Sinclair's proposed buy of Tribune Media for $3.9 billion (see 1705080018), if it goes through, would improve prospects for ATSC 3.0 and fit with plans for a nationwide consortium of broadcasters supporting the new standard, but may not be a requirement for 3.0’s success, attorneys, analysts and broadcast officials told us. “Tribune provides markets where Sinclair doesn’t have coverage,” said BIA/Kelsey Chief Economist Mark Fratrik.
The FCC Media Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology set aside a block of days at the end of June for ex parte meetings on ATSC 3.0, said a public notice Friday. “Given the interest in this proceeding, we have determined that it would be efficient for the Commission staff to set aside a specific period.” Staff will be available for ATSC 3.0 ex parte meetings roughly three weeks after the June 8 due date for reply comments in the 16-142 proceeding, June 27-30, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., the notice said.
Univision became the third member of the spectrum aggregation consortium established by Nexstar and Sinclair earlier this year, the two founders announced. The consortium is intended to allow the broadcasters to better pool resources such as wireless spectrum stemming from ATSC 3.0 and advertising capacity to better compete, broadcast executives connected to the arrangement said. The consortium promotes the new TV standard and “monetization opportunities” in “spectrum utilization, virtual MVPD platforms, multicast channels, automotive applications, single frequency networks and wireless data applications,” the release said. "Our collaborative efforts to advance the promotion of spectrum utilization, innovation and monetization,” said Nexstar CEO Perry Sook. This "brings Spanish language broadcasters into the mix which will be able to benefit from the many 3.0 products and services that are on the horizon,” said Sinclair CEO Chris Ripley.
After broadcasters pushed hard in the lead-up to the incentive auction for the option to forego repacking reimbursement in exchange for having “flexible use” of their spectrum in the aftermath, the FCC received only six applications for the “service rule” waiver needed to trigger that option by last week’s deadline. Flexible use of their spectrum will allow broadcasters to adjust to changing wireless technology and "mine for innovation,” said WatchTV President Greg Herman, an applicant. He and other broadcast officials agree lack of enthusiasm for flexible use spectrum is a consequence of the increasing viability of ATSC 3.0, which offers many of the same opportunities as flexible use did in what’s seen as a more widely accepted and clearly defined package.
The “biggest thing” about ATSC 3.0 from Sony Electronics' “perspective” is that it’s “designed to last, to evolve and endure,” Paul Hearty, vice president-technology standards, told last week’s ATSC conference in Washington. “When we did ATSC 1.0, I think it took us nine very painful years,” said Hearty. ATSC 3.0 “has taken us six and a bit,” he said. “But 3.1, maybe it will be only a year or six months or eight months." The HTML5 “ship” at ATSC 3.0's IP core "sailed into our products, and we’re all supporting it,” Hearty said of the prevalence of smart TVs in the consumer tech market. “One of the challenges we’re going to have to face is that we’ve got to figure out how we’re going to accommodate the runtime platform” in ATSC 3.0 “with the platforms that we already have in our devices,” he said.
The ATSC 3.0 receiver chipsets that Saankhya Labs is developing on the “fast track” with Sinclair’s One Media (see 1703280044) should be available in time to be deployed in smartphones and other consumer products for the 2018 holiday selling season, Saankhya CEO Parag Naik told us Friday. “We’re discussing the scale,” and will know the timetable “in about a month’s time,” said Naik. Saankhya’s software-defined radio platform will allow for chips that can accommodate other global broadcast standards, he said. “Depending on the application, depending on the customer, we could have a different product mix” based on variations of the same chipset design, he said. “For example, the same chip could be used for fixed receivers,” like large-screen TVs, and “also gateways,” in addition to mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, he said. Naik sees the U.S. as hosting the first worldwide commercial deployment of the Saankhya chipsets for ATSC 3.0. In South Korea, which is scheduled to formally launch ATSC 3.0 services in a matter of days, “we are talking to OEMs there as well,” he said. Sinclair’s offer at last week’s ATSC conference to give out the receiver chips for free (see 1705170033) is part of an effort “to seed the market,” said Naik. Component costs are “a function of the volume,” he said. “Once the market gets seeded and critical mass is achieved, your costs will drop and it becomes ubiquitous, and almost everyone then will probably start to put it in his phones or TVs.”
The FCC has received 20 applications for construction permits for the post-incentive auction transition, and granted 14, said Media Bureau Associate Chief Hillary DeNigro and Video Division Chief Barbara Kreisman at an FCBA event Monday. Members of the Incentive Auction Task Force also discussed the repacking schedule, timing of payments, and broadcasters seeking payment for equipment upgrades. Though applications aren’t due until July 12, the officials said more applications would be welcome and will be granted on a rolling basis. “We’re ready for the onslaught,” said DeNigro.
Jenner & Block hires ex-FCC officials for Communications, Internet and Technology Practice: Howard Symons as partner (see this section of the May 8 issue of this publication); Roger Sherman, as of counsel, effective June 7; and Johanna Thomas as special counsel ... Arizona Corporation Commission promotes at Utilities Division Eli Abinah to permanent director; and, at Legal Division, Robin Mitchell to assistant director-senior staff attorney; Maureen Scott to deputy chief-litigation and appeals, new post; and Scott succeeded by Wes Van Cleve as senior staff attorney.
The “skyscraper” that symbolizes the “suite” of 23 standards comprising ATSC 3.0 “is getting fairly bottom-heavy, which is good, more stable,” Rich Chernock, Triveni Digital chief science officer, told an ATSC conference Wednesday. “Most of the standards are either finalized or in the proposed standard stage,” said Chernock, who chairs Technology Group 3 that’s tasked with supervising the framing of the next-gen standard.
House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Mike Doyle, D-Pa., has “concerns” about transition to the ATSC 3.0 broadcast standard and its impact on affordability, he said at a hearing Wednesday on emergency alerts and featuring testimony from NAB Chief Technology Officer Sam Matheny and Qualcomm Director-Engineering Farrokh Khatibi. Chairman Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., pressed Matheny on whether NAB prefers mandates or market forces to guide the transition. “We are not looking for a mandate,” Matheny told her.