Six Stations Launch NextGen TV In New York

WCBS, WLIW, WMBQ, WNBC, WNET and WNJU are now available in ATSC 3.0 technology in the country’s No. 1 market.

Six television stations serving New York (DMA 1) are available broadcasting with NextGen TV, also known as ATSC 3.0.

Public television’s WLIW owned by The WNET Group leads the transition as the first full-power ATSC 3.0 station in the market. In addition to WLIW (PBS), viewers can receive CBS’s WCBS (CBS), WNET’s WMBQ-CD (First Nations Experience), Comcast/NBC’s WNBC (NBC), WNET (PBS) and Comcast/NBC’s WNJU (Telemundo) via over the air via supported TVs and devices.

WLIW is hosting ATSC 3.0 for all participating stations by carrying its own signal and simulcasts from the other partner stations in the market that boasts a population of over 7.7 million TV households, according to the 2023 Nielsen DMA Rankings. All channels will be carried by WLIW, but they will appear on their originally assigned local station lineups on all NextGen TV receivers.

The WNET Group said it is uniquely positioned as host or “lighthouse” in this commercial/noncommercial station partnership as the local operator of two full-power signals after moving WLIW to One World Trade Center in 2019 in anticipation of the upcoming ATSC 3.0 technology.

“WLIW21 is the first full-power station to convert to NextGen TV in the largest television market in the U.S. — this is broadcast television history in the making,” said Neal Shapiro, president and CEO of The WNET Group. “We welcome the opportunity to collaborate with WNBC, WNJU and WCBS on ATSC 3 as we navigate the challenges and opportunities of this digital evolution. I’m confident this partnership will ensure the best possible outcome for our New York area viewers.”

Heartland Video Systems has been the project consultant and integrator for The WNET Group.

BRAND CONNECTIONS

Viewers who watch television over-the-air in the New York City DMA (including all five boroughs of New York City, Long Island, portions of New York State, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania) will need to rescan their television sets following the conversion.  No action is required by cable and satellite subscribers.

 


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