State Broadcasters Associations representing television station owners across all 50 states and the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have united to pass a resolution that seeks the FCC to adopt “a clear, industry-wide date-certain transition plan for the full deployment” of the digital broadcast standard that brings NEXTGEN TV and broadcast data business opportunities to an industry eager to claw back dollars captured by digital and streaming businesses.
The resolution was shared by the NAB, which has taken the lead in getting the Commission to mandate a firm date for which broadcast TV stations must abandon ATSC 1.0 digital signals and use ATSC 3.0 transmissions. The Rosenworcel Commission moved forward with a voluntary use of the technology pioneered and being championed by Sinclair Inc., which attempted to bring it to life a quarter-century ago but was thwarted by interests tied to the cable television industry.
Those same interests, joined by the Consumer Technology Association and its President, Gary Shapiro, have emerged as the fiercest opponents of any mandate, going so far as to call it a contradiction in a time when FCC Chairman Brendan Carr seeks to reduce or delete as many onerous and outdated regulations as possible.
As such, a sunset date for ATSC 1.0 is one thorny, hotly contested issue in a sea of political partisanship Inside the Beltway.
The resolution signed by the SBAs notes that “significant progress has already been made with over 75% of the U.S. population reached by ATSC 3.0, delivering improved picture quality, immersive audio and interactive applications that enhance the viewing experience.”
But does reach equate ownership of ATSC 3.0-capable television sets or newly developed components? That’s likely a question the CTA has.
Then, there is the unanswered question of just how MVPDs, still the key distributor of broadcast channels, would bring NEXTGEN TV to their subscribers, opening the door to new retransmission consent disputes far bigger than those seen today.
Furthermore, what would the fate be of cable television channels, as they would fall under a different technological and functional standard as the broadcast TV interface that ATSC 3.0 brings.
Meanwhile, common retailers where one may wish to purchase a new television remain uneven or perhaps devoid of NEXTGEN TV-capable sets on display for shoppers. At a Boca Raton, Fla., Costco on Thursday (7/31), the focus was on an LG 86-inch Class UR8000 Series 4K UHD LED TV and the TCL 55-inch Class Q77 Series 4K UHD QLED Smart TV, with pricing of $749.99 and $299.99, respectively. Neither model clearly states in its product details that they offer built-in NEXTGEN TV capabilities.
Credit Best Buy for explaining to its customers what NEXTGEN TV is and how it is different.
Meanwhile, the SBA resolution again puts a spotlight on NEXTGEN TV’s enhanced emergency alerting capabilities, which provide multilingual messages, along with American Sign Language and geo-targeted alerts. Additionally, there’s the development of the NAB’s own Broadcast Positioning System, now a trademarked brand name.
This, the NAB believes, could bolster U.S. national security by providing a backup to GPS.
Getting ATSC 3.0 fully realized is the lynchpin to making it happen.
Click here to read the full resolution.
Why is there no mention of the use of DRM in ATSC 3.0 that requires signal descrambling by the consumer? This will require consumers to buy new TVs or expensive add-on devices as the technology is not backwards compatible.
That is implied factual information based on the reporting of ATSC 3.0 for our trade industry audience and may not be wholly known among readers who are in the total marketplace. We thank you for making this point.
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