Full-power broadcasters and ATSC 3.0 boosters clamored for the FCC to relax rules governing distributed transmission systems (see 1910110040), in comments posted through Wednesday in docket 16-142. Microsoft and low-power broadcast entities have interference concerns. NAB and America's Public Television Stations' petition is “premature,” said the National Translator Association. “3.0 is incompatible with the present system, and the public’s paramount interest must be to preserve interference-free TV for present reception.”
MVPD concerns about carrying ATSC 3.0 programming are “premature and well within the capabilities of broadcasters and MVPD operators to resolve themselves,” said One Media Executive Vice President-Strategic and Legal Affairs Jerald Fritz in a meeting Wednesday with FCC Video Division Chief Barbara Kreisman and Media Bureau staff, said a filing posted Friday in docket 16-142. The threat of connectivity interruption is “not a reason to delay or compromise development of the service,” Fritz said. MVPD worries that a transition to 3.0 could involve high-cost equipment stem from “a fundamental misunderstanding of the patent monetization process,” the Sinclair affiliate said. “Royalties associated with ATSC 3.0-capable devices will likely be embedded in end-user device costs,” One Media said. “It is highly unlikely that MVPD operators will notice any significant changes to reception equipment costs related to ATSC 3.0 patents."
The FCC should revisit the “arbitrary” five-year sunset of the requirement ATSC 3.0 broadcasts and 1.0 simulcasts be “substantially similar,” said NCTA in a meeting Wednesday with Media Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology staff, per a filing posted in docket 16-142 Monday. The substantially similar requirement and the use of the A/322 standard should be maintained “until the ATSC 3.0 marketplace is sufficiently developed,” NCTA said. The FCC should also monitor the effects of the transition on cable operators, the group said. “Allowing temporary vacant channel use instead of sharing currently used broadcast channels could impose new and unreimbursed costs on cable operators, such as costs for acquiring new receiving equipment.”
Verance joined the Advanced Warning and Response Network Alliance. The company's Aspect watermark platform enables the metadata and “triggers” needed for advanced emergency alerting to reach all connected TVs “across all distribution paths,” including ATSC 3.0 and 1.0 receivers, plus pay TV and over-the-top services, it said Thursday.
The FCC is expected to unanimously approve a draft NPRM seeking comment on eliminating seldom-used rules on broadcast antenna siting (see 1910040053), said broadcast industry and FCC officials in interviews. The media modernization item is set for Friday’s commissioners' meeting but could be voted ahead of time, officials said. The rules prohibit granting an FM or TV license if the applicant controls a uniquely situated antenna site. Created in 1945, the rules are expected to have little effect on the industry for decades, numerous broadcast attorneys told us. The draft item also seeks comment on whether the siting rules will have relevance during the transition to ATSC 3.0. “We are aware of no instance where a license application or license renewal application was denied on the basis of a violation of these rules,” said the draft NPRM.
ATSC 3.0 "will lead to important gains for consumers,” Microsoft lawyers told FCC Media Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology representatives Tuesday, said a filing posted Friday in docket 16-142. “But granting a second channel to every licensee in the country” for voluntary simulcasts “is unnecessary,” it said. “Given the lack of unused spectrum in urban areas and plentitude of available simulcast partners there, urban broadcasters will readily make the transition.” The cost of leveraging a second allocated channel “is sure to be prohibitive for many,” said Microsoft. There’s “no evidence” in the proceeding of “any true need” for extra simulcast channels, it said. “Broadcasters initiated the ATSC 3.0 transition with the express representation that no additional spectrum would be necessary.” The company "misapprehends both the issue at hand and the rights to which unlicensed services are entitled," emailed NAB's spokesperson Friday. "Temporary use of available channels to smooth the transition to ATSC 3.0 remains the single most consumer-friendly step the FCC could take” here.
Expect a “bunch” of ATSC 3.0 commercial license applications to be filed at the FCC by mid-December from stations seeking to begin 3.0 services in January, Pearl TV Managing Director Anne Schelle told us. “The work actually started back in the spring,” she said. “Business partnerships don’t happen overnight. There’s a lot happening that’s not really seen. When the application is filed, it means basically everything is done.” She expects a “steady stream” of applications will “start to come in” throughout 2020, as broadcasters fulfill their goal of activating 3.0 services in 61 U.S. markets. The commission “has done a great job” with the 3.0 commercial license program since it started collecting applications in May (see 1905230065), said Schelle. It typically approves a license within 10 days, she said. “I can’t say enough about the Media Bureau and their support for the industry when those applications come in.”
South Korea launched an emergency alert system using ATSC 3.0, similar to enhanced alerts advocated by the Advanced Warning and Response Network Alliance, said executives from South Korean firm DigiCap and AWARN Executive Director John Lawson at NAB New York. The system has been in place for a month and so far transmits emergency messages similar to those using established technology. Lawson and DigiCap CEO Peter Han were optimistic it will lead to further developments in the U.S. and South Korea. “Beginning is halfway done,” said Han, quoting a Korean proverb. “If you never start, you never finish.”
Pearl TV has an ATSC 3.0 “rollout plan for 2020” that includes launching services in 61 markets by the end of next year, and has “shared that” with TV makers LG, Samsung and Sony, Managing Director Anne Schelle told the TV2020 conference at NAB Show New York Wednesday. “We are meeting our mark in terms of enabling these services on a market-to-market basis."
NEW YORK -- The FCC appeal of the media ownership ruling at the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is the right move, said Nexstar CEO Perry Sook, Gray co-CEO Pat LaPlatney and Meredith Local Media Group President Patrick McCreery on a panel at NAB Show New York Wednesday (see 1909250064). The executives also discussed transaction prospects, ATSC 3.0 and prospects for a recession. There isn't anything the broadcast industry can do that would appease the 3rd Circuit, Sook said. “It's the only choice,” he said. “Two judges in Philadelphia have setting media policy for the whole country for 20 years.”