The NAB on Wednesday submitted an “ex parte” brief with the FCC pertaining to the voluntary transition of broadcast television stations to the ATSC 3.0 standard, which powers NEXTGEN TV.
Why? The NAB wants Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel to establish an ATSC 3.0 task force focused on making the transition as swift as possible, while ensuring viewers have access to free, local television signals at all stages of the shift.
According to the ex parte filing, distributed Thursday by the NAB, a meeting held Monday with Rosenworcel; legal advisor David Strickland; and Media Bureau Chief Holly Saurer saw the participation of not only NAB President/CEO Curtis LeGeyt but also that of NAB VP of Innovation and Strategy Alison Neplokh; Nexstar Media Group President/CEO Perry Sook; Graham Media Group President/CEO Catherine Badalamente; and Ramona Alexander, VP/GM of American Spirit Media-licensed FOX affiliate WDBD-40 in Jackson, Miss., operated by Gray Television via a shared services agreement.
In a separate meeting, the same group of broadcasters met with GOP Commissioner Nate Simington and his advisors, Adam Cassady and Marco Peraza.
Additionally, Alexander, Badalamente, LeGeyt and Neplokh met with Democratic Commissioner Geoffrey Starks and advisors Shiva Goel and Hannah Lepow.
In these meetings, NAB and its members underscored the importance of the NEXTGEN TV standard “to the continued vitality of our free, local, and trusted service.” Viewpoints were shared from small, medium, and large television groups — “all of which are unanimous in the critical role the NEXTGEN TV standard will play in enabling broadcasters to thrive in an increasingly competitive media marketplace.”
Badalamente discussed “the wealth of new hyperlocal content” GMG is distributing across its digital platforms and how it has deployed apps to enable television viewers to access that content. Alexander explained that in rural communities surrounding Mississippi’s state capital, broadcasters are often the only source of local news and information. Her excitement for the increased opportunities NEXTGEN TV will bring to her community could lead to increased coverage of local events.
While there are many benefits to NEXTGEN TV, all expressed their concerns that “a stalled transition” is afoot.
“In the nearly seven years since broadcasters alongside the consumer technology association petitioned the FCC to allow broadcasters to begin transitioning to this new standard, ultra-high-definition (or 4K) video has grown from a futuristic capability to a common capability available across nearly all other video platforms. Soon, 4K will be considered table stakes to gain access to high value content. Broadcasters cannot truly begin to offer this experience while transmitting in both standards (without any additional spectrum available). As the transition continues to stretch out, broadcasters risk losing sports and other high-value content to pay-tv platforms that are permitted to employ more advanced technologies. If broadcasters cannot keep this high-value content, it will greatly undermine their ability to serve their viewers and produce high-quality local content,” the NAB and the broadcast leaders state.
Nearly 60% of Americans have access to NEXTGEN TV service, with more markets being launched every month. However, the NAB says, “delivering the promise of this innovative technology requires a plan to eventually end the wasteful dual transmission in both ATSC 1.0 and ATSC 3.0.”
That’s a big, bold declaration from the NAB that the phase-out of ATSC 1.0, forcing consumers to upgrade to a new television capable of receiving either NEXTGEN TV or equipment bringing signals via USB to their sets sooner rather than later.
Then, there’s the matter of MVPDs, retransmission consent, and how cable television services could possibly deliver NEXTGEN TV stations, in particular in a world where RUN3TV is a web TV platform not wholly unlike an app. In a cable TV world, bringing these channels to consumers is a topic not often discussed. And, groups that oppose retransmission consent of any kind such as the American Television Alliance or ACA Connects could spark a campaign setting a more definitive timetable they find reasonable — thwarting the efforts of the NAB and key TV station owners to step up the end of ATSC 1.0 broadcasts.
That concern is addressed by the NAB. “Ensuring that viewers can continue to receive free and local television signals before, during, and after the transition is of paramount importance to broadcasters and the Commission alike,” it said. “Televisions with NEXTGEN TV capability are available from several manufacturers at a variety of price points, and low-cost converter devices are being brought to market to help ensure consumers can receive Next Gen signals. Without Commission action, this is all in peril.”
To that end, broadcasters have asked the Commission to do two things to help maintain momentum on this transition.
First, they suggested that each Commissioner “use their platform to demonstrate the agency’s commitment to ATSC 3.0.”
In the view of the NAB and the broadcast TV leaders, “The single biggest factor in the success of this transition is almost completely out of our control – it is up to the consumer electronics industry to build the devices that consumers will use to access our signals. By signaling support for ATSC 3.0 as the future of broadcasting, the Commission can help ensure these devices get built and marketed.”
Considering the lackluster rollout and acceptance of HD Radio, that statement couldn’t be more prescient for the NAB.
What would a lack of support for a swift transition to NEXTGEN TV do for the industry? As the NAB and the broadcasters see it, it will slow the pace of deployment “and eventually we may be stuck.”
This led the group to ask Rosenworcel to establish an ATSC 3.0 task force within the Commission. “A task force would put greater focus on the important issues and could draw on expertise from multiple offices and bureaus to attack problems as they arise,” the NAB through chief legal advisor Rick Kapan wrote in the ex parte filing. “A task force would enable the Commission to more effectively and efficiently focus on our shared concerns about viewers losing access to television signals, among other things. Having a person solving these complex issues would enable the transition to proceed while protecting viewers.”
