A Tale of Two Trials – Interactive TV & M-EAS

Pearl, the consortium of eight TV groups formed four years ago to investigate and test new digital technologies, will launch this month a trial of interactive television in Atlanta, Cleveland and Orlando, Fla., during live newscasts.

The interactive TV trial, which gives viewers watching on LG Smart TVs in the three markets access to enhanced news content and advertising, will continue into the summer.

The announcement of the trial was made by representatives from Pearl and LG Electronics April 8 at a press breakfast before the opening of Day Two of the NAB Show in Las Vegas.

To access the interactive television content, viewers must first complete a “double opt-in,” by agreeing via the television’s LifePlus smart TV interface and then clicking on screen during newscasts to launch interactive services. The back-channel from the LG Smart TV to station servers providing interactive content will be via the Internet.

“One of the notable things about this trial of interactive TV with Pearl is that it’s the first time this technology will be used with a live news broadcast,” said Peter Diaz, EVP of Gannett, one of the eight members of Pearl.

As part of the interactive trial, stations plan to include photos and map overlays related to news and weather stories.

“LG’s central technology office has been working on developing interactive for a number of years, bringing together broadcasters and technology elements for a technological solution,” said Wendell Wenjen, director of Smart TV Advertising and Interactive TV Platforms for LG Electronics.

The Pearl consortium also announced at the event that it will expand its test of the Mobile Emergency Alert System in Florida later this spring with the addition of three stations in the West Palm Beach area.

WFLX, the Raycom Media-owned Fox affiliate, WPTV, the E.W. Scripps Co.-owned NBC affiliate and WPBF, the Hearst Television-owned ABC affiliate, will add the equipment needed to make M-EAS emergency alerts available via receivers that add mobile DTV to smartphones and media tablets.

The stations will join WESH, the Hearst Television NBC affiliate in Orlando, on air in Florida with its ongoing M-EAS test, which has been focused on overlaying an emergency messaging banner over video displayed on mobile DTV receivers.

Anne Schelle, former executive director of the Open Mobile Video Coalition and now senior adviser to Pearl and NAB, and John Lawson, former president-CEO of the Association of Public Television stations and now founder and principal of Convergence Services, a Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm announced the expanded M-EAS test April 8 during a press breakfast sponsored by LG Electronics and GatesAir held in conjunction with the NAB Show.

“Today on the show floor, we have turnkey equipment from GatesAir, Triveni Digital and Monroe to allow a station to take emergency alert messaging to mobile DTV using the same pathway used for EAS,” said Lawson.

Lawson pointed out that wireless cellular networks have proven to be particularly vulnerable to service outages during emergencies, such as Hurricane Sandy, when a large number of cell sites in the area affected by the storm failed and the remaining sites were overwhelmed by people clogging the wireless network seeking emergency information.

M-EAS, which relies on broadcasts one-to-many over-the-air reach, sidesteps the cellular industry’s wireless network and can connect people with enhanced emergency information, which not only warns of an emergency but also can transmit rich media, such as maps of evacuation routes, video, and other vital information to people in danger.

Lawson also added that delivering lifesaving information via M-EAS could play a key role in getting receiver chips into cell phones.

LG Electronics and GatesAir, formerly the RF division of Harris Broadcast, also announced at the breakfast the company’s FutureCast next-generation digital terrestrial TV system, which has been submitted to ATSC as a candidate for the physical layer of ATSC 3.0.

The Pearl consortium is made up of Cox Media Group, the E.W. Scripps Co., Gannett, Hearst Television, Media General, Meredith Local Media Group, Post-Newsweek Stations and Raycom Media.