Low-power broadcasters WWOO-LD Boston and XGen Network demonstrated an alternative to ATSC 3.0 in a livestream Wednesday by using 5G broadcast technology to send a television signal to a cellphone, airing a news broadcast and an emergency alert. WWOO is the only station broadcasting 5G in the U.S., and does so under an FCC experimental license. Though the tech is far behind ATSC 3.0 in implementation, it has been accepted by international cellular standards-making body 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and is expected to be receivable in next-generation mobile devices without additional hardware -- unlike 3.0, say 5G broadcast advocates. 3.0 “is a much more robust program right now,” but “we can get into cellphones,” said XGen CEO Frank Copsidas, who also heads the LPTV Broadcasters Association.
The Public Media Venture Group, the Korea Radio Promotion Association (RAPA) and WCTE Cookeville, Tennessee, launched a low-power television testbed to demonstrate what ATSC 3.0 can bring to public media, said a PMVG news release Thursday. WCTE’s Monterey, Tennessee, transmitter site will be a platform “for developing and demonstrating various ATSC 3.0 applications and use cases, such as enhanced emergency alerting, interactive education, and datacasting,” the release said. The broadcasters “anticipate the commencement of full ATSC 3.0 service to the Upper Cumberland region of Tennessee and Kentucky this fall,” the release said. The testbed was constructed with assistance from Korean ATSC 3.0 technology company DigiCAP. “In early August, a delegation of Korean engineers and technology suppliers visited WCTE to set up and test the new station,” the release said. “The launch of the testbed exemplifies the power of international collaboration and demonstrates how technology leaders and innovative broadcasters can come together to drive the future of broadcasting,” said DigiCAP Senior Vice President Joonyoung Park in the release.
Nexstar is seeing increased interest from sports entities looking to air games on broadcast TV, said CEO Perry Sook Monday in the company’s Q2 earnings call. The company's CW network has inked deals with NASCAR and the collegiate Atlantic Coast Conference. Nexstar’s Q2 net revenue was $1.24 billion, was “essentially flat” compared with 2022’s Q2, said an earnings release. “On paper, both ACC and NASCAR make money for the CW over time,” said Sook on the call. “We feel good about where we will end up and now it’s all just about getting to the starting line.” Sook said the company experienced some “softness” in adverting in Q2 but chalked it up to the company’s strong presence in large markets, where local advertisers behave similarly to national advertisers that have been affected by recession concerns. Sook denounced claims that on-demand offerings have supplanted linear video. “What can't be questioned is that literally all of the video profit and 80% of video revenue of the major integrated media companies are generated by the linear model today,” Sook said. Asked about ATSC 3.0, Sook said he doesn’t expect major revenue gains from the new standard for at least five years, though he highlighted the possibility of using 3.0 to provide a backup to GPS (see 2304170012). Nexstar is “confident” the ongoing Writer’s Guild of America strike won’t affect its content on the CW, since most of that programming was either already developed or unscripted, Sook said.
TV broadcasters are seeing increases in commercial advertising, but they have concerns about being compensated for their programming and don’t see big M&A opportunities on the horizon, said Tegna, Gray Television and Sinclair Broadcast executives in those companies’ Q2 earnings calls last week. “Increased competition from technology companies, streaming content providers, and the [broadcasting] networks as well as continued regulatory constraints means that we must transform to remain relevant and to grow impressions and revenue,” said Sinclair CEO Chris Ripley.
An FCC draft order on FM6 low-power TV stations is expected to change little from the draft version and to be unanimously approved Thursday, FCC and industry officials said. The stations -- sometimes called “Franken FMs”-- broadcast primarily audio content that can be picked up with FM radio receivers and “will get to stay on the air and continue serving the public,” said Wiley broadcast attorney Ari Melzer, who represents several FM6 broadcasters.
The FCC Media Bureau has granted an application to allow Milachi Media-owned low-power television station WWOO-LD Westmoreland, New Hampshire, to test 5G broadcasting, said a letter Friday. LPTV Broadcasters Association President Frank Copsidas has touted the tech as a datacasting alternative to ATSC 3.0 (see 2306120003). Data transmitted through 5G broadcasting can be received by existing 5G devices, Copsidas has said. “During the testing period, Milachi will continue to provide traditional television programming using 5G Broadcast, while also using 5G Broadcast to work with first responders to provide enterprise video and data services, as well as emergency alerts,” the letter said. “Emergency alerts could be received by members of the public on 5G enabled devices, such as their smartphones, tablets and televisions, in less than one second as opposed to between 30 seconds to 3 minutes on a cell phone or 15 seconds by FM radio,” the letter said. The grant lasts until Jan. 16, and doesn’t include an expectation of renewal, the letter said.
Comments on the FCC’s ATSC 3.0 Further NPRM are due in docket 16-142 Sept. 15, replies Oct. 16, said a public notice Monday. The FNPRM seeks comment on the 3.0 patent marketplace. Rule changes to the physical layer and substantially similar sunsets and hosting rules from the order (see 2306230067) that accompanied the FNPRM take effect Aug 16, except for portions that still require Paperwork Reduction Act approval from OMB.
Broadcasters say they need to use encryption and digital rights management (DRM) on their ATSC 3.0 streams to make the service a safe place for content, but early adopters, consumers and public interest groups say doing so cuts off the only existing low-cost ways to receive ATSC 3.0 transmissions. Broadcast consortium Pearl TV told us new, working external tuners will be available in weeks, but until they hit the market, the only option is “a $600 television set,” said Tyler Kleinle, who discusses broadcast tech on YouTube as The Antenna Man. “I do not like the fact all these broadcasters are putting DRM up before there are any solutions to this issue,” said Jason Shallcross in one of hundreds of similar comments that appear to be posted by individual consumers in the past week in docket 16-142: “Its like they are trying to implement it as fast as they can before anyone can comment on it.”
The FCC should look into and discourage local broadcasters from encrypting their ATSC 3.0 signals with DRM, said a filing from YouTube personality Tyler Kleinle, aka Antenna Man, posted in docket 16-142 Tuesday. “That broadcasters are behaving this badly so early in the launch of NextGen TV has me deeply concerned about the future of free over-the-air TV,” said the filing. Antenna Man and fellow YouTuber Lon Seidman asked their viewers to sign a petition and file comments at the agency against broadcasters encrypting their signals with DRM. Broadcasters have begun encrypting their signals, though the makers of external ATSC 3.0 tuners haven’t completed a certification process that would allow those devices to decode the signal, thus cutting off users of those devices from the 3.0 signal, the filing said. Broadcasters in ATSC 3.0 consortium Pearl TV “do not seem to have any care for antenna viewers who lost access to local channels because of DRM encryption,” said the filing. “The certification process for a tuner to decode DRM appears to be extremely complex and expensive,” the filing said. Pearl TV didn’t comment. “Free over-the-air TV is something that should be free and open to the public on any tuner available without encryption,” said Antenna Man in a video urging the public to put pressure on the agency.
The FCC will consider additional steps to ensure tribal communities have access to E-rate funding during the agency's July 20 meeting, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a note Wednesday. Rosenworcel circulated a proposal last week to allow the use of E-rate funds for Wi-Fi hot spots (see 2306260029). Also on the agenda are an order addressing local programming and proposed rules on reporting and notice requirements for 988 outages.