ATSC 3.0 rollout is “going OK, despite the fact that we can’t have shows" in person, ATSC President Madeleine Noland told us Thursday. “In this little period of time, I think it’s slowing down the deployment because we can’t get bodies in stations. At the same time, broadcasters and TV manufacturers are taking advantage of this” standard. “People can access all this information on demand" from virtual events, she noted. Stations are “taking this opportunity to get on the air” with 3.0 and “get the basic TV signal up there,” Noland said. Though brick-and-mortar retail curtailments are impeding the industry’s ability to demonstrate compatible sets for consumers at the point of sale, “the most important time frame for that kind of activity is going to be when there are more services on the air in more markets,” said Noland. It gives broadcasters time to hone their unified messaging, she said. “There’s an opportunity here to really, really get this right, so that when we are back at retail, we’ve got a great story to tell." She said NAB postponing next year's annual show six months to October 2021 (see 2009090049) was the right move. “The chance that it could have been an excellent show in April, at least by my research and evidence, appeared to be on the low side. Who knows what the future may bring, but I don’t think they could have picked a better date if they want to hold a show in 2021, as they obviously do. We all do.” NAB didn't confer with Noland, but she's sure the association consulted with ATSC members. Canceling the April 2020 show a month out involved “so much fluidity and nobody really knew what was going to happen,” she said. That spotlighted “the level of planning that has to happen in advance,” she said.
Calls to use ancillary service fees generated by ATSC 3.0 datacasting to fund consumer purchases of compatible equipment are a “red-herring,” said One Media in replies in docket 20-145 for Monday’s midnight deadline for responses to a June NPRM (see 2008180060). Statute requires the fees be deposited into the DTV Transition and Public Safety Fund, One Media said. Instead, the FCC would be “well-within its authority” to delay imposing fees on 3.0 datacasting for five years, said the company. NAB called the idea from Public Knowledge and the Open Technology Institute “legally questionable.” NAB urged the FCC “to move expeditiously to conclude this proceeding without adding regulatory hurdles for broadcasters.” Don’t nullify broadcaster obligations to pay such fees, said PK and OTI. “Revisit its ancillary and supplementary services rules as applied to Broadcast Internet services to ensure its fees and other regulations provide regulatory parity and reflect broadcasters’ evolving business ambitions,” asked CTIA. The public interest groups and NCTA again said the FCC should upgrade requirements for broadcasters to mandate an HD stream. “In considering whether the provision of such services unlawfully derogates broadcast television services, the Commission should be guided by the current state of technology and consumer expectations,” the cable association said. That the agency should “mechanically define ‘advanced’ with reference to a certain pixel count specified in a 1996 technical standard is obvious folly,” said ATSC 3.0 consortium BitPath. The FCC should “take measures that add protections for LPTV stations during the nation’s progression toward the offering of robust Next Gen TV services,” said the National Religious Broadcasters.
Startup Edge Networks will soft-launch its Evoca-branded ATSC 3.0-based content service Monday in Boise through an “early access” program for the first 200 subscribers who sign up at $20 a month through year-end. The offer includes a Scout-branded receiver and indoor TV antenna, since much of Evoca’s content is broadcast locally from one of two low-power 3.0 stations in Boise being leased from Cocola Broadcasting (see 2003100036 or 2003100042). The service officially starts Sept. 1 at the standard subscription price of $49 a month, offering “60+ channels with more to come.”
ATSC 3.0-focused entities BitPath, OneMedia and Pearl TV want the FCC to delay or ameliorate congressionally required ancillary services fees on broadcaster datacasting, while public interest groups believe those fees should be used to cover costs to consumers from purported disruptions in the 3.0 transition, said comments posted at the FCC in docket 20-145 (see 2006090055). Noncommercial educational broadcasters want to be exempt from the fees, and low-power TV groups seek more flexibility to benefit from 3.0.
The FCC might not be as aggressive on pirate radio enforcement and curbing cable local franchise authorities (LFAs) after Commissioner Mike O'Rielly's expected departure from his seat Jan. 3 at the latest, experts and insiders told us. Some wonder if O'Rielly will be a quieter presence on the commission in his remaining weeks; he issued no statements at its August meeting though he did for the C-band auction rules approved on circulation (see 2008060069). O'Rielly's office and the FCC didn't comment.
Some broadcasters are seeing signs the downturn in advertising caused by the pandemic is slowly improving. Others remain uncertain, based on earnings releases and quarterly investor calls this week. Sinclair stock closed down 10% Wednesday at $19.32. Fox fell 7.3% to $24.73.
Seven TV more stations are in ATSC 3.0, said Nexstar Tuesday: in Oregon, Sinclair’s KATU Portland, Nexstar’s KOIN Portland and KRCW-TV Salem, Tegna’s KGW Portland, Meredith’s KPTV Portland and Oregon Public Broadcasting’s KOPB-TV Eugene, and in Washington state, KPDX Vancouver.
Expansion of the footprint for ATSC 3.0, launched in South Korea in 2017, will continue “in earnest” in the near future, Parks Associates reported, noting launches on Las Vegas stations in May (see 2005260061) and elsewhere. It cited benefits including 4K HDR video support, immersive audio via Dolby Atmos and DTS-X, on-demand video, access to enriched interactive content and an updated emergency alert system. A required tuner could be a boon for smart TV makers such as Samsung, LG and Sony, which are developing 3.0-enabled sets. Data and analytics will drive personalization and search capabilities, and push notifications will play a prominent role beyond just operating system updates, it said: Smart TV’s role will evolve through COVID-19 to remain “front and center” in the U.S. connected home. Technology advances, proliferation of video apps and improved interoperability with other devices have pushed the smart TV to a more central residential role, Parks said. In Q1, 30% of TV owners said their most-used TV has a voice-enabled remote control or voice assistant -- or can be controlled by a smart speaker -- vs. 10% in the year-ago quarter.
The FCC order laying out the requirement for ATSC 3.0 simulcast waivers (see 2006160064) takes effect Aug. 17, says Friday’s Federal Register. Thursday’s FR included the FCC’s declaratory ruling clarifying that broadcast ownership restrictions don’t apply to ATSC 3.0 datacasting (see 2006090055), which took effect June 9. Comments on an accompanying NPRM are due Aug. 17, replies Aug. 31.
Broadcast entities and white space devices proponents accused one another of attempting to seize control of spectrum they don’t own, in replies posted in docket 20-74 Tuesday in the FCC ATSC 3.0 distributed transmission system proceeding (see 2006150060). Microsoft’s opposition to relaxing interference rules to allow DTS systems is “a back door spectrum grab,” said One Media. The proposed changes “will only benefit a subgroup of broadcasters pursuing their vision of Broadcast Internet by allowing them to extend their respective coverage footprint,” Microsoft said. Though a broadcaster, PMCM also argued that DTS supporters’ motives aren’t pure. “The proposal is essentially a grab for new territory at the cost of decades of Commission adherence to community values,” PMCM said. "The only opposition to this proposal comes from parties with secondary or non-existent spectrum rights that ask the Commission to provide them with unprecedented and unwarranted protections,” said NAB and America’s Public Television Stations. Rule changes are premature because broadcasters have “yet to deploy ATSC 3.0 services in any widespread manner” and they aren’t aimed at improving TV broadcasting, said the New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute and Public Knowledge. Assertions that broadcasters aren’t seeking those changes to improve over-the-air TV and would heavily invest in single-frequency networks only to compete in a datacasting market that doesn’t yet exist are naive, BitPath said. Revenue and public service benefits from datacasting won’t justify those sorts of investments on their own “for the foreseeable future,” said the company. “While the Commission does not propose granting the DTS spillover area any protection or rights today, based on the history of ATSC 3.0, we know such a request will be forthcoming,” Microsoft said. “It is only a matter of when.”