CTA’s application to register the NEXTGEN TV logo as a certification mark for ATSC 3.0-compliant TVs (see 1909260021) cleared its 30-day publication window in late March with no oppositions filed, said a notice of allowance (NOA) released Tuesday at the Patent and Trademark Office. The NOA gives CTA until Oct. 21 to file a statement of use (SOU) if it’s using the NEXTGEN TV mark in actual commerce. That's the final step before PTO can issue a registration certificate. Several TV models introduced at CES with 3.0 reception (see 2001060019) have arrived at retail, but with many stores closed or relegated to curbside pickup, TV makers are unable to promote the feature. CTA also can file for an SOU extension by Oct. 21 and do so every six months for up to three years. Oct. 21 happens to fall on the scheduled opening day of the two-day NAB Show New York event at the Javits Convention Center.
Despite COVID-19, TV stations are “still targeting” the launch of ATSC 3.0 services in the top 40 markets by the end of 2020 (see 1904080071), Pearl TV Managing Director Anne Schelle told us. “We might not get all of them on by the end of the year, but we’ll get a respectable number.” The goal for 2021 will be to “continue to build out these markets,” said Schelle. Though “all parts of the economy are stressed” during the pandemic, 3.0 is “in a good position,” said Schelle. “We’ll come out of it providing a respectable build to meet the TV manufacturers’ needs for sales in the back half of this year.” There have been no “supply-chain issues” with critical broadcast equipment, said Schelle. “A lot of it was already pre-done” before the pandemic, and “most of the stations out there are ready for next-gen,” she said. Pearl had planned to use the NAB Show to update industry on 3.0's “application framework” it showcased at CES, said Schelle. It had partnership announcements planned for Las Vegas with vendors supplying 3.0 cable-integration equipment, she said: “We’ll be pushing those announcements” to the NAB Show Express virtual event planned for May 13-14 (see 2004130048).
Evoca will be the go-to-market branding of the ATSC 3.0-enabled terrestrial TV service Edge Networks plans to launch in the Boise market this summer, said the startup Thursday. It applied for the Evoca trademark March 18, Patent and Trademark Office records show. Edge has ambitions to leverage 3.0's IP backbone to deploy a wireless nationwide subscription-based video service that includes 4K channels (see report, March 11 issue.)
COVID-19 forced ATSC to postpone its Next Gen Broadcast Conference to Aug. 27-28, said President Madeleine Noland Wednesday. It will hold a members-only remote annual meeting on the original May 20 date, she said: “Only time will tell what the long-term impact this pandemic will have on the broadcasting industry.”
Commissioner Mike O’Rielly vowed to prevent broadcast ownership regulations from applying to ATSC 3.0, in his written remarks Tuesday on the FCC NPRM on distributed transmission systems. That NPRM and media items on program carriage and significantly viewed stations were, as expected (see 2003300054), approved unanimously before a brief teleconference-only commissioners’ meeting Tuesday. Commissioners mostly held off on comments (see 2003310067). Telecom items also were OK'd (see 2003310039).
Media items slated for Tuesday’s commissioners’ meeting -- on distributed transmission systems (DTS) for ATSC 3.0, the definition of significantly viewed, and revised program carriage rules -- are expected to be approved unanimously, FCC and industry officials told us. The agency’s COVID-19 meeting procedures include voting the meeting items on circulation (see 2003240057) by the meeting’s 10:30 a.m. start time. An official said eighth-floor offices were entering votes Monday on items that had completed the editing process. A spokesperson said deletion notices will be issued for any items adopted before the meeting -- “as we have said we expect them to be.” No media items are considered controversial.
In a new twist for the COVID-19 age, commissioners approved, before they gathered electronically, all five regulatory items at a truncated monthly meeting held virtually and webcast live, agency officials told us. All or many of the votes appeared to have been unanimous. Items weren't discussed in detail and voting was done on circulation, as planned. Spokespeople said vote counts weren't immediately available.
Microsoft officials said a proposal to relax rules for distributed transmission systems that broadcasters seek to use for ATSC 3.0 raises concerns as the company rolls out its Airband service in the TV white spaces. Commissioners are to vote on an item for the March 31 meeting (see 2003100065). Microsoft "highlighted the importance of including questions on the potential impact the proposed rule revisions would have on white space device users in the item,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 20-74. Service area for DTS in the UHF band measures 64 miles from the reference point to the edge of the broadcast service area and “the proposed item would effectively extend this area to 153 miles,” representatives told aides to Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioners Mike O’Rielly and Jessica Rosenworcel.
FCC application forms for broadcasters looking to shift to ATSC 3.0 don’t adequately tackle broadcasters hosting each other’s multicast ATSC 1.0 streams, said NAB in a letter to the FCC posted in docket 16-142 Friday. The agency should have broadcasters file exhibits with additional host channels with their applications, or include a request for special temporary authority with their application, NAB said. Broadcast licenses could be updated to include a notation reflecting the additional channels, NAB said. “Including such a notation on the broadcast license would resolve any questions regarding responsibility for the program in the event of any enforcement or regulatory requirement,” the letter said.
NAB won’t try resurrecting its COVID-19-canceled Las Vegas show in 2020 but will stage a virtual event called “NAB Show Express,” said CEO Gordon Smith Friday. Nine days earlier, NAB Show organizers said they were "weighing the best potential path forward," including possibly rescheduling the April 18-22 event later in the year (see 2003110036).