The FCC released the three draft items Chairman Ajit Pai is proposing for the Dec. 10 meeting (see 2011180065). The meeting will be headlined by a report and order implementing the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act, with an NPRM on equipment certification rules and an order on ATSC 3.0 datacasting. Industry officials said it's unclear whether FCC Democrats will consider any of the drafts controversial or major items that should be left for next year under the new commission.
5G security is the major focus of the FCC’s Dec. 10 meeting, Ajit Pai said Wednesday. The chairman released a skinny agenda by recent standards and won't further liberalize rules for Wi-Fi in the 6 GHz band, which had looked more in doubt in recent days (see 2011130045). Like the 5.9 GHz order, 6 GHz has been controversial and faced opposition from incumbents unhappy with the April order opening the band. December will also feature an order on ATSC 3.0 datacasting.
5G security is the major focus of the FCC’s Dec. 10 meeting, Chairman Ajit Pai blogged. Pai didn’t propose an expected order further liberalizing rules for Wi-Fi in the 6 GHz band, which had looked more in doubt in recent days (see our report here).
“Many more markets” will go live in ATSC 3.0 in Q1, and “by the summer, we’ll hit the top 40,” Pearl Managing Director Anne Schelle told us. The broadcast industry’s original plans were to have stations in the top 40 TV markets up and running by year-end, but COVID-19 “put us back a bit,” she said. “I’m proud about the number of stations going up,” including “some big ones” going live with 3.0 in December, she said. Pearl TV and its partners in the Phoenix model market test bed project are poised to launch their first NextGenTV branding campaign to raise consumer awareness of the technology and promote its adoption for when people shop for TVs, Schelle noted. “Markets are launching” with 3.0 services, and it’s time to start engaging consumers, she said. The campaign begins Nov. 25 and runs through mid-January, said Schelle. It touts "stunning video," though Schelle said 4K and HDR likely won't become commercial realities before 2021. Service and device enhancements are inevitable as the launch progresses, said Pearl spokesperson Dave Arland, likening this stage of 3.0's debut to the first quarter of a football game. HDR is “not there yet,” partly due to COVID-19 delays, Schelle said. “You will see, I think in 2021, distribution on the various HDR formats from the networks.” Expect the NextGenTV logo to gain a much more ubiquitous presence after the campaign kicks off, said Schelle. We pored through the LG, Samsung and Sony links on the WatchNextGenTV.com consumer-facing website, plus the Best Buy and Amazon online stores, finding the logo mentioned only on Samsung’s e-commerce site. “That is going to change,” said Schelle. “They just haven’t updated it yet. It’s on their to-do list.” She expects more TV brands to jump into 3.0 at the virtual CES 2021 in January.
Clarify rules for broadcasters using their spectrum for ancillary services though ATSC 3.0, said Public Media Venture Group in a Monday videoconference with FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, per a filing in docket 16-142. PMVG is focused on public TV stations transitioning to the new standard and asked the FCC to change language in rules on how public TV stations use spectrum capacity due to concerns the current wording could interfere with datacasting. PVMG supported FCC proposals to allow distributed transmission systems.
NAB wants the FCC to clarify that among broadcasters working together to host one another’s signals during the ATSC 3.0 transition, “the licensee who originated the programming, rather than the licensee whose facilities are being used to distribute the programming, is responsible for the programming,” said a petition for declaratory ruling and petition for rulemaking posted in docket 16-142 Monday. The FCC should make clear that “its existing regulatory framework for the hosting of simulcast primary programming streams also applies to simulcast multicast streams,” NAB said. NAB also pushed the agency to act expeditiously on a pending NPRM on distributed transmission systems, said an ex parte filing posted Monday in the same docket on a call Thursday with Media Bureau staff. “Certainty regarding this additional flexibility will help broadcasters finalize plans for additional ATSC 3.0 deployments in the coming year,” the filing said.
TV broadcasters are making a comeback from the lows of the COVID-19 pandemic due to more political ad revenue than expected, but many are declining to provide guidance for 2021, according to earnings calls and investor releases this week from the CEOs of Gray Television, Meredith, Fox, Graham Media, Sinclair Broadcast and Nexstar.
E.W. Scripps’ $2.65 billion buy of Ion’s stations (see 2009240044) is seen likely to get FCC approval. It could hit some regulatory hiccups over the deal’s 26-station divestiture to a newly created company run by the leadership of frequent Scripps media broker Methuselah Advisors, broadcast officials said in recent interviews. Future FCC action on the UHF discount (see 2009250065) could also affect the newly created company, but the deal is expected to eventually be approved, possibly with adjustments, said media brokers, attorneys and broadcasters.
Voice + is CTA’s new name for the dialogue enhancement feature that the Dolby AC-4 audio codec enables in ATSC 3.0-certified TVs that qualify for the NextGenTV logo, said the association Monday. CTA’s Video Division board approved Voice +, authorizing licensed TV makers to begin using the name on their 2021 model lines, it said. Dialogue enhancement scored high grades when demonstrated for consumers in Pearl TV’s Phoenix Model Market focus groups two years ago, said Magid Research, which did the studies (see 1904110037). In one demo, Dolby recorded loud cocktail party conversations and played them through speakers in the back of the viewing room, toggling the enhancement feature on and off to show how it makes pleasurable TV watching possible, even in noisy environments. AC-4 also enables consistent audio volume across all channels, a benefit highlighted at Pearl’s new WatchNextGenTV.com. CTA applied for the Voice + trademark Oct. 21 (see 2010290016). CTA also announced Monday the availability of the test suite TVs will need to pass to qualify for the NextGenTV logo. The suite includes more than 135 tests covering 150 "unique requirements across audio, video, captions, interactivity, service changes and more," said the association.
About two months into the Edge Networks launch of Evoca, the ATSC 3.0-based content service in Boise (see 2008210021), consumer reaction is “going great,” CEO Todd Achilles told us. “We’ve got many times more people on our wait list than we’re letting into the service at this kind of early stage. We’re learning a lot.” Edge is getting mixed messaging from shopping Evoca in markets where it might try expanding, said Achilles.