Sinclair, Korean carrier SK Telecom and car electronics maker Samsung's Harman signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly develop connected car technology based on ATSC 3.0., Sinclair announced Thursday. The companies will work together to build a platform that would allow drivers to receive in-vehicle HD broadcasting, firmware updates and map updates through Sinclair stations. “The technology will also be deployed in other geographies as local broadcast facilities become available,” the company said. The automotive platform and tech will be revealed at the NAB Show 2019, they said.
LAS VEGAS -- Samsung “wants to see the 8K market evolve and grow,” and its new brainchild, the 8K Association (see 1901080038), is “a special-interest group that’s just narrowly focused on 8K,” Dan Schinasi, Samsung director-product planning, told us Tuesday at CES. “The 8K ecosystem for all intents and purposes is virtually nonexistent, except in Japan, where there’s some distribution.”
Sinclair is establishing a joint venture with Korean mobile operator SK Telecom to develop broadcasting products for ATSC 3.0 in the U.S. and internationally, Sinclair announced Tuesday. The jointly funded and managed company begins in Q1. The commercial 3.0 offerings created by the joint venture are expected to hit the U.S. market in 2019. SK and Sinclair signed a memorandum of understanding at CES 2018 to work together on 3.0 technology. Sinclair's One Media disclosed launch of a “universal demodulator chip” that supports 3.0 tech for set-top boxes, TVs and “automotive and mobile applications." Saankhya Labs, VeriSilicon and Samsung Foundry also worked on the chips. Two versions were announced, for linear TV applications and for mobile and portable devices. “These mobile 3.0 chips validate the ‘sea change’ in over-the-air distribution of, not only television but all digital data,” said One Media President Mark Aitken.
Don't expect any AT&T/Time Warner-scale mergers and acquisitions in entertainment and media this year, experts told us. The federal government partial shutdown isn't having a chilling effect on deals, but that could change the longer it lasts, they said. "Two weeks may not be the end of the world for a lot of transactions; two months could be," said wireline and wireless lawyer Laura Phillips of Drinker Biddle.
MARINA DEL REY, California -- U.S. over-the-top content services recently topped 240, said Parks Associates, creating a fragmented space that’s making it increasingly difficult for consumers to discover and find content they want to watch, said panelists at its conference Tuesday.
Avis Budget is contributing “both our fleet and our addressable audience” to test mobile ATSC 3.0 reception through the Pearl TV-led model-market project in Phoenix, said Chief Information Officer Arthur Orduna on a 3.0 panel at the TV of Tomorrow conference Thursday in Manhattan. Orduna has a history with cable, having worked for the Canoe advertising venture owned by major U.S. operators, and also for ADT.
Comparing their goal to the same local targeting capabilities TV broadcasters will see from ATSC 3.0, radio technology interests met with an aide to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and with Media Bureau representatives to push for an NPRM for an update of radio rules. The sought-after FM booster rule change was subject of a 2012 Geo Broadcast petition for hyperlocalized broadcast content like advertisements or weather. The company and others pushed geo technology for simultaneous transmission of different content to different parts of a station's license area through a network of synchronous boosters. They noted field test results that indicate it wouldn't require amending or waiving interference regulations. Also represented were BIA Advisory Services and Goldman Engineering, said the docket 17-105 post Friday.
MPEG LA continues to "move forward" toward forming an ATSC 3.0 patent pool, "with hopes of having a pool license out early next year," emailed spokesperson Tom O'Reilly Tuesday. More than a dozen companies expressed interest in joining a 3.0 pool, O'Reilly told us earlier this year (see 1802170001). MPEG LA announced a call for 3.0-essential patents, the first step in the patent pool formation process, nearly 16 months ago.
The FCC would give rural telcos monthly model-based USF support of $200 per location if they adopt new commitments to build out 25/3 Mbps broadband, under a draft order issued Wednesday. It would also seek to firm up support for rate-of-return (RoR) carriers still on legacy support in exchange for increased 25/3 Mbps deployment. The tentative agenda issued for the Dec. 12 commissioners' meeting also includes draft items on a new high-band 5G spectrum auction, a communications market report, a quadrennial review, media modernization, a robocall-related reassigned number database (here) and wireless messaging classification (here), as announced Tuesday by Chairman Ajit Pai (see 1811200048).
Sinclair, Tribune and several other broadcasters agreed on a consent decree with DOJ connected with an investigation into sharing advertising sales “pacing” information, according to Sinclair, Tribune, broadcast attorneys and a Justice official. The department is expected to file the settlement in court Thursday, Sinclair said. The consent decree will resolve the DOJ investigation, Sinclair said.