Free Remains Important With ATSC 3.0, FCC's Heller Says; Hane Eyes OTT, Too
The FCC “wants to create flexibility for broadcasters to do new things that are beyond their core,” but the free “component is still really important,” said Martha Heller, chief of the FCC Media Bureau Policy Division, at the TV of…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
Tomorrow conference in Manhattan. “A big part of our regulatory framework is that we’re obviously requiring broadcasters to continue providing at least one free over-the-air channel to consumers. Beyond that, we recognize that spectrum is going to be much more efficient in this new standard.” Local-simulcast rules on 3.0 “are an important part of this to make sure that consumers don’t lose access to the stations they can get today,” since 3.0 won’t be backward-compatible, Heller said Thursday. Over-the-top video delivery services can be a “template” for many things stations can do with 3.0 in addition to providing linear, terrestrial TV services, said John Hane, president of the SpectrumCo consortium that includes Nexstar and Sinclair (see 1812070038). "Think about an OTT platform that doesn’t rely on a broadband connection being there all the time, that has some of the most valuable programming available for free.” Hane personally envisions "a base-layer video, and give that away free” in "standard definition," he said. “We could add enhancement layers that add HDR and other capabilities” that could be advertising-free under a subscription model, he said. He wants broadcasters to “think about an OTT platform that could be received everywhere on capable devices, whether there’s a broadband connection or not.”