WASHINGTON, D.C. — With the safety of GPS at risk, having a resilient alternative has emerged as a paramount need for many in the U.S. government. BPS is the solution, the NAB believes, and broadcasters hold the key. That’s why Sam Matheny took the role of Broadcast Positioning System EVP at the start of 2026, working alongside Tariq Mondal, who is now VP of BPS.
For some, a conversation about BPS could have easily been misheard as one about K-Pop boy band BTS until one year ago, when President Trump returned to the White House. That’s when the NAB accelerated its BPS efforts. Yet, it wasn’t the change in administrations that triggered the push for the GPS alternative.
“We had been thinking about it before 2025,” says Matheny. In fact, Matheny and Mondal teamed with VP of Spectrum Policy Bob Weller to pen the very first scientific paper on BPS in 2021. “It was really a concept paper,” Matheny explains, noting that it first appeared at the Broadcast Engineering and Information Technology (BEIT) Conference as part of the 2021 NAB Show in Las Vegas. The paper drew some attention, leading to a 2022 roundtable meeting with the U.S. Department of Transportation focused on “CPNT” — complimentary position navigation and timing. “It’s basically anything except GPS,” Matheny says.
That meeting proved eye-opening for Matheny, Mondal and Weller, as he shares in an article appearing exclusively in the Winter 2026 edition of Radio + Television Business Report’s quarterly full-color magazine.
As a Premium Membership holder, you are a VIP and have instant access to Noland’s interview — and much more — in the Radio + Television Business Report’s all-new Winter 2026 magazine. It’s a PDF in flipbook format, making it easy to read on the web browser and device of your choice. You can download it for on-demand reading, too, as this 32-page publication is full of stories you’ll want to go back to and share with your team.
What else can RBR+TVBR Members enjoy in our latest digital magazine?
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