The Pearl TV-led consumer-facing website WatchNextGenTV.com went live Friday to promote ATSC 3.0 technology and services to the public (see 2010260022). “The future of television has arrived,” trumpets the site. “Immerse yourself in stunning video with brilliant color, sharper images and deeper contrast that will make you feel like you’re really there.” The site lists 11 TV markets where 3.0 service is “on the air,” with 11 more “coming in 2020.” It lists 75 markets where 3.0 services are “coming in 2021.” A link to the Sony page features eight TV models with 3.0 functionality, including four derivative models sold exclusively through Costco.
Broadcasters participating in the Pearl TV-led ATSC 3.0 Phoenix model market added a single-frequency network there, they announced Wednesday. This will “enhance reception for viewers and broaden the reach of broadcasters transmitting to NEXTGEN TV sets,” they said. An SFN “makes use of multiple strategically placed transmitters placed on the air within the coverage area on the same channel and carrying the same services,” said Pearl engineer David Folsom. “This increases the signal level available for over-the-air viewing and decreases the viewer's need for a more complex receiving antenna, while enabling future use of mobility services to NEXTGEN TV-equipped devices as found in automobiles.” E.W. Scripps' KASW (CW) is the SFN host station, with sharing agreements to carry the 3.0 simulcast of its KNXV-TV (ABC) and of KSAZ-TV (Fox) and KUTP (Fox Xtra); all these outlets are licensed to Phoenix, per FCC records.
A proposal on changing FM booster rules to let radio stations geotarget content was circulated to the eighth floor, said FCC officials and a release from Commissioner Geoffrey Starks. The draft NPRM hews closely to an April petition from GeoBroadcast Solutions (see 2006040024) and doesn’t focus on an additional proposal from a group of broadcasters seeking to be allowed to originate content on FM translators, an FCC official told us. Starks has repeatedly praised the proposal and did so again Wednesday: “I am pleased to support this innovative proposal, which could offer a potential lifeline to small, women, and minority broadcasters that are struggling to retain their listening audiences and earn advertising revenue at a time when consumers have multiple options.”
CTA doesn’t “anticipate needing any further extensions” of the Patent and Trademark Office’s deadline for filing a statement of use (SOU) in the association’s application for the NEXTGEN TV logo as a certification mark on ATSC 3.0-compliant TVs, emailed Brian Markwalter, senior vice president-research and standards. CTA was granted a six-month extension last week to April 21, and is entitled to four more (see 2010230046). The original SOU deadline “was around the same time that compliant TVs with the logo were entering the market,” Markwalter said Monday. “Now that compliant TVs from multiple manufacturers are in the market and the logo is clearly in use, CTA is in the process of filing the appropriate SOU with evidence of use in commerce.” PTO requires SOUs before issuing registration certificates to prevent applicants from intentionally hoarding trademarks.
Sony Electronics wants broadcasters to use their new ATSC 3.0 opportunity to begin beaming 4K programming with HDR over the air, Nick Colsey, vice president-business development, told the prerecorded ATSC broadcast conference Monday during the virtual NAB Show New York event. Broadcasting in 4K HDR will “make the biggest difference” in sowing 3.0 consumer adoption, he said.
The FCC is expected to vote on an order on ATSC 3.0 distributed transmission systems (see 2007140047) by year-end, an agency official told us after Commissioner Brendan Carr referenced ongoing work on the item in prerecorded remarks for Monday's virtual NextGen Broadcast Conference. The FCC is working “on a proceeding to expand the use of single-frequency networks, which will ultimately help 3.0 reach its full potential,” Carr said. The proposed changes to the interference rules in the DTS proceeding would allow expanded use of single-frequency networks, which ATSC 3.0 advocates said is important for the new standard's future.
The Patent and Trademark Office granted CTA its first six-month deadline extension request for a statement of use (SOU) in its application to register the NEXTGEN TV logo as a certification mark for ATSC 3.0-compliant TVs (see 1909260021), said an agency notice Friday. PTO requires the SOU before a registration certificate can be issued to prevent applicants from hoarding trademarks they have no intention of using commercially. Applicants are entitled to five deadline extensions of six months each but must file the SOU within three years after the issue date of the notice of allowance, which in CTA’s case would be April 21, 2023. CTA has a “continued bona fide intention” to use the logo in commerce, said its Wednesday extension request. PTO doesn’t require applicants to say why they want SOU deadline extensions, and CTA didn’t offer an explanation. The association didn't comment Friday. CTA last landed a certification mark registration certificate from PTO in April 2019 for the 4K Ultra HD logo, but not before the association filed for three SOU deadline extensions over two years.
Broadcasters see the progress of the ATSC 3.0 rollout as one of several promising signs for the future of broadcast TV, despite the difficulties of the COVID-19 pandemic, said industry officials at the virtual NAB Show New York event Thursday. COVID-19 is “a double-edged sword” because the increase in TV and over-the-top viewing brought by the pandemic plays to 3.0 strengths, said John Taylor, LG Electronics senior vice president-public affairs and communications.
Edge Networks is drawing cord cutters, CEO Todd Achilles told the NAB Show New York virtual event Tuesday. “They’re tired of paying over 100 bucks for a pay-TV bundle, and they want reliable service, which a lot of the streaming services don’t provide because of the unmanaged internet into their homes." The startup is having strong demand in its first market for its Evoca-branded ATSC 3.0-based content service Sept. 1 in Boise (see 2008210021), the corporate chief said. BitPath, “despite the pandemic,” this year launched seven 3.0 markets, with nine more coming, including Mobile-Pensacola going live Wednesday, said President John Hane. The “big one for this year” will be Seattle in December, with “very wide participation,” he said.
Next-generation broadcast TV faces an uphill climb despite the “great job” Sinclair is doing with ATSC 3.0, Interpret Vice President Brett Sappington told a Brightcove webinar last week. “Consumers have been trained with" over-the-top, he said. "If you’re going to go to an alternative service, I think it’s more likely to go to OTT than to broadcast’s next-gen delivery." Sappington said 3.0 needs to provide something “uniquely valuable that OTT can’t do. If you can define that, you can win. If you can’t define that, you’re going to struggle.” Cord cutting hasn’t led to a meaningful increase in over-the-air viewing, said Sappington, though he’s curious to see what ATSC 3.0 does for broadcast TV. “That’s going to be a slow roll because people have to have devices, ability to access and then have to learn how to access,” he said. The new standard does allow for ways for “broadcast to grow,” he said.