With the March 30 launch of ATSC 3.0-powered NEXTGEN TV in the sixth-largest television market in the U.S., BitPath reached a rollout milestone.
The NextGen Broadcast service it manages is now available in 50 markets.
That translates to potential reach of more than 150 million people, all of whom can gain access to BitPath affiliated stations — assuming they get the upgrade equipment necessary to access NEXTGEN TV channels.
As the 2023 NAB Show officially opens on Sunday, April 13 events at the Las Vegas Convention Center will include several sessions devoted to ATSC 3.0 adoption and its rollout, which is voluntary.
Forces want that voluntary embrace of ATSC 3.0 to be sped up, however. Given the technological plusses that come from the switch from ATSC 1.0, there could be money in the mix.
BitPath seeks to make that point very clear at the NAB Show, as it is touting that it has successfully — and for the first time — used the ATSC 3.0 standard to transmit updates to AI models running on IoT devices.
BitPath will publicly demonstrate this new application for its broadcast data network in Las Vegas this weekend.
“We’re proud to have helped leading broadcasters bring NextGen TV to so many Americans,” said Tom Mikkelsen, BitPath’s Chief Transition Director. “Hitting 50 markets is a major milestone on the march to bring ATSC 3.0 to every television station in the country. We congratulate the leadership and engineering teams at the hundreds of stations we’ve supported on their hard work and great success.”
Sasha Javid, BitPath’s COO, added “With the BitPath network reaching almost half the country we’re preparing to bring the power of data broadcasting to Americans in cities from coast to coast. True to our focus on the fastest growing data applications, we’ve shown that ATSC 3.0 can be the wireless backbone for efficient distribution of updates to machine learning models operating on thousands of embedded devices in a market.”
Thus, while the 2022 NAB Show saw public demonstrations of Run3TV, the app-like screen that viewers to a ATSC 3.0-powered broadcast TV channel will see in NextGen TV environments, the 2023 NAB Show is poised to bring broadcast internet out of private suites and onto the convention floor.
Doing so is integral to the growth of Arlington, Va., based BitPath. While consumers will enjoy improved audio and crisper picture with NextGen TV broadcasts, BitPath is building the nation’s first dedicated broadcast data network to provide new services including improved navigation systems for autonomous vehicles. And, it believes broadcast internet can provide such services without clogging 5G wireless internet and at a lower price.
RBR+TVBR will be covering sessions devoted to ATSC 3.0 across the weekend of April 15-16. Coverage will appear on April 17 at RBR.com.
