spectrum repack

Broadcasters are concerned that the logistics and costs of moving about a thousand stations will not be adequate to meet time deadlines and the reimbursement money alloted. “It still feels like the FCC should have, and could have, done a better job at optimizing the repack and causing less disruption and have had a lower cost to reimburse for the repack,” says Nexstar’s Brett Jenkins.

Hitachi Kokusai Electric Comark | Booth C4309 | Website: www.comarktv.com.  Hitachi Kokusai Electric Comark, a manufacturer and supplier of DTV transmitters, encoding systems, and associated field services for over 45 […]

According to the FCC, there were 175 TV stations that sold spectrum in the auction for just over $10 billion. Of these 175, 30 are moving to a VHF channel and 133 have indicated that they will be channel sharing with a station that did not sell spectrum in the auction. That suggests only 12 stations sold their spectrum with the intent to go dark permanently. For those stations that did not sell spectrum in the auction, the FCC indicates that 957 of them are being involuntarily moved to new channels. As a result, the spectrum repack looks like it will be every bit as complex and all-encompassing as many had feared. Here are the key deadlines you need to be aware of.

WHTV, a MyNetworkTV affiliate serving Jackson and Lansing, Mich., owned by Venture Technologies Group, has announced it will go off the air at the end of the month. The announcement, posted on the station’s website home page, says WHTV will cease broadcasting at midnight on Sunday, April 30.

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In a meeting on Tuesday with the chairman, the association is worried about the 39-month deadline to move to new channel assignments as well as “the potentially significant impact the repack will have on non-repacked broadcasters.”

Job one for TV broadcasters at the 2017 NAB Show will be planning for the TV spectrum repack, which is upon them. A close second will be next-gen TV service based on the ATSC 3.0 standard. At the  NAB Show and at the PBS TechCon, there will be a cornucopia of sessions devoted to both topics. Here’s a roundup NAB Show and PBS TechCon sessions that address the repack directly.

Broadcasters and tower owners preparing for the move of roughly 1,000 stations to new channel assignments will want to do more than simply replace equipment. They will seek to improve upon it. Stations sharing a UHF antenna are likely to find that elliptical waveguide tech, with its power-handling, broadband and wind-loading benefits, will become an important part of a successful TV spectrum repack and rollout of ATSC 3.0.

With the FCC’s broadcast incentive auctions officially in the books, the extensive channel repacking process begins. But the NAB warns changes are needed to avoid broadcasters being forced off the air. Spokesman Dennis Wharton: “Right now as written, if we’re not done in 39 months, any TV station which has not made the transition has to turn in its license and go out of business. I think that’s just absurd in terms of the impact on consumers.”

Broadcasters around the world are adopting new transmission standards, while in the U.S., stations are preparing to move to new channel assignments, even as they eye single frequency networks as their ticket to reaching consumers moving around outside the home. All of these transmission changes open up new possibilities for in-band and co-channel interference, and as engineers prepare to cope with those, they will also need solutions for dealing with the special monitoring needs of SFNs. It all adds up to the need for a new level of sophistication in signal monitoring and analysis. Pictured here is a clean signal monitored by Avateq’s ActiveCore® RF Layer Monitoring Receiver and Signal Analyzer.

The FCC-mandated TV spectrum repack and ATSC 3.0 will be the biggest trends in RF developments at the 2017 NAB Show. However, that simple statement glosses over the complexities involved in making both a reality. This year’s convention will mark the first major industrywide opportunity broadcasters and RF vendors have had to dive into the nitty-gritty of making these major changes a reality. Photo: RFS. Click here to access TVNewsCheck’s NAB 2017 Resource Guide listing of RF consultants, vendors and products or here to download it as a PDF.

In preparation for the upcoming spectrum repack, American Tower orders TFU-WB broadband, side-mount antennas plus transmission line to support its broadcast customers as they relocate UHF stations to new channel assignments.

It tells the FCC that some details of the plan to move stations to their new channels “have exacerbated challenges inherent in the repack, putting viewers at risk and potentially causing unnecessary harm to broadcasters. Many of these decisions are simply irreversible at this point. Nevertheless, the commission still has an opportunity to take steps to develop and implement a transition plan that treats all stakeholders fairly and protects viewers and listeners from service disruptions.”

MYAT Inc. is introducing the next generation of transmission waveguide for repack Chs. 14 to 36. This new product comes when many U.S. broadcasters who will be moving to new […]

The March 13 session at the FCC’s Washington headquarters will offer an overview of the incentive auction; reviews of the procedures for broadcast stations filing applications for construction permits during the 39-month transition period; procedures for submitting bank account information to ensure payment of reverse auction winnings and reimbursement of eligible expenses; plus a Q&A session with FCC staff.

Raycom Media CEO Pat LaPlatney today endorsed proposed legislation that would provide additional reimbursement funds for stations forced to move in the repack if the FCC deems them necessary and it would prohibit the FCC from shutting down stations that can’t move to their new channels within 39 months. Also, he says, by eliminating some of the uncertainty from the repack, Congress will be encouraging broadcasters to implement ATSC 3.0.

Public broadcasters who learned that their TV stations will be moving to new channels during the “repack” phase of the FCC’s spectrum auction are questioning how to manage the costs of the engineering projects, which must be completed no later than the middle of 2020.

Broadcasters are now reviewing so-called confidential letters from FCC telling them if they have to move to new channels in the post-auction repack of the TV band, Those that do have to relocate are being given new channel assignments and technical parameters for them.

The FCC last week released two public notices, which together detail schedules and procedures to follow to relocate what is likely to be more than 1,200 TV stations to new channel assignments. While receiving high marks for its effort from broadcasters and consultants, many concerns remain. Topping the list of concerns: When to open CP windows; bad assumptions about the work that’s already been done and the effect of delays resulting from weather and zoning; the rippling impact of a delay in one phase on others; and the continued promise of going dark for stations failing to complete the relocation on time.

The FCC’s recent public notices provided transitioning stations with some much-needed clarity regarding the post-auction process. Here’s an overview of what’s cleared up and what’s not.

The FCC says it will manage the migration of hundreds of stations to new channels over 39 months by grouping the stations into 10 groups, each with its own deadline. But it offers no immediate relief on the so-called quiet period.

It suggests changes the FCC should consider to make it less repetitive and burdensome for broadcasters and to insure that stations are not forced to reduce service indefinitely during repacking.

This summer, Phil Kurz, TVNewsCheck’s technology editor, hit the road to visit the manufacturing facilities of Dielectric, Electronics Research Inc. (ERI) and GatesAir (above) to see how each is preparing for the expected spike in demand for antennas, transmitters and other RF components as a result of the TV spectrum repack. This is what he learned.

TV tower firm Electronics Research warned the FCC that the “quiet period” for broadcasters during the ongoing broadcast incentive auctions could have a “detrimental effect” on planning for the resulting channel reassignment transition.

It urges flexibility above all, saying: “Threatening broadcasters and their viewers with service losses solely due to the commission’s miscalculation is an irresponsible and unfair approach to the repacking challenge.”

Stations need to make sure they consider their future ATSC 3.0 needs alongside any changes that the post-incentive auction spectrum repack will require.

A key driver of OTA growth comes from cord-cutters or cord-nevers who relied on internet subscription services, then discovered that their HDTVs already receive free, local television through a cheap antenna. Ironically, it turns out that broadband — still thought by some to be the killer of television — has become a kind of gateway drug for cord-cutting. The key for public television stations is to integrate broadcasting with the internet, which the ATSC 3.0, the next-generation TV standard, is explicitly designed to enable when broadcasters begin adopting it in 2018.

To insure that stations are not forced off the air during the post-auction TV band repack and wireless carriers get prompt access to the spectrum they buy, the FCC should permit stations to share channels during the repack, says OTA Broadcasting.

This week, the FCC conducted a webinar to explain the spectrum repack plan laid out in its Sept. 30 public notice. Leading voices in the broadcast industry gave the plan a less-than-enthusiastic response, citing a variety of specific shortcomings. But the underlying reason for the halfhearted reaction may have more to do with what is seen as the near impossibility of completing the repack in 39 months.

In a somewhat unusual move, the FCC’s Media Bureau and Incentive Auction Task Force have issued a joint public notice encouraging “all television licensees” to “ensure that their contact information on file with the commission is accurate and current”. As the notice reminds everybody, licensees are generally required to do so anyway, but it’s especially important now in light of the impending spectrum repack process.

TV stations forced by the Incentive Auction/spectrum repack process to modify their facilities will be entitled to reimbursement of their reasonable repacking-related costs. In 2014, the commission hired Widelity Inc. to come up with a standardized catalog of likely costs. The commission later asked Widelity to take a look at the original list and come up with a number of suggested changes. Now, the FCC is looking for more input from the public.

“ATSC 3.0 is rounding third base and heading into the home stretch,” says Anne Schelle, managing director of Pearl TV, a consortium of leading station groups that backs 3.0 and commissioned the guide that spells out how stations can efficiently make the move to the next-gen transmission standard.

It moves the event from the original date of Oct. 13 to Oct. 17 to avoid a conflict with an IEEE symposium.

Stations will receive confidential letters with their final channel assignments shortly after the auction’s final stage, giving all stations more time to prepare. Each station that has to move will be slotted into one of 10 transition “phases” with staggered completion dates to ease coordination issues and enable the commission to track progress.