Gray Television Rolling Out Advanced Features With NextGen TV

With Derby Week kicking off in Louisville, Ky., Gray Television is introducing “several key initiatives to advance the NextGen TV transition and bring more of the benefits of this new standard to viewers in Gray’s local communities.”

Earlier this month, Gray’s Louisville NBC affiliate WAVE became the first affiliate of a major network to broadcast all of its programming using High Dynamic Range (HDR) with Dolby Vision and immersive sound using Dolby Atmos, the company said. The “always on” feature ensures that all of WAVE’s local and network content, including more than 30 hours of Gray’s live, local coverage from Churchill Downs starting with WAVE’s local morning news at 5 a.m. on Monday, April 29, through the late evening news at 11 p.m. on Saturday, May 4, and including the key horse races in between, will all be in HDR with immersive sound.

John O’Brien, WAVE general manager, said: “With HDR and immersive sound, WAVE’s programming will pop. Viewers will immediately notice the enhanced contrast between the brightest and darkest colors on the screen.”

Gray’s advances with NextGen are not limited to Louisville. In Las Vegas, Gray’s Fox affiliate KVVU was the first commercial television station to launch as a NextGen Virtual Broadband IP Channel in December 2023. Earlier this month, KVVU became the first Fox affiliate and first NextGen Virtual Channel to broadcast its entire programming schedule in HDR with Dolby Vision.

Pat LaPlatney, Gray president/co-CEO, said: “For many years, broadcasters have been promising to use NextGen TV to bring superior picture quality and immersive sound to viewers. Gray is proud to be among a handful of leading broadcasters who are now delivering on that promise. Our stations in Louisville and Las Vegas are just the beginning of Gray’s efforts to launch more of its NextGen TV stations with these innovative, consumer-pleasing features throughout the summer and into the fall.”

In addition to advanced picture and sound quality, Gray also is using NextGen to offer new interactive and streaming services for viewers. In Las Vegas and Kansas City, Gray’s stations are using NextGen TV and the RUN3 Platform as a portal to access Gray’s live 24/7 local news-focused national streaming service, Local News Live. With a click of the remote, viewers watching KVVU Las Vegas or KCTV Kansas City on a NextGen television set can access Local News Live. Gray’s stations in Las Vegas and Kansas City are the first to use NextGen as a portal to access a free, live streaming news service providing a new public service to viewers in Gray’s markets.

“With NextGen TV and the RUN3 Platform, Gray is able to bring Local News Live to the millions of viewers in Gray’s markets who have already purchased or will soon purchase a NextGen TV set,” said Sandy Breland, Gray’s chief operating officer.

Rob Folliard, Gray senior vice president and chairperson of NextGen TV consortium PearlTV, added: “In the coming months Gray anticipates it will use NextGen TV and the RUN3 Platform to offer more innovative and interactive features for its viewers, including start-over, interactive gaming channels, and much more. With the strong penetration of NextGen TV capable television sets in the country, we expect consumers will increasingly recognize how NextGen TV will improve their experiences even more than our industry’s transition from analog to High Definition 15 years ago.”