NEXTGEN TV

The television industry, which has walked the same technical path for the past 20 years with its OTA delivery of DTV, is on the cusp of a new era of innovation in fields as far flung as the delivery of wireless data to cars and premium video to homes.

A roundup of the NextGen TV applications station groups and startups are delivering today.

TVNewsCheck’s annual TV2025: Monetizing the Future conference, to be presented virtually this year, will tackle opportunities for revenue growth in an industry buffeted by COVID-19, an economic downturn and accelerating consolidation in the media and entertainment sector. Register here.

Imagine’s Graham Heap discusses the tech and a hope to shift from spots to audience-based buying and selling

Pearl TV, the consortium of nine station groups working to advance local NextGen TV, has added a new webinar scheduled for Aug. 19 to its ongoing series of ATSC 3.0 webcasts. The consortium split the one-hour content security and protection webinar scheduled for Aug. 12 into two separate 60-minute educational webcasts.

KATU, KOIN, KGW, KPTV, KOPB, KRCW and KPDX began broadcasting Tuesday with NextGen TV technology.

Around 10 markets should be on-air with 3.0 broadcasts by the end of the third quarter and perhaps 20 by year’s end, according to representatives of Pearl TV and BitPath. Broadcasters are also exploring the full capabilities of the NextGen standard with several new initiatives this summer, including the launch of a NextGen-capable smartphone and a trial of advanced alerting capabilities in Washington, D.C. Above, one of the six 2020 LG OLED sets that have earned the NextGen TV logo from the Consumer Technology Association.

Anne Schelle, managing director of Pearl TV, which is coordinating the Phoenix Model Market, said: “The addition of a second transmission facility provides a robust test platform with the power of two transmitters for signal testing by consumer receiver and transmission equipment manufacturers.

KUTV, KTVX, KUCW and KJZZ take to the airwaves with NextGen TV technology.

WTVF, WKRN, WZTV, WUXP and WNAB begin broadcasting ATSC 3.0 signals today.

The FCC has resolved some major outstanding issues in its framework for a transition to the ATSC 3.0 broadcast transmission standard. It declined to allow vacant in-band channels to be used for ATSC 3.0 deployment, which broadcasters sought but computer companies opposed because they want to use those channels for wireless broadband.

WPGH, WTAE and WPNT roll out the new television transmission technology.

The NextGen Video Information Systems Alliance coalition brings together providers of advanced broadcast and multichannel TV solutions to accelerate the deployment of ATSC 3.0.

Edge Networks’ Todd Achilles: “Many cities and towns in America have only a single local TV signal, importing network programming via long-distance cable and satellite feeds. Now that ATSC 3.0 has begun its march across America, there’s a real opportunity to hitch our future to a powerful stagecoach — particularly for viewers in mid-sized and small markets.”

Powered by ATSC 3.0, Sinclair’s KSNV (NBC) and KVCW (CW), Nexstar’s KLAS (CBS) and Scripps’ KTNV (ABC) are now broadcasting with the new NextGen TV technology.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Graham Media’s SVP and Chief Innovation Officer Catherine Badalamente is pivoting quickly to deal with the new realities of coronavirus-era broadcasting, but she saw disruption on the horizon before that. She says digital platforms like OTT and NextGen TV offer some of the best hedges against future disruption, if only legacy salespeople can finally get on side.

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.

A “Broadcasters’ Panel” has been a fixture at the HPA Tech Retreat program for years. This year was no exception, with panelists discussing the future with NextGen TV and the the impact that the cloud and IP will have.

Vendors see the end of a long RF repack process ahead with FCC deadlines being met, sometimes assisted by Special Temporary Authorities and interim transmission facilities. RF vendors are now looking to other revenue opportunities as the repack slows down. (Dielectric photo)