America’s Public Television Stations CEO Patrick Butler is “hopeful” that Senate legislation maintaining funding for PBS will advance over a House FY24 federal funding legislation bill that would zero out that money, he told the APTS Public Media Summit in a farewell address Monday after 13 years leading the association (see 2307210065). Butler plans to retire this year once a replacement is hired (see 2311010050). “I’m hopeful. I can’t say I’m confident, but I am hopeful,” he said after the speech.
An FCC draft order allowing broadcasters to use FM boosters to originate geotargeted radio content would initially require that stations seek special temporary authority grants, agency and industry officials told us. In addition, they said the grants would permit use of the geotargeted content for a maximum of three minutes per broadcast hour. A further notice included with the item seeks comment on rules for a more permanent application process replacing the STA grants, which will need to be renewed every six months.
Streaming music company Roxi is partnering with Sinclair on an offer of interactive music channels broadcast over ATSC 3.0 in U.S. homes starting this year, said a Sinclair news release Tuesday. The initial Roxi music, karaoke and games channels will “feature the interactivity and capabilities of a music app, without having to download or launch an app,” the release said. “Our viewers will be able to pause, play and skip on broadcast TV for the first time,” said Roxi CEO Rob Lewis in the release. The Roxi Music Video Channel will feature “curated collections of the very best high-quality music videos from the biggest names in music” and allow viewers to pay for an ad-free version. The Roxi Music Games Channel features interactive music games, and the Roxi Music Video Karaoke Channel will feature karaoke tracks with original music videos and scrolling lyrics, the release said. “We’re confident this partnership will help accelerate the adoption of NextGen TV by delivering entertainment features that consumers will increasingly come to demand on their televisions,” said Skip Flenniken, Sinclair vice president-general manager, technology business development.
Consumer sales of ATSC 3.0 products are expected to increase by 45% in 2024 and TCL has joined the ranks of manufacturers building ATSC 3.0 TVs, the Advanced Television Systems Committee said in a news release from CES 2024 Monday. “We’re projecting that NEXTGEN TV will cross the 75% household reach milestone in February -- a significant achievement that also will mark 75 Nielsen broadcast markets with service,” ATSC President Madeleine Noland said in the release. ATSC 3.0 is expected to launch in Chicago, San Diego, and Tucson in 2024, Noland said. The number of accessory receiver models, such as ADTH’s device (see 2401040048), is expected to double in 2024, the release said. ADTH, Stavix, ZapperBox and Zinwell are displaying the devices at CES, the release said.
NAB Deputy General Counsel Patrick McFadden has joined Sinclair as senior vice president-global public policy and communications, according to a news release from Sinclair Monday. McFadden "will be responsible for overseeing the development and implementation of Sinclair’s comprehensive legislative and regulatory strategy" and "oversee Sinclair’s strategic communications and messaging," said the release. McFadden was with NAB for 10 years, and among his most recent duties was overseeing the Future of TV Initiative, the public/private ATSC 3.0 task force that includes FCC participation. Although Sinclair participates in the task force, NAB told us NAB staff will continue to oversee the group's administration. Prior to NAB, McFadden practiced telecommunications law for Drinker Biddle.
An ATSC 3.0 set-top receiver made by ADTH is available on Walmart’s website, a release from the Advanced Television Systems Committee’s spokesperson said Thursday. The ADTH NEXTGEN TV set-top receiver costs $89.99, according to the website. It's the cheapest ATSC receiver in the pipeline, the ATSC spokesperson told us. We searched; the cheapest 3.0 TV we found on the NextGen TV device shopping guide -- a Sony 43-inch -- carried a $599.99 price tag. The FCC and Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel have repeatedly emphasized concerns about the availability of low-cost ATSC 3.0 receivers (see 2307130057). Walmart’s website also sells a Silicon Dust 3.0 set-top receiver at $199.99, but the spokesperson said the Silicon Dust device is not currently compatible with the digital rights management encryption used by some ATSC 3.0 broadcasters. The ADTH receiver is. ADTH's is the “first certified and security verified device,” the release said. Multiple online campaigns are calling on the FCC to bar broadcasters from encrypting their 3.0 signals with digital rights management (see 2307110073) because they believe it favors certain manufacturers and runs counter to broadcasting's traditional free availability. The issue is a focus of the NAB-run, FCC-involved ATSC 3.0 task force, the Future of TV Initiative (see 2311160064). CES 2024 will include the ADTH model and several other low-cost receivers, the ATSC spokesperson told us.
The FCC adopted the 2018 quadrennial review order 3 to 2 late Friday -- on the eve of a three-day holiday weekend -- with both Republican commissioners dissenting. Released Tuesday afternoon, the item extends the top-four prohibition to low-power TV stations and multicast TV channels and makes methodology changes for determining a top-four station. Yet it declines to reconsider the markets in which broadcasters compete or to loosen radio ownership caps. “We take this action to preserve the efficacy of the Top-Four Prohibition because we find it necessary to prevent further exploitation of unintended ambiguities or gaps in the rule,” the order said. “Such exploitation harms competition and denies consumers the benefits of competition.
Wireless technology companies, satellite operators and a host of broadcast industry entities pitching ATSC 3.0-based methods responded to the FCC Public Safety Bureau’s call for partners to test ways to deliver wireless emergency alerts without using cell towers, according to comments filed in docket 22-160 by Monday’s deadline. “In some cases, mobile networks can be disrupted by the very emergency to which a WEA pertains,” said NAB. “A successful partnership with the Bureau could further bolster the case for ATSC 3.0 abroad” and encourage manufacturers to include 3.0 chips in their phones, said Sinclair’s ATSC 3.0 subsidiary One Media. Qualcomm, Skylo Technologies, PBS, 5G broadcast company XGen and others suggested their own solutions.
ATSC 3.0’s physical layer is one of two technologies being evaluated to form the over-the-air transmission component of Brazil’s new "TV 3.0" broadcast standard, said the Advanced Television Systems Committee in a release Monday. Other elements of the ATSC 3.0 standard were already selected. The physical layer has been selected to advance from lab testing to field-testing, the release said. The final phase of the evaluation is set to conclude in 2024.
Nearly six months into a yearlong effort, members of NAB-led, FCC-involved ATSC 3.0 task force on the Future of TV Initiative (FTI) (see 2306090043) told us it will likely shift to delving into specific issues after spending early meetings covering 3.0 basics. Digital rights management (DRM) and encryption for ATSC 3.0 signals have become an early point of disagreement at working group meetings, but participants we spoke with said the process was largely collegial and praised the task force's diversity. “If we don’t have any tough conversations, we’re not doing it right,” said NAB Associate General Counsel Patrick McFadden, who oversees the task force.