Don’t look up. Rather, be prepared to place your gaze on a cloud-native NEXTGEN TV demonstration on a special broadcast channel in Las Vegas established by Sinclair Inc. specifically to showcase what a “full-spectrum” ATSC 3.0-powered broadcast may achieve.
With the voluntary transition to ATSC 3.0 digital broadcast signals not enough for the NAB and broadcast TV companies now seeking an official sunset date for the current ATSC 1.0 TV signal technology, “creative and innovative” products are becoming more desirable, says Sinclair.
That’s why they assert that the “cloud era of broadcast television will make the transition of the top 55 markets” by February 2028 or earlier, as well as the transition of the entire industry by February 2030 or earlier, “an easily achievable goal.”
The Las Vegas test channel is designed to demonstrate how simple this task is.
“Ordinarily, stations transitioning to ATSC 3.0 must replicate much of their current equipment and operations – including encoders, packagers, schedulers, and more – which must then be configured,” Sinclair explains. “With cloud-based broadcasting, stations can acquire preconfigured broadcast air chains that will save capital investment and time – helping to speed a successful transition to ATSC 3.0 and unlock the future of television for viewers and broadcasters.”
Sinclair is already running automation and playout from the cloud. Completing the broadcast chain, this demonstration will showcase a cloud-based broadcast system which includes an Ateme Titan Live encoder feeding the ENENSYS MediaCast ATSC 3.0 packager, which in turn feeds ENENSYS SmartGate ATSC 3.0 broadcast schedulers/gateways. All components are implemented in software and their instances are deployed natively within the same AWS Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) leveraging multicast capabilities and utilized natively.
This demonstration, Sinclair says, highlights the significant efficiencies gained by deploying encoders in the cloud, enabling broadcasters to dynamically scale resources based on demand while reducing on-premises hardware requirements. The configuration uses a single ROUTE signaling server to feed multiple broadcast gateways, creating a streamlined workflow that optimizes infrastructure costs while maintaining broadcast-grade quality and reliability.
The cloud-based system will broadcast an over-the-air lineup of channels, including 4K Advanced HDR content; station programming from Sinclair-owned NBC affiliate KSNV-3 in Las Vegas; Sinclair-owned national digital subchannel networks Comet, CHARGE! TBD/ROAR and The Nest; and AWS’ live content originating from the show floor at the Las Vegas Convention Center. These signals will be broadcast over the air, with reception demonstrations available at the LVCC, allowing NAB Show attendees to experience firsthand the quality and capabilities of cloud-generated NextGen TV broadcasts.
These demonstrations will be located in at the ATSC booth by Sinclair (LVCC West Hall, Booth W3056), the AWS Booth (W1701), and the Enensys Booth (W3255).
All transmissions will feature Broadcaster Application functionality and Advanced Emergency Alerting functionality. This cloud implementation demonstrates how broadcasters can maintain traditional broadcast reliability while benefiting from the flexibility and scalability of cloud infrastructure.
The overall solution is monitored with the appropriate and dedicated AWS tools and the ENENSYS StreamProbe solution – running within the same AWS environment – for QoS and QoE monitoring, providing centralized global control of these ATSC 3.0 over-the-air signals.
“ENENSYS is extremely proud to be part of this collaboration demonstrating a full ATSC 3.0 station natively in the AWS cloud,” Enensys GM Ralph Bachofen said. “Utilizing a centralcast configuration serving multiple transmitters will minimize complexity and cost for mass deployment.”
Mark Aitken, the Sr. VP for Advanced Technology at Sinclair and President of ONE Media Technologies, “Cloud-based broadcasting will help make it an easy reach to sunset ATSC 1.0 consistent with industry goals. Sunsetting 1.0 and unlocking the full potential of NextGen TV is vital for the industry and our viewers, and cloud-based broadcast airchains make that transition far simpler and faster.”
— with editing by RBR+TVBR’s West Coast Bureau, in Mesa, Ariz.
