NORFOLK, Va.—NextGen TV is now being transmitted to viewers in the state of Virginia, with the announcement that four stations in the Norfolk-Portsmouth-Newport News market have launched the next-gen broadcast standard powered by ATSC 3.0.
The four stations involved in the launch are WAVY-TV (NBC), WVBT and WNLO-CD (Fox), all of which are owned by Nexstar, and WTVZ-TV (MyNet), a Sinclair Broadcast Group owned-and-operated station. These stations serve viewers in Norfolk, Portsmouth, Newport News and Virginia Beach.
The deployment of NextGen TV will support a range of new broadcast services that are designed to improve upon the broadcast experience, including immersive audio and video (up to 4K), broadcasting to mobile devices, personalized viewing tools, advanced emergency alerts and integration with 5G and other broadband-delivered internet content.
BitPath took point on the planning process and the coordination efforts across the four stations. The stations have also cooperated to ensure that current programming remains available to their viewers. Viewers using antennas can ensure full service by rescanning their TVs; no actions are required for cable and satellite subscribers.
NextGen TV has been popping up in markets all over the country, having been deployed in Las Vegas, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Austin, Texas, and most recently Raleigh, N.C., as well as others. ATSC, the organization that developed the next-gen TV standard, expects that NextGen TV will be deployed in more than 60 markets by mid-2021.
