With ATSC 3.0 (aka NextGen TV) now on the air in some 75 U.S. markets, more and more emphasis is being placed on this second-generation digital over-the-air broadcasting standard, not only for its ability to provide viewers with enhanced services, but also in advanced emergency alerting and datacasting, which has the potential to generate actual revenue streams for stations soon.
Also on tap is the Broadcast Positioning System, which has the potential for ATSC 3.0 to supplement current GPS navigation technology.
It will be difficult not to notice NextGen TV’s presence at NAB Show, with numerous equipment suppliers displaying gear attuned to ATSC 3.0, and all the latest applications featured at the Advanced Television Systems Committee’s booth in the West Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center (W3056).
“We will feature consumer products, new software options for receivers, several examples of High Dynamic Range and a variety of new capabilities for ATSC 3.0, which can both deliver better television and also serve as a vital platform for datacasting and a precision timing system that can complement the existing system based on GPS,” ATSC President Madeline Noland said. “Expect to see the consumer options available and coming soon to retail, interactive functionality that allows local stations to take full advantage of both the over-the-top and over-the-air capability of ATSC 3.0 and a variety of methods for local insertion of metadata to greatly enhance the audio and video services for viewers.”
‘The Future of TV’
A big sticking point in allowing broadcasters to offer many of NextGen TV’s enhancements is the limited bandwidth afforded in today’s “channel-sharing” arrangements required to deliver legacy ATSC 1.0.
In January, the long-awaited report from the “The Future of TV” initiative launched by the Federal Communications Commission in 2023 and managed by the National Association of Broadcasters was released, and observers say it will be on the minds of many.
“I will speak personally about the report, and most importantly about what the joint activity has allowed to happen,” Mark Aitken, senior vice president of advanced technology at Sinclair, says. “While there were many voices at the table, broadcasters have become united around the fundamental role local television plays in the marketplace. The importance of that role brings a sense of unity to the larger mission of our industry, the license holders that hold a responsibility to uphold the public’s interests.”
Adds Pearl TV Managing Director Anne Schelle: “The release of the report [provides] a platform for the various stakeholders to come together, gain insights and learn about the ATSC 3.0 ecosystem and how a transition could be enabled. Broadcasters need to get prepared for what I believe will be an accelerated timetable for deploying ATSC 3.0 services. Attending the NAB Show is crucial, as it offers a unique opportunity to witness these innovations firsthand, network with industry leaders and gain insights into best practices.”
Enterprise Datacasting
One of the more promising applications for NextGen TV broadcasting is the ancillary transmission of data, or “datacasting.” Last year’s NAB Show saw the launch of Sinclair’s Broadspan datacasting platform, which enables data distribution in markets where Sinclair stations are offering 3.0.
In January, Sinclair announced a partnership with E.W. Scripps Co., Gray Media, Nexstar Media Group to launch Edgebeam Wireless to provide expansive, reliable and secure data delivery services, targeting industries that need to send data to multiple customers, often in real time.
“This trend will be showcased at the NAB Show, with presentations highlighting its benefits and showcasing real-world applications,” Winston Caldwell, the new engineering lead at the Pearl TV consortium, says. “Broadcasters should certainly delve into the possibilities of datacasting. They’re already making waves in this field.
“Additionally, we are seeing participation from players not traditionally involved in the broadcast space, engaging in proofs-of-concept and exploring potential collaborations,” Caldwell adds.
Aitken says Edgebeam “will be a well-funded effort that holds the potential to transform a large part of our industry’s future revenue opportunities. I expect conversations will percolate everywhere.”
At the BEIT
NAB Show’s BEIT (Broadcasting Engineering and IT) Conference, set for April 5-8 in the West Hall, allows attendees to drill down into these and other new use cases for NextGen TV.
In “Cloud-Based Advanced Emergency Information (AEI) System for ATSC 3.0 and IP Delivery,” Jason Kim, a senior systems engineer at ONE Media Technologies, says he “will highlight how broadcasters can utilize next-generation technologies, such as ATSC 3.0 and cloud-based systems, to enhance emergency alerting and deliver more reliable and timely communication with localized detail for affected communities.”
Another BEIT session highlights a NextGen TV “trifecta” of sorts—“ATSC 3.0 Spectrum Utilization, Cloud Deployment Considerations and A Unique Public Safety Use Case.”
“With the current lighthouse situation, we have very limited spectrum for 3.0 services,” says Session Moderator Joe Seccia, regional director of RF transmission at TelevisaUnivision, says. “Using novel implementations and technologies such as scheduled physical layer adaptation can help broadcasters get even more out of their multiplexes.
“Most cloud infrastructures are built around IP unicast, while 3.0 relies on multicast for efficient delivery,” Seccia adds. “Factors such as packet loss can lead to service interruptions and less than reliable delivery. We’ll hear about ways to make the cloud work in the 3.0 domain.
“[There’s] an innovative idea to support wildland fire operations with an airborne or mobile 3.0 transmitter—a reliable, resilient and secure datacom system that’s ready to support emergencies on demand (and) with the ability to send real-time positioning information of uncrewed aircraft to others in the field, allowing for safer and more efficient use of uncrewed aircraft,” Seccia adds.
Demo Combines DVB-T2, 5G and 3.0
ATSC 3.0 is also involved in a slightly different way as part of a planned “direct-broadcast-to-handheld devices” demonstration at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)’s Broadcast Technology Society booth.
Peter Siebert, who recently retired as the executive director of the DVB (Digital Video Broadcast) television organization, is hosting the demo, which not only involves NextGen TV, but also DVB-T2 and 5G Broadcast transmissions.
Siebert says the planned demo recognizes that there is no “one-size-fits-all” over-the-air television broadcast standard and NAB Show attendees need to be aware of modalities in addition to ATSC 3.0 for delivering video content to consumers.
“These are the three relevant second-generation DTT [digital terrestrial television] systems for transmission to handhelds,” Siebert says. “With this demo, I want to show that the IEEE’s BTS is open to all broadcast-related technologies and not only focused on the North American market. I also want to show that DTT to handhelds is possible in principle and that several solutions exist.”
