BOULDER, Colo.—The Public Media Venture Group (PMVG) has added topics and speakers to the program for the Public Media Technology Summit (PMTS), which will take place immediately prior to the 2023 NAB Show in Las Vegas.
The event will be held at the Renaissance Las Vegas, adjacent to the Las Vegas Convention Center (site of the 2023 NAB Show), on April 13-14, 2023.
On April 13, time on the program has been extended for consulting engineer and trainer Gary Sgrignoli’s Master Class on “Configuring the ATSC 3.0 Physical Layer,” to allow a deeper dive on the complex topic.
Later that day, a session on “Artificial Intelligence in Public Media” has been added to the program, presented by one of the industry’s leading thinkers on the topic, Chad Davis, CIO at Nebraska Public Media. Davis will address some of the greatest concerns and opportunities AI presents to public media professionals and to journalism at large.
Day 1 of the Summit also includes a session on “Differentiating and Innovating with NextGen TV Content,” focusing on the system’s 4K/Ultra HD and interactive capabilities, plus a panel on “Improving Coverage with SFNs and On-channel Repeaters,” providing a sneak peek at new products in this sector that will be unveiled at the NAB Show. Later in the day a session on “Moving to the Cloud,” features presenters from Google, and the day’s keynote address will come from SMPTE president Renard Jenkins, senior vice president, Production Integration & Creative Technology Services at Warner Brothers Discovery.
Also on the Day 1 program is a session on “Public TV’s Early Lessons with ATSC 3.0,” in which early-adopting public TV stations will present real-world NextGen TV implementations currently on the air.
The program for April 14 begins with an up-to-the-minute report by Roger Lanctot, Director of Connected Mobility for the respected technology analyst firm TechInsights. Lanctot will address “ATSC 3.0 and the Future of Connected Cars,” in which he will describe how ATSC 3.0 has fundamentally altered the calculations of car makers on connectivity planning. According to Lanctot, “ATSC 3.0’s relevance for both content delivery and datacasting is a compelling one-two punch, made even more powerful with the addition of enhanced positioning. The path ahead will be challenging, but the opportunities are clear enough based on existing forecasts.” Lanctot plans to include identification of critical factors to the success or failure of ATSC 3.0 in the connected car.
Day 2 of the Summit continues with a panel on “Navigating the Transition to NextGen—LPTV Partnerships & Acquisitions,” featuring SuperFrank Copsidas, founder and president of the LPTV Broadcasters Association, multi-LPTV station operator Jeff Winemiller of Wave Central LLC, and Greg Petrowich, president and CEO of WFYI, Indianapolis.
The April 14 program continues with an “ATSC 3.0 Datacasting” panel including Erik Langner, CEO of Information Equity Initiative, Guy Hadland, CTO of UniSoft, and Skip Flenniken vice president and GM of technology business development at Sinclair Broadcast Group, along with a unique presentation on “Working with Joint Master Controls for ATSC 3.0” by Shadi Sabra, CEO of CentralCast Alliance; and Joe Walker, vice president of technology and product solutions at Crispin Corporation, representing the Public Media Management (PMM) platform.
Day 2’s keynote address will be presented by ATSC president Madeleine Noland, followed by a panel on “Emergency Alerting & Information over NextGen TV” moderated by John Lawson, executive director of the AWARN Alliance, and a panel on “CE Trends: NextGen Televisions and Accessory Receivers” moderated by Dave Arland, executive director of the Indiana Broadcasters Association, which will include panelists Alex Day of Tolka, Luke Fay of Sony, Anne Schelle of Pearl TV, and John Taylor of LG Electronics.
The Summit will close with an uninhibited discussion of regulatory and policy topics, featuring NAB’s vice president, Spectrum Policy, Robert Weller and others, and a rare look inside an enterprise’s recovery from a ransomware attack, in which two public stations that have suffered such hacks will share their experiences and recommendations.
Registration for the Summit is now offered for either one or both days, and includes breakfasts, lunches and refreshment breaks. Summit registrants also receive a $150 discount to the NAB Show Conference registration, and/or free access to NAB Show exhibits. Early registration discounts are available through March 31. A full program and online registration are available at https://www.publicmediaventure.com/tech-summit.
