Some trends in local television are making themselves clear as the country slowly reopens, among them a growing pressure to consolidate, a need to find new revenue streams and greater workplace portability.

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.

The arrival of summer hasn’t slowed the flow of webinars, briefings, demos and webcasts, most targeting TV’s engineering and IT communities. For the full list of live events this week, including TVNewsCheck’s At Home Production and the Future of News Workflow, please visit TVNewsCheck’s Virtual Events Directory.

Emily Barr, president and CEO of Graham Media Group, is holding the line against layoffs, furloughs or salary cuts, but still sees a rocky second quarter unfolding. She says being communicative and honest with employees has been the most essential part of managing through an unprecedented crisis.

The pandemic will affect the shows, attendees and exhibitors for years to come. Each of us now has a chance to think about where we as an industry go from here.

ABC Owned Television Stations had begun moving many of its workflows into the cloud over a year before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, making for a faster and smoother transition once remote workflows became necessary. Tish Graham, the group’s VP of OTV technology, says the current crisis will “absolutely” speed up the industry’s transition to IP and the cloud.

During the Advanced Television Systems Committee’s virtual annual meeting, it was announced that Jae-Young Lee, senior research scientist at South Korea’s Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, is the 2020 recipient of the Bernard J. Lechner Award honoring technical and leadership contributions to the organization. ATSC also announced the recipient of its new ATSC Richer Medal, named for past ATSC President Mark Richer — the Phoenix Model Market partnership.

Dalet, Imagine, Ross Video, Sony Professional Products, the IEEE and many other companies are hosting webinars this week, while Accedo, ChyronHego, Newtek, Vizrt and others continue to offer on-demand events and access to briefings and demos. For TVNewsCheck‘s full list of events for this week, future weeks and on-demand, check the Virtual Events Directory. 

Evoca, a broadcasting-based multichannel pay service, is launching in Boise this summer with confidence it won’t meet the fate of two previous similar ventures because of its reliance on NextGen TV with its IP interoperability, expanded capacity and superior receivability.

Weather forecasts, long the most popular feature of local TV newscasts, are serving as respite for audiences gripped, and exhausted, by news about the global coronavirus pandemic. Can meteorologists, often adept at multiplatform engagement, help cement the relationship with the large numbers of new and younger audience members tuning in? Kevin Eubanks, chief meteorologist at KSL-TV Salt Lake City, Danielle Breezy, chief meteorologist at Nexstar Media’s WKRN Nashville, and Rodney Thompson, senior strategist at The Weather Co., an IBM Business, will talk about strategies for winning the loyalty of new and younger viewers during a June 4 TVNewsCheck webinar. Register here. 

Broadcasters and tech companies are high on the broadband-related prospects of ATSC 3.0, particularly for automotive applications as a near-term starter, but ultimately only as a complement to the mothership of a primary TV signal sporting major new upgrades due to that NextGen TV-branded broadcast transmission standard. That was one of the takeaways from a combined NAB/Consumer Technology Association webinar on the future of 3.0 on Monday.

The speculation is over. IBC has officially been canceled. After several weeks of exhibitors backing out — including Panasonic and Ross last week — the organization that sponsors the world’s second largest broadcast trade show finally threw in the towel today. The show was scheduled to take place in Amsterdam Sept. 11-14. The official announcment said, in part: “Whilst this is hugely disappointing for us all, IBC will continue to play a vital role in supporting the industry to get back on track wherever we are able. Over the coming months IBC will continue to engage with the industry through its digital platform IBC365. Details of our plans will follow soon.”

New jobs posted to TVNewsCheck’s MediaJobCenter include openings for assistant news directors, executive producers, news producers, reporters, promotion managers and engineers in Texas, South Carolina and Iowa.