Playout

Verizon’s 4G LTE service operates in the 700MHz band and Time Warner Cable recently moved some TV channels to new spectrum assignments into that same band. And because some cable set-top boxes lack the appropriate shielding to block interference, some channels could look pixelated and jerky. Capitol Broadcasting VP Policy and Innovation Sam Matheny explains his personal experience, complete with video.

Michael Dolan, an industry consultant for The Nielsen Co. and founder and president of the Television Broadcast Technology consulting group, assumes his new role Jan. 1. ATSC 2.0 is the stepping stone to ATSC 3.0, the next-generation standard, and will let broadcasters offer content in non-real-time, premium content using conditional access and improved service guides. Audience measurement is also expected to improve under the new standard.

Sports production professionals prefer 1080i for producing sports today, and more anticipate to build their future production trucks and studios in 3 Gbps/1080p, instead of 4K, according to a new survey sponsored by Miranda Technologies.

The demonstration took place in Australia, but it showed how U.S. television stations could potentially broadcast in the future. Ericsson, in partnership with Qualcomm, submitted its LTE Broadcast Solution to the Advance Television Systems Committee as a proposal for ATSC 3.0, the next-generation U.S. broadcast standard. “LTE Broadcast provides the ability to send the same content simultaneously to a very large number of devices in a target area,” says Thomas Norén, VP, head of Project Area Radio at Ericsson.

The new diginet, which shows TV watchers what’s playing over broadcast airwaves in a two-hour timespan, is currently broadcasting at 12 stations around the country.

Broadcasters aren’t going to like hearing this, but in the short amount of time I’ve served as an Aereo beta tester in Denver, I’ve been very impressed by the controversial streaming service. Image quality is great, the cloud DVR is more useful than I thought and I get access to 26 channels from anywhere in the Denver area with an Internet connection.

No major surprises from Apple’s big media event today: New Mac software, updated MacBooks and a redesigned iPad. The new Mac Pro could potentially find its way into a newsroom for broadcasters or video editors who need serious computing power when using Final Cut Pro, but that’s about it.

Gray Television and Sinclair Broadcast Group are willing to give up channel repacking funds following the spectrum auction if that means it will let them continue innovating with other technologies outside the approved generation of ATSC, according to a letter filed with the FCC today.

The maker of indoor TV antennas wants to get into the over-the-top business and plans to release a new device early next year that includes a built-in antenna for over-the-air signals and software to access over-the-top content from services like Netflix and Hulu. “Cord-cutters watch over-the-air broadcasts, but most people want more than just that,” says Mohu CEO Mark Buff. “You need over-the-air coupled with a Netflix, Hulu or Amazon.”

As the streaming service continues its goal of launching in 22 markets by year’s end, it also hopes to gain more subscribers by being available on the Android platform. At first, Aereo’s Android app will only be available in beta in markets where Aereo’s service is available. Those users will be able to stream content from their devices to big screens at home using a Roku or Google Chromecast.

In partnership with Harris Broadcast, “Futurecast” is designed to increase data throughput by 30%, improve mobile TV and indoor TV reception and feature robust transmission capabiltiies for things like 4K broadcasts. Notably, the proposed physical layer doesn’t mention DVB, the European standard that was included in several of the ATSC 3.0 proposals. LG developed the current ATSC standard used today.

The streaming company originally hoped to launch in the Windy City on Sept. 13, following rollouts in New York, Boston and Atlanta. It’s unclear what’s specifically holding everything up, but delaying a market’s launch isn’t new for Aereo.

The station group is the first in the U.S. to integrate the asset management and archiving solution with its newsroom system. Masstech For News lets journalists access stories — text and video — within a station’s newsroom system, like AP ENPS and Avid iNews.

Picking up where it left off at the NAB Show, 4K was clearly a big trend at the IBC Show in Amsterdam. Most broadcasters agree that sports will kickoff the 4K craze, but what about local news at stations? I just don’t see it happening for a very, very long time.

There weren’t many American broadcasters at the European-based International Broadcast Show this past week in Amsterdam, but the ones who made the trip were focused on the future of U.S. terrestrial broadcasting. Broadcast tech execs who traveled to IBC included: Robert Seidel of CBS; Kevin Gage of the NAB; Sam Matheney of Capitol Broadcasting; Ira Goldstone of Univision; Mark Aitken of Sinclair Broadcast Group; and Dave Siegler of Cox Media Group.

At the IBC Show this week in Amsterdam, the DVB standards body is showing off one of the top priority goals of ATSC 3.0 using its DVB-T2 standard: A single terrestrial signal that’s robust enough to send a 4K broadcast to a television set and a lower-resolution broadcast to a mobile device.