PLYMOUTH, Wis.—Heartland Video Systems announced it has joined the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) as a voting member, bringing 20 years of experience and knowledge implementing ATSC 1.0 and now 3.0 to the organization.
“Since ATSC 3.0 implementations have started, we have been fortunate to be working with several large station groups and feel we could make a real contribution by joining ATSC as a voting member,” said Heartland Video CEO Dennis Klas.
“With experience gained from each market, combined with what we learn from our ATSC 3.0 integration lab, we improve with each integration we do," he said.
Madeleine Noland, president of ATSC, welcomed Heartland Video to the committee. “Heartland Video Systems is known for their thorough understanding of the equipment and systems they sell and support,” she said. “They use their active ATSC 3.0 lab to assist broadcasters in their transition to NextGen TV. ATSC is continually developing the ATSC 3.0 platform, and participation from systems experts such as Heartland is critical.”
Heartland Video’s 3.0 technology implementation over the past year has required special attention to health and safety given the COVID-19 pandemic, the company said.
“As station staffs were stretched due to COVID-19, Heartland was able to use our experience, and relationships with multiple vendors, to ease each market transition,” said Klas.
The business side also has evolved since Heartland Video assisted broadcasters with their 1.0 implementation two decades ago.
“Twenty years ago, broadcasters had greater control to standardize their broadcast equipment and IT across multiple markets. But most larger station groups were grown through acquisitions, and as a result many must deal with a variety of technology upgrade scenarios. System integrators, like Heartland, have had to develop expertise to work with all suppliers and across all technology scenarios,” he said.
Heartland Video plans to share its firsthand knowledge about the latest ATSC 3.0 technology and best practices with the committee “as a way to give back to our industry,” said Klas.
More information is available on the Heartland Video website.
