A new PBS emergency alert system pilot project using mobile DTV capability could be a model for a next-generation warning system, public broadcasting executives said in interviews. Over the next year, the system will be tested and evaluated with participation from WGBH-TV Boston, Alabama Public TV and Vegas PBS, said John McCoskey, PBS chief technology officer. The system requires devices that are common alerting protocol (CAP)-compliant and will use text, images and video to issue messages, he said. The project is part of a partnership with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and LG Zenith, both of which are helping fund the project, said McCoskey.
The NAB and NCTA opposed an application by Digital Broadcasting OVS to operate an online open video system in the top 50 U.S. TV markets (CD June 1 p9). The NAB also asked for more time to comment on the application because it wasn’t initially available on the FCC’s website and the public notice soliciting comments was published directly before a federal holiday, and the deadline for comments was immediately following it (CD May 31 p17). Under OVS rules, the agency must act within 10 days on certification applications. The commission should reject the application because Digital Broadcasting OVS failed to establish that it’s a local exchange carrier under the Telecom Act, the NAB said.
The FCC is starting to implement rules to tamp down the volume of ads so they're not startlingly louder than the shows they appear within. Agency and industry officials said a draft rulemaking notice seeks comment on putting into place the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act. The CALM Act was passed by Congress in December (CD Dec 6 p8), and applies to TV stations and subscription-video providers. A Media Bureau rulemaking notice circulated May 5 may be voted on within the next few weeks and has already attracted lobbying at the commission from telco-TV providers, cable and broadcasters, FCC and industry officials said.
Updating the ATSC TV standard to allow for advanced compression technology and the ability to offer Internet content over broadcast is a worthy long-term goal, NAB CEO Gordon Smith told the ATSC at its annual meeting Tuesday, according to his prepared remarks. “Any new system will need to have a companion transition plan that takes broadcasters, manufacturers and especially consumers into account so they can benefit from the new system in a manageable way,” he said. “I know that’s not the issue now, but if a move to a next-generation system is eventually seriously contemplated, the transition plan will be a make-or-break issue,” Smith said. “We are fast moving past the age of linear television … into a new world that is on-demand, interactive, Internet-enabled and three dimensional,” he said. “Finding a way for broadcasters to take part in that new world isn’t optional. It’s a necessity in order to stay competitive with other media.” Smith said he understands that the ATSC technology is 15 years old, and “a transmission system designed with today’s technology could do a lot more.” Broadcasters need to understand how much more can be done “so we can make a judgment as to whether it’s ultimately worth it to migrate to a new system,” Smith said. Stations will also need spectrum to continue to serve viewers, he said. “It’s the necessary ingredient,” he said, “so we'll continue to fight to ensure broadcasters have the spectrum they need."
A U.K.-based TV technology vendor said it’s working with Granite Broadcasting to test an over-the-air pay TV service in the U.S. this year. Motive TV will use Granite’s KOFY-TV San Francisco to test its TV Anytime Anywhere products in a U.S. market, CEO Leonard Fertig said in an interview. “We'll set up a series of experiments with different segments of the market, to see what can be done in the U.S., using the over-the-air digital frequency Granite already uses,” he said. The test will include VOD and DVR capabilities, pay-per-view, as well as the ability to view programming on multiple Web-enabled devices in the home, he said.
The FCC should extend a video description deadline for TV stations and cable operators, and the agency’s proposed Jan. 1, 2012 start is too soon, those industries said. The commission proposed in March to require Big Four broadcast network affiliates in the 25 largest markets and multichannel video programming distributors with more than 50,000 subscribers to have descriptions by then. NAB sought until Oct. 1, 2012, and NCTA asked the rules take effect in the fourth quarter of next year.
Mobile DTV signals are being broadcast from 76 stations in 32 markets, and the industry is on track to reach about two-thirds of U.S. TV households within 12 months, the Open Mobile Video Coalition said. Along with the ATSC, OMVC’s members are demonstrating mobile DTV technology and devices at a special area of the NAB Show this week. New applications such as datacasting, VOD, mobile DTV recording, polling and couponing are on display, ATSC President Mark Richer said in a press release.
LAS VEGAS - The FCC would do a thorough rulemaking before beginning any incentive auction for TV broadcast spectrum, Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake told the NAB convention Monday. The rulemaking would address broadcasters’ concerns about repacking the TV band and other consequences of the potential auctions, he said. But the agency can’t work out those details before congress acts to give it the authority to do the incentive auctions in the first place, he said. Broadcasters want those details now, said Alan Frank, CEO of Post-Newsweek Stations. “We need to start by defining not how the auction works, but what it means for the broadcasters who don’t participate in the auction,” he said.
Much more research on 3D TV health issues is needed before widespread terrestrial 3D broadcasting can begin, said the interim report on visual sciences that recently was released by an Advanced Television Systems Committee planning team (CED March 24 p1). It exposes huge gaps in knowledge and understanding, along with the Catch-22 issue of what meaningful research can be safely done on viewers of all ages when little is known about possible side effects.
Makers of set-top boxes that stream online video to TVs are taking a close look at adding ATSC receivers to their devices and may unveil new hybrid ATSC-online video products soon, industry executives said. Some devices could be announced as soon as the NAB show April 9-14 in Las Vegas, said Doug Wills, vice president at Minerva networks, an IPTV middleware company. Adding over-the-air TV reception capabilities to online video devices presents new challenges, such as reception problems and software integration hurdles, executives said.