TV Stations Urges The FCC To Quicken The Rollout Of Next Gen TV

In November 2017 the FCC approved a new set of rules allowing broadcast television to upgrade to an IP based standard to transmit over-the-air signals. At the onset, the FCC placed no requirements on the stations transitioning to ATSC 3.0, allowing for the voluntary roll-out on a station-by-station and market-by-market basis. In May 2020, broadcast stations in Las Vegas became the first TV market to start broadcasting in ATSC 3.0 (a.k.a. Next Gen TV)

The new format supersedes ATSC 1.0 which ushered in digital television signals (HDTV) in 2009. NextGen TV provides a number of upgrades including enhanced picture quality (4K TV) and advanced (Dolby) audio quality. In addition, the compressed bandwidth also allows for a greater amount of content including multiple video streams and on-screen interactive apps. Another improvement is the upgraded video content is potentially available on mobile devices and automobiles. NextGen TV requires an inexpensive indoor antenna, no cable/satellite, Wi-Fi or streaming subscription is needed. NextGen TV could also provide the ability to download Internet or data files to areas with no broadband.

In late March broadcast stations in San Francisco became the latest local market to have NextGen TV available to viewers. At the onset, the Nexstar owned KRON will be transmitting its own programming as well as the programming from KGO (ABC), KPIX (CBS), KNTV (NBC), KTVU (Fox) and KDTV (TelevisaUnivision).

There are about 70 TV markets with access to NextGen TV including such major markets as Boston, Denver, Washington, Seattle, Atlanta and Dallas. At present, an estimated 60% of TV households have access to the NextGen TV signal. According to Pearl TV which promotes NextGen TV, 75% of U.S. households will be NextGen TV accessible by year end.

The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) which represents local broadcast stations, noted the important role the NextGen TV standard will have in enabling broadcasters to flourish “in an increasingly competitive media marketplace.” TV stations are looking at NextGen TV and the first-party data to increase ad revenue with interactivity, geotargeting, addressable and e-commerce capabilities. Last November, Nexstar in a presentation to investors, estimated that by 2030 U.S. broadcast TV stations could make $15 billion a year just
just
from NextGen TV’s datacasting capabilities.

Furthermore, NextGen TV strengthens the emergency warning system for any hyperlocal weather advisories such as tornado warnings, as well as notifying users on the location of natural disasters including mudslides and fires.

The NextGen TV signal is not compatible with the ATSC 1.0 tuner prevalent in most television sets. To receive the full benefits of NextGen TV, consumers will be required to purchase an ATSC 3.0 compatible television set or reception device with a NextGen TV tuning capability. Most major TV manufacturers are now selling sets embedded with NextGen TV tuners.

For example, Sony’s entire line of television sets are NextGen TV compatible while Samsung and LG have them in their high-end models. Hisense and Vizio have announced they will be ramping up its production of NextGen TV enabled sets this year. Consumers however, will not have to rush out and buy a new television set, the FCC has mandated that for the immediate future, ATSC 1.0 signals will remain intact as NextGen TV is rolled out. Moreover, NextGen TV converter boxes are available although for now they are costly.

BIA’s managing director Rick Ducey argues that, “ATSC 3.0 branded for the consumer market as NextGen TV can be seen as something much bigger than a standard change to improve TV audio, video, and data services for consumers. By design ATSC 3.0 uses Internet-based technologies to bring new life to the local TV broadcast platform with the ability to empower new types of business models and services for broadcasters and the markets they serve.”

For example, late last year the Sinclair owned ONE Media Systems, Hyundai Mobis and CastEra, in a joint venture with SK Telecom (the largest mobile operator in South Korea), demonstrated, the synergy of NextGen TV with 5G. The demonstration highlighted in-vehicle video entertainment among other services with enhanced geo-targeting capabilities and location based targeted ad insertions. Also, at this year’s NAB show, Sinclair ONE gave a detailed presentation on transmitting radio using NextGen TV.

The broadcast industry has expressed concerns the roll-out of NextGen TV has stalled that could hinder local media. Earlier this year the NAB asked the FCC to create a task force that would accelerate the adoption of the new standard and focus on any issues impacting the roll-out. Among the issues cited is the need to develop a strategy for the phasing out of the FCC requirement for dual transmissions of ATSC 1.0 and ATSC 3.0 which the NAB describes as “wasteful.”

More recently, in a rare instance of bipartisanship, 27 U.S. Senators sent a letter to FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel urging to quicken the deployment of NextGen TV. The letter noted in part, “A successful ATSC 3.0 transition should be a priority of the FCC going forward to ensure that local broadcasters can continue to best serve their communities as a trusted source of local news.”

In the past, the NAB had noted, the FCC was instrumental in the successful roll-out of Wi-Fi and 5G, now they need to prioritize the roll-out of NextGen TV.