are now broadcasting with ATSC 3.0 technology.

As the pay TV universe shrinks, Nexstar Media Group Inc. is eyeing major revenue opportunities tied to the adoption of new broadcast technology. Chairman-CEO Perry Sook told investors at a March 14 conference that by the end of the decade, the Advance Television Systems Committee 3.0 standard, also known as Next Gen TV, may yield “spectrum monetization that could rival distribution revenue today.” In 2021, Nexstar registered distribution revenue of $2.47 billion, up 14.9% year over year.

There’s nothing simple in adopting ATSC 3.0, where a reasonable, breakeven deployment remains cloudy. But failing to get an early seat on a lighthouse may also prove disastrous later.

WJRT, WNEM, WSMH, WEYI and WBSF are now broadcasting with ATSC 3.0 technology.

WCIV, WCSC, WTAT, WCBD and WGWG are now broadcasting with ATSC 3.0 technology.

WPBF, WPEC, WFLX, WPTV and WWHB-CD are now broadcasting with ATSC 3.0 technology.

New research from Sony shows that ATSC 3.0 offers a large variety of innovative usecases using multicast delivery. In addition to high bitrate television broadcasts to stationary televisions, ATSC 3.0 also supports multicast file delivery to the automotive industry since very robust physical layer parameters can be selected and therefore reliable high-speed reception is now possible.

Public TV broadcasters this week asked the FCC to give them more flexibility when it comes to offering their primary HD signal and multicast subchannels during broadcasters’ transition to NextGen TV (aka ATSC 3.0).

ATSC 3.0 exhibits, demonstrations and sessions will take place throughout NAB Show, set for April 23-27 in Las Vegas.

The noncommercial broadcaster’s WLIW in New York will host the metropolitan area’s major PBS member stations: WNET,  WLIW and NJ PBS, offering NextGen TV service to 7.45 million TV households.

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.

WBAY, WFRV, WLUK, WCWF and WGBA are now broadcasting with ATSC 3.0 technology.

Evoca, a multichannel TV service built on NextGen TV broadcast technology, is launching its service, which includes the Altitude Sports regional network, in Denver. For $25 per month plus a receiver — which costs $5 per month to rent or $250 to buy — with no contract and a guaranteed price for two years, new Evoca subscribers will get access to live games from the Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche along with Colorado State University and University of Denver games. The service also includes NFL Network, Game Show Network, Curiosity Stream, Bloomberg and other channels along with access to ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC affiliates through a provided antenna.

Sports betting will continue its meteoric rise in spot TV, Nielsen’s measurement footing will remain shaky and NextGen TV may finally deliver on new revenue streams for broadcasters in another challenging year ahead.

Major set manufacturers Samsung, LG and Sony glanced over NextGen TV in their presentations, although Hisense and Tablo unveiled new NextGen-enabled products in this year’s heavily slimmed-down event.

After a whirlwind end to 2021, with a number of significant market launches announced in December alone, the Advanced Television Systems Committee will review progress of the NextGen TV deployments as well as a look ahead. With the recent addition of NextGen TV service in Los Angeles and Washington, ATSC 3.0 broadcasting now reaches nearly half of all American viewers, the ATSC announced this week.

Two LPTV stations in the Idaho DMA (189) are poised to launch ATSC 3.0 and make Twin Falls the fourth market to bring Evoca TV, the NextGen TV-based OTA-OTT hybrid pay television service, to viewers. All that’s needed is for the stations, Ventura Broadcasting-owned KVUI and KPIF, to receive final approval from the FCC for their conversion to 3.0. Once the switch is flipped, Twin Falls will become the smallest market on-air with NextGen TV.

After putting 25 stations on the air with the new transmission technology this year, it says it plans to convert another 20 markets in 2022, bringing its coverage of U.S. TV households with ATSC 3.0 to 50%.

KOLR, KSPR, KRBK and KOZL are now broadcasting with ATSC 3.0 technology.

KTTV, KCOP and KTLA become the first stations in DMA No. 2 to power up ATSC 3.0 technology.

The Howard NextGen TV Broadcast Collaborative culminates with academic resources and technical innovation to deliver ATSC 3.0 via WHUT, WJLA, WRC, WTTG and WUSA.

Sinclair Broadcast Group deployed ATSC 3.0 in Washington as its Class A digital WIAV-CD began low-power broadcasts. Sinclair released a video explaining the deployment and says the launch “sets the stage” for deployment of major full-powered TV network affiliates in the Capital region later this month.

Executives from WarnerMedia, Graham Media Group, Dalet and Perspective Media Group told a TVNewsCheck webinar last week that the proliferation of direct-to-consumer services and remote/distributed production shifts put the industry’s cloud migration as next year’s biggest trend.

WXLV, WGHP, WXII and WMYV are now broadcasting with ATSC 3.0 technology.

The revenue truth has been around for TV stations for some time — they cannot live and grow only from dependence on advertising (political and core) and affiliate revenues in the coming years. NextGen TV to the rescue, according to one TV consultant forecast from BIA Advisory Services.

New datacasting revenue from NextGen TV could account for 22% of total local broadcasting revenues by 2030 according to BIA Advisory Services.

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

In a victory for broadcasters, the FCC has tentatively concluded that NextGen TV broadcasters — ones broadcasting in the ATSC 3.0 standard — should be granted a sub-license of sorts to allow them to contract with another “host” station or stations to carry their simulcast multicast streams, whether that is in ATSC 3.0 or the current 1.0 format.

According to BIA estimates, direct mail will account for $33.4 billion in local ad revenue next year. Now is the time for local TV to frame out how NextGen TV can be deployed along similar lines to capture that revenue for itself.

WCCT, WTIC, WFSB and WTNH are now broadcasting with ATSC 3.0 technology.