LAS VEGAS -- ATSC 3.0 may have been the belle of the ball at the NAB Show (see 1604200051), but some large broadcasters and networks, most notably CBS, had reservations about the new standard and NAB's support of a petition for FCC authorization of ATSC 3.0's physical layer (see 1604130065), broadcasters, attorneys and other industry officials said in interviews last week. Those misgivings are believed to stem from the uncertainty of the undertaking, the expense and its possible effects on the network/affiliate dynamic, they said. They are part of the reasoning behind ATSC 3.0's voluntary transition plan, they said.
LAS VEGAS -- The "likely" ATSC decision to be announced later this year apportioning MPEG-H as the recommended ATSC 3.0 audio codec for Korea and Dolby AC-4 for the U.S. (see 1604180080) was “obviously” the result of a “compromise” brokered within ATSC to break the months-long impasse to choose between the two competing systems, Fraunhofer’s U.S. point man told us at the NAB Show. For Fraunhofer, one of the threesome of MPEG-H Alliance companies, with Qualcomm and Technicolor, that vied aggressively to be named ATSC 3.0 audio codec for North America and stands to lose that prize to AC-4, “I would say that the nature of compromise means that no one is ever completely satisfied,” said Robert Bleidt, division general manager-audio and multimedia at Fraunhofer USA Digital Media Technologies in San Jose.
LAS VEGAS -- ATSC 3.0 will be put out for comment before the end of the month, and incentive auction watchers “should expect” that it could take multiple auction stages to complete the auction, said FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler during Q&A at the NAB Show Wednesday. Broadcasters and broadcast attorneys watching the speech called Wheeler's remarks on the new standard (see 1604180058) encouraging. Attendees interpreted his comments on the auction many different ways, from being a signal that a high clearing target is likely, to a warning to manage expectations. “This is not a one and done activity,” Wheeler said of the auction. "We will do it again and again for as long as it takes for the market to work."
LAS VEGAS -- Disney believes the studio’s animated content in high dynamic range “isn’t necessarily” enhanced by resolutions higher than 1080p, Cynthia Slavens, director of the Disney-owned Pixar Animation Studios, told us Saturday at the NAB Show’s Future of Cinema Conference. In animated HDR content, “for us, we are very content with a 1080 image,” Slavens said.
LAS VEGAS -- ATSC “likely” will recommend adoption of Dolby AC-4 as the ATSC 3.0 audio codec for the U.S. “and perhaps North America,” by year-end, ATSC President Mark Richer told us exclusively Monday at the opening of the ATSC 3.0 Consumer Experience exhibit at the NAB Show. Dolby Labs executives were at the exhibit to showcase AC-4's immersive audio qualities through an off-the-shelf soundbar mounted next to an LG Ultra HD TV. It was there that Mathias Bendull, Dolby vice president-broadcast consumer audio, told us ATSC would announce AC-4 as its recommended ATSC 3.0 audio codec for North America by the end of 2016.
LAS VEGAS -- NAB doesn't expect opposition at the FCC to the joint petition for approval of the ATSC 3.0 next-generation broadcasting standard, NAB CEO Gordon Smith told us at the NAB Show after his keynote Monday. "We have no reason to believe they are opposed in any way." The FCC "has a choice before it," Smith said during the speech, praising the standard's voluntary transition plan. "It is our job as your association to make sure you have choices for the future," Smith told the NAB Show crowd. "It is not our job to make those choices."
Pilot, formerly NAB Labs, will use the NAB Show to demo the industry's first prototype ATSC 3.0 receiver and “home gateway” that showcases the “breadth” of HTML-5-based “interactive environment” functionality enabled by the ATSC 3.0 standard, NAB said in a Friday announcement. The home gateway Pilot will demonstrate in Las Vegas this week combines an over-the-air TV tuner with Internet access, Wi-Fi connectivity and a “software environment that enables new types of user engagement,” it said. For the demo, among other content, Fox Sports will provide interactive “multi-view” programming clips, and Akamai will contribute “on-demand” content that’s “pre-loaded and stored for instant gateway access,” it said. Pilot itself will fashion a dedicated channel featuring the NHL’s Washington Capitals “that showcases zoned and targeted advertising as well as advanced emergency alerting capabilities,” it said. The NAB Show demonstration represents “early and important work that begins to show the promise” of ATSC 3.0, NAB Chief Technology Officer Sam Matheny said in a statement. “We’d like to get to a place where we can share our prototype and SDK with other developers and content providers to build out additional and even more compelling use cases,” he said of Pilot’s software development kit. “I hope you’ll see something like that happen as we proceed.”
LAS VEGAS -- ATSC “likely” will recommend adoption of Dolby AC-4 as the ATSC 3.0 audio codec for the U.S. “and perhaps North America,” by year-end, ATSC President Mark Richer told us exclusively Monday at the opening of the ATSC 3.0 Consumer Experience exhibit at the NAB Show. Dolby Labs executives were at the exhibit to showcase AC-4's immersive audio qualities through an off-the-shelf soundbar mounted next to an LG Ultra HD TV. It was there that Mathias Bendull, Dolby vice president-broadcast consumer audio, told us ATSC would announce AC-4 as its recommended ATSC 3.0 audio codec for North America by the end of 2016.
Sinclair formed a subsidiary, One Media 3.0, to develop “business opportunities, products and services” for the ATSC 3.0 platform, the company said in a Thursday announcement. The subsidiary’s initial priorities will include building out a “national footprint” of local ATSC 3.0 single frequency networks (SFNs) to foster “virtualized coast-to-coast data services,” Sinclair said. “The optimization and development of shared facilities will foster quick, affordable adoption and implementation strategies by broadcasters,” it said. Sinclair launched the first-ever ATSC 3.0-based SFN last month in Baltimore and Washington under special temporary authority from the FCC, saying then that it expects the Baltimore-Washington SFN will be the first of “hundreds” it and other broadcasters will roll out in adopting ATSC 3.0 (see 1603220032).The subsidiary also will design, develop and deploy “a coordinated, intelligent network infrastructure” that will connect markets nationally, using ATSC 3.0's Internet protocol backbone, it said. A third priority will be buildout of “an integrated system” to collect and measure “viewer analytics and user habits on Next Gen enabled devices that will allow broadcasters to develop personalized content,” it said. Sinclair’s launching of One Media 3.0 “signals that we are ready to take the next steps to build the operating infrastructure and network necessary for the television broadcast industry to launch business models, compete on a level playing field, and bring new and exciting products to the consumer,” CEO David Smith said.
The MPEG-H audio alliance of Fraunhofer, Qualcomm and Technicolor is “pleased that MPEG-H likely will be the first new audio system put on the air by broadcasters, as it now is being built into TVs and professional equipment for Korean ATSC 3.0 broadcasts that will start in 2017.” So said an MPEG-H spokesman in an email hailing the inclusion of MPEG-H as one of two audio codecs -- with Dolby AC-4 -- in ATSC’s A/342 document now out for balloting among ATSC members. Once balloting is complete in early May, A/342 with its dual audio codecs would be elevated to the status of an ATSC 3.0 candidate standard (see 1603280043).