NEW YORK — The future of broadcast television has arrived in the Big Apple, and for those who have a viewing device equipped with receiving NEXTGEN TV signals, Monday proved to be a historic day.
Two of the “Big Four” owned-and-operated TV stations, along with the two big PBS Member stations, the Telemundo station, and a largely unknown digital Class C facility, have launched ATSC 3.0-powered broadcasts. But, what about the other stations, which are among the most-watched in the U.S.?
That’s a question some industry observers may be asking, as the road to NEXTGEN TV in New York may be as bumpy as a pothole-ridden spring ride on the West Side Highway.
October 16 proved to be the launch date for NEXTGEN TV broadcasts from CBS News & Stations’ WCBS-2. But, co-owned WLNY-55 is not participating.
Other stations tied to this launch are comprised of NBCUniversal‘s WNBC-4 and WNJU-47; WNBC famously participated in a channel-sharing agreement with WNJU, relinquishing its spectrum in the FCC’s incentive auction. Then, there are WNET-13 and WLIW-21, the latter of which is the “lighthouse” station for ATSC 3.0 among the participants.
Lastly, there is WMBQ-CD 46, tied to WNET and home to programming catering to First Nations and Native American audiences.
Noticeably absent are WABC-7, which until the surprise firing of veteran morning host Ken Rosato earlier this year for an off-the-cuff remark caught on a hot mic during a break had been America’s No. 1 home for local newscasts; WPIX-11, the Mission Broadcasting-owned and Nexstar Media Group-run home for The CW Network; WWOR-9 and WNYW-5, the FOX Television Stations-owned duo; and TelevisaUnivision’s WXTV-41.
With six of the 11 stations available in NEXTGEN TV, the next question is who is watching. While groups such as Pearl TV continue to share the message that NEXTGEN TV-equipped sets are selling and accessory devices are gaining consumer attention, various retailers across the Tri-State Area visited by RBR+TVBR across 2023 remain largely unaware of what NEXTGEN TV is, or if they sell the sets.
Then, there is the matter of signal penetration. In Manhattan, cable television’s expansion in the early 1980s was a direct result of fuzzy over-the-air reception largely thanks to the canyon-like atmosphere created by the skyscrapers across the borough. Traveling north to Westchester County, terrain issues also made broadcast TV reception challenging. Even today, viewers in the New York DMA north of the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge in Dutchess and Ulster Counties rely largely on Charter Communications’ Spectrum MVPD service or the two direct broadcast satellite companies, DirecTV and Dish, for local broadcast channels from New York.
Despite the challenges, the shift of the six New York stations to NEXTGEN TV marks a historic move that will more than likely see all other broadcast channels in the nation’s No. 1 market adopt the ATSC 3.0-powered technology — simply at a later, undetermined date.
The launch on October 16 of NEXTGEN TV has been in the works since February 2022, however, giving station owners in New York plenty of time to decide whether or not to participate. In April 2022, work from Radio Frequency Systems helped make the “lighthouse” for WLIW come alive, following the station’s relocation to 1WTC in 2019. Heartland Video Systems has been the project consultant and integrator for The WNET Group.
The WNET Group President/CEO Neal Shapiro commented, “WLIW21 is the first full power station to convert to NEXTGEN TV in the largest television market in the US — this is broadcast television history in the making. 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.”
Intriguingly, news of the NEXTGEN TV launch in New York was distributed after-hours on Monday, with little fanfare.
The addition of the six New York DMA stations further boosts NEXTGEN TV’s reach, expected to get to 70% of U.S. television households in 2023.
That’s assuming these households have the devices, and the signals, capable of receiving the signals … and assuming these stations are consumed by the households, given the large NEXTGEN gap in the nation’s No. 1 market.
Supporting organizations for The WNET Group NEXTGEN TV Initiative are:
- AGC Systems LLC (Aldo Cugnini)
- AWARN Alliance
- BIA Advisory Services
- Centralcast
- Lerman Senter PLLC
- Public Media Venture Group
- Skip Pizzi Media Consultant LLC (Project Management)
