NAB for the first time in recent memory published advice on how members can best navigate CES. The Las Vegas show "has a well-deserved reputation as the place to see new technology and engage with those creating that technology,” said a Tuesday blog post from NAB Pilot, the former NAB Labs. Broadcasters’ content is “reaching our audience on an increasing number and variety of devices,” it said. “It is ever more important to witness for ourselves the changes occurring in the consumer technology marketplace.” For “newcomers” to the show, “CES can be completely overwhelming, but advance planning can moderate the madness,” it said. “The best bet is to do some research in advance of the show.” The blog advised against “just diving in and wandering” the show floor, “unless you have vast amounts of time to match the vast amount of floor space covered by the exhibits, as well as the stamina and shoes appropriate for walking on concrete for long distances.” CTA is “excited to welcome NAB executives and their members to CES and appreciate that they have long attended and participated in our show, as we have in the NAB show,” Karen Chupka, senior vice president-CES and corporate business strategy, emailed us Wednesday. “Broadcast and consumer technology executives hold numerous meetings at both shows, and no doubt ATSC 3.0 will be one of the hot topics.” CTA and NAB “have partnered in many areas, celebrating the symbiotic relationship between televised content and receiving devices, jointly promoting digital television, HD radio and more, as well as collaborating to develop key industry standards,” she said. “A number of former CTA employees are now at NAB, and we employ former NAB staff. We’ve enjoyed a close relationship with NAB for a long time, and certainly look forward to continuing this successful partnership.”
BMC Software hires Peter Leav, ex-Polycom, which was bought by Siris Capital (see 1609270041), as president-CEO, succeeding Bob Beauchamp, who remains chairman ... Sinclair promotes John Solomon to chief operating officer-Circa, its newer brand that's mobile-friendly and has video news and entertainment ... Marvell Technology hires Thomas Lagatta, ex-Numecent and onetime Broadcom, as executive vice president-worldwide sales and marketing ... Cubic hires as vice presidents at Cubic Mission Solutions: Jerry Madigan, ex-Aerojet Rocketdyn, for secure communications, and Robert Peabody, ex-Northrop Grumman, systems strategy. ... Petra Industries elevates Jim Loden to vice president of e-commerce sales ... Quantcast sales hires include Brian Murphy, ex-Unified, as vice president-sales/head-East and Central regions ... Newly named to ATSC board for 2017: Paul Hearty, Sony Electronics; Jong Kim, LG Electronics; Peter Sockett, Capitol Broadcasting; Yiyan Wu, Communications Research Centre.
The American Television Alliance isn’t trying to stop ATSC 3.0, the pay-TV group said in a blog post Monday responding to recent criticisms from NAB (see 1612090031). “We have to take the Ronald Reagan approach in this case: ‘Trust but verify.’” ATVA “is working with the FCC to weigh all of the significant factors, because that’s exactly what Americans deserve,” ATVA said. The new standard could lead to fees for consumers for buying new equipment, and “ATSC 3.0 carriage could be leveraged by broadcasters to extract yet even more retrans fees that could be passed on to consumers,” the post said. “Those concerns and the others impacting access and consumer cost burdens should all give us pause,” ATVA said. “We welcome a conversation with the NAB and federal regulators to address the concerns for consumers.”
Much of the recent talk about immersive, object-based audio for next-generation DTV systems like ATSC 3.0 has dwelled on enhanced surround sound to complement pristine Ultra HD pictures. But a somewhat overlooked benefit of immersive broadcast audio will be the opportunity for radio listeners and TV viewers to balance the level of speech against background audio to suit personal taste, the BBC’s technology point man told a London meeting last month of the International Moving Image Society.
The American Television Alliance is trying to make up for failures on the retransmission consent front by attempting to slow down broadcaster efforts (see 1612050048) to get ATSC 3.0 approved, said NAB Associate General Counsel Patrick McFadden in a blog post Friday. ATSC 3.0 will allow broadcasters to offer 4K TV for free, so ATVA's pay-TV members want to keep the FCC from approving the new broadcast standard, McFadden said. “Want to take advantage of your new 4K television? If ATVA can stall approval of Next Gen TV, you won’t have a free over-the-air option for ultra-high-definition programming,” McFadden said. “ATVA’s members will be the only game in town. That ought to keep the checks rolling in!” ATVA's requests for the FCC to issue a notice of inquiry instead of an NPRM are “transparently, embarrassingly anti-consumer,” NAB said. ATVA and ATSC didn't comment.
Efforts by pay-TV group American Television Alliance to get the FCC to commission a study or issue a notice of inquiry on ATSC 3.0 (see 1612050048) are attempts to delay the new standard “as long as possible,” NAB said in docket 16-142 Thursday. “While ATVA plainly has an interest in preventing viewers from receiving a competitive service, the Commission does not.” ATVA's arguments the FCC shouldn't allow broadcasters to use retransmission consent negotiations to encourage adoption of ATSC 3.0 don't raise any “legitimate” concerns, NAB said. If the FCC shares those concerns, they can be addressed through an NPRM rather than an NOI, NAB said. “Despite ATVA’s wishes, there is no reason for the Commission to delay any further.”
E.W. Scripps expects the FCC to “advance” an ATSC 3.0 NPRM in Q1, “setting the stage for early investment and development” of ATSC 3.0 products and services “starting early next year,” Brian Lawlor, senior vice president-broadcast, told a UBS investor conference Tuesday. That Scripps thinks the FCC will issue its ATSC 3.0 NPRM not by year-end but in early 2017 is consistent with a recent forecast from NAB Chief Technology Officer Sam Matheny at the NAB Show New York (see 1611100032). Scripps “remains probably one of the biggest proponents of the opportunities associated with ATSC 3.0,” Lawlor said. “We believe this new standard provides the foundation of a modern consumer experience and also sets the stage for things like targeted advertising and several other new business opportunities.” Lawlor thinks the industry is “in the third or fourth inning” in the progress it’s making on ATSC 3.0, he said in Q&A. “It will be important to watch over the next year or so, sort of, how that continues to march towards its destination of full commercial deployment.”
The FCC shouldn't impose any new burdens on multichannel video programming distributors as part of the transition to ATSC 3.0, AT&T and Dish Network said in a meeting with Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake and MB and Office of Engineering and Technology staff Thursday, according to an ex parte filing in docket 16-142. The new standard would require new equipment for MVPDs and consumers and could consume more bandwidth than the current standard, Dish and AT&T said. AT&T and DISH worry about "the significant capacity concerns associated with transitioning to the ATSC 3.0 standard," they said. The bandwidth required "to carry one ATSC 3.0 4K channel, for example, will consume substantially more bandwidth than a current HD channel, let alone the bandwidth that would be required to carry both an ATSC 3.0 4K signal and an ATSC 3.0 signal." they said. "Such increased carriage obligations would put at risk our ability to comply with the FCC’s must carry rules." The FCC should ensure broadcasters can't use the retransmission consent process to force MVPDs to carry the new standard, the pay-TV carriers said. Those same pay-TV companies also recently lobbied about such concerns as members of the American Television Alliance (see 1612050048).
The proposed transition to ATSC 3.0 isn't as voluntary as broadcasters claim, said the American Television Alliance in a meeting Wednesday with FCC Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake and his staff. The FCC's next step on ATSC 3.0 should be a notice of inquiry rather than NPRM, said ATVA, represented at the meeting by officials from AT&T, Charter Communications, Dish Network and the American Cable Association. Requiring MVPDs and customers to buy new equipment to receive ATSC 3.0 signals isn't voluntary, the ATVA said. The proposal would include negotiations over carrying ATSC 3.0 signals in retransmission consent negotiations, which MVPDs don't necessarily enter into on a voluntary basis, ATVA said. “Any station group with sufficient leverage to compel carriage of unwanted programming or to raise consumer prices by 40 percent per year possesses sufficient leverage to compel carriage of ATSC 3.0 signals as well.” An NOI would give the FCC time to study the proposal more in depth, the pay-TV group said in docket 16-142. “The Commission should want to understand whether the proposed transition would allow broadcasters to collect the benefits of the transition (e.g., new, monetizable services) while externalizing much of the associated costs to others.”
As framers strive to complete work on the suite of standards that will comprise ATSC 3.0, ATSC’s December newsletter, The Standard, ran a sidebar Thursday headlined “How Time Flies,” to mark the 20th anniversary Dec. 24 of FCC adoption in 1996 of the current ATSC 1.0 DTV system. Among the “fun facts from then and now” contained in the sidebar and assembled with the help of CTA: (1) The 2016 TV market was worth $20 billion in factory dollars and encompassed nearly 40 million in unit shipments, compared with 26 million units in 1996 worth $8.7 billion; (2) The average TV screen size of 39 inches in 2016 was 77 percent larger than the 22-inch average in 1996; (3) It took $1,999 to buy a 60-inch analog rear-projection TV in 1996, compared with $999 for a 60-inch digital flat-panel 4K TV in 2016.