The FCC just received broadcasters' request to permit use of ATSC 3.0 and has not yet said whether it will even consider the petition. Nonetheless, Sinclair is charging ahead with plans to exploit the technology that include a national "wireless IP pipeline" that can deliver TV and data to consumers and other clients.
Sinclair Eager To Offer Next-Gen TV Services
Just a day after the broadcasters asked the FCC to authorize the use of the ATSC 3.0 broadcast standard, Sinclair Broadcast Group is off and running with plans for exploiting the new technology.
The TV station group, one of the leading proponents of 3.0, is forming ONE Media 3.0 LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary, “to develop business opportunities, products and services” using the standard.
“Discussions with leading global infrastructure providers in these arenas have been underway for some time and have been accelerated recently by the broad support [for 3.0],” said Sinclair CEO David Smith. “Our ONE Media LLC joint venture has developed the tools; it is now time for ONE Media 3.0 to build the house.”
ONE Media 3.0 and ONE Media LLC (without the “3.0”) are two different entities. The latter is Sinclair’s joint venture with Coherent Logix, which developed key elements of 3.0 during the Advanced Television Systems Committee’s standards-setting process before being submitted to the FCC for approval.
High on the list of ONE Media 3.0’s “business opportunities” is a national network that would aggregate the transmission capacity of TV stations belonging to Sinclair and other participating station groups across the nation, said Mark Aitken, VP of Advanced Technology at Sinclair.
The “wireless IP pipeline” could be used to broadcast a national multichannel TV programming service or provide data delivery services to third parties, he said. Mobile users of the services could travel between markets with no disruption of service just as cell phones users do, Aitken said.
BRAND CONNECTIONS
Such a seamless network is possible because of 3.0’s ability to support single frequency networks (SFNs) — that is, multiple transmitters in the same locality operating on the same frequency, he said.
In addition to national services, he said, ONE Media 3.0 could lease capacity on the network to TV stations in individual markets so that they better cover their markets with their signals and reliably reach fixed TV sets with indoor antennas and mobile devices.
Leasing capacity would save them from having to spend money to build out their own local SFNs, Aitken said.
Building the network is no small undertaking, according to Aiken. It would involve thousands of transmitters and hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars, he said.
Aitkin was confident he could pull together the broadcasters needed for the national platform. For instance, he said, if Tribune, Gray and Nexstar joined Sinclair in such a venture, ONE Media 3.0 could reach 90% of the country.
Aiken conceded that several startups like Geocast and iBlast tried to create national data distribution using broadcast spectrum when stations first shifted to the current DTV standard in the 2000s.
But 3.0 is a superior technology in many ways, he said, pointing out that 3.0 is more robust than DTV and its IP format is compatible with digital media.
What’s more, he said, consolidation of station ownership makes it easier to aggregate the critical mass of broadcast capacity.
“We’ve studied history and the existing new landscape and know how to get it done, and we have the will and capability to follow through,” he said.
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