IRVING, TX—Nexstar Media Group, Inc. has announced that its WHTM-TV station serving Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, has begun broadcasting NextGen TV signals.
Harrisburg is Nexstar’s 17th market to begin broadcasting with ATSC 3.0 in 2021. Over the course of the year, Nexstar deployed ATSC 3.0 at 25 of its local television stations; close to 30% of all U.S. television households now receive a NextGen TV signal from a Nexstar-owned or -operated station.
Nexstar is planning to convert another 20 of its local television markets to NextGen TV next year, and its station group has set a goal of reaching 50% of U.S. TV households with NextGen TV, powered by ATSC 3.0, by the end of 2022.
Nexstar is a participant in BitPath, a broadcaster-supported consortium creating a network for datacasting, with services launching in 2022. Nexstar’s ATSC 3.0 television stations plan to participate in the BitPath broadcast data network.
“When it comes to the deployment of ATSC 3.0, we think scale is critically important to fostering consumer demand for NextGen TV sets and developing new businesses and services,” said Brett Jenkins, executive vice president and chief technology officer for Nexstar Media Group, Inc. “Nexstar reaches more television households with a NextGen TV signal than any other local broadcast company. With even more Nexstar television stations deploying ATSC 3.0 in 2022, we are well-positioned to launch broad-based datacasting services to support new businesses in such areas as agriculture, automotive, digital signage, education, location services and public safety. A recent BIA study suggested that these services could generate up to $15 billion in additional broadcast revenue by 2030, and Nexstar will be very aggressive in pursuing the new opportunities presented by NextGen TV.”
Following today’s launch, the list of Nexstar owned or operated stations/markets converted to NextGen TV in 2021 includes: KTLA in Los Angeles; KIAH in Houston; KTXL in Sacramento; WJZY in Charlotte; KPLR/KTVI in St. Louis; WXIN/WTTV Indianapolis; WTNH in Hartford; WCMH in Columbus; WDAF in Kansas City; WOOD/WOTV/WXSP-CD/WOLP-CD in Grand Rapids; WHTM in Harrisburg; WGHP in Greensboro; WIVB in Buffalo; KARK/KARZ in Little Rock; KOZL/KRBK in Springfield; WOWK in Charleston, W.V.; and WSYR in Syracuse.
