It’s sometimes said that trying to get a group of broadcasters to do anything is like trying to herd cats, but if 2025 plays out as some broadcasters hope that feline finickiness will take a back seat to a unified push to promote NextGen TV to viewers.
Central to the effort is calling viewer attention to the fact that thanks to high dynamic range (HDR), NextGen TVs display a far higher-quality version of what they are accustomed to watching on legacy digital TVs.
With support for a color gamut (Rec. 2020) that has twice as many colors as television’s predecessor color gamut (Rec. 709) and the ability to display detail in shadows and highlights, HDR produces a noticeable difference—one that broadcasters hope to leverage to entice viewers to adopt NextGen TV.
“One of the things we are doing different is using lower thirds to say ‘HDR only available on NextGen TVs,” says Anne Schelle, managing director of Pearl TV, a business alliance of eight major TV station groups dedicated to advancing NextGen TV. “There are over 80 million HDR-enabled households in America, so those tickers will serve a purpose similar to what was done back in the days of transitioning from analog to HD.”
(Editor’s note: The Consumer Technology Association has estimated about 14 million NextGen TVs have been sold to date. The 80 million figure refers to U.S. households with HDR-enabled sets. Many would require an external ATSC 3.0 tuner to receive NextGen TV signals enhanced with HDR.)
Schelle points to Gray Television as one of the industry’s leaders in promoting HDR as well as immersive audio on-air and online to elevate viewer awareness of NextGen TV—not simply by describing what can be done but also by showing viewers these NextGen TV enhancements when they tune in to some stations’ ATSC 3.0 transmissions.
In May, Gray’s WAVE-TV in Louisville, Kentucky, presented NextGen TV coverage of the Kentucky Derby— and the fanfare in the days leading up to the race—to local viewers, enhanced with Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos immersive audio. Since then, eight of its NBC affiliates transmitted the Paris Summer Olympics via NextGen TV with Dolby Vision HDR. Three of those stations also enhanced audio with immersive Dolby Atmos sound.
Recently, Gray has begun running a ticker in its 20 NextGen TV station markets on both its ATSC 1.0 and 3.0 signals to highlight the availability of HDR, so NextGen TV set owners recognize its presence and 1.0 set owners are enticed to learn more.
“Our thought is going back to the future—like in 2005 when you saw bugs that would say “available in high definition” before every football game and how that drove awareness for the last TV transition,” says Gray senior vice president of government relations Robert Folliard.
Sports and HDR
To date, about 200 ATSC 3.0 channels in the U.S. transmit HDR, whether it’s Dolby Vision, Advanced HDR by Technicolor or HDR10+, full-time. In other words, NextGen TV broadcasters don’t flip HDR on for sports and off for the rest of the day, Pearl TV spokesperson Dave Arland said.
However, high-profile sports attract more viewers, and many Americans tend to buy new televisions around these events. So, calling attention to the availability of HDR via NextGen TV has the potential to accelerate uptake.
“The month of January is going to be a lot of fun because of the football playoffs,” Schelle said. “We’re really trying to focus on sports and the Super Bowl.
“Over 50% of all TVs are sold between Black Friday [the day after Thanksgiving] and the Super Bowl. So, the month of January sees a big spike in sales right after the holidays. A lot of people buy TVs for the Super Bowl.”
This year marks the fifth holiday shopping season Pearl TV has promoted NextGen TV on air with commercials and other promos. As of mid-December, member stations had run 6,000 spots. Coinciding with the campaign—Pearl TV’s biggest to date—is the use of lower-thirds to promote HDR on NextGen TVs.
Gray Television is not alone in seeing the potential of tying HDR and sports together to build awareness and momentum for NextGen TV.
NBC Owned Television Stations transmitted NextGen TV coverage of the Paris Olympics with Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos immersive audio from its in 11 markets, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas-Fort Worth, the Bay Area, Boston, Washington, D.C., Miami, San Diego and Hartford, Conn.
NBC and Dolby Laboratories worked together to promote how Dolby Vision and Atmos would enhance the viewing experience of NextGen TV viewers both on air and online in the station group’s New York and Bay Area markets.
In March, Sinclair announced it would begin carrying Tennis Channel’s T2 as a broadcast-enabled, streaming television (BEST) channel in all of its ATSC 3.0 markets. T2 programming would be presented using Advanced HDR by Technicolor.
In 2025, Sinclair will launch year-round promotion of NextGen TV—not simply focusing its efforts on tentpole events like the holidays, a Sinclair spokesperson said. However, details about the marketing campaign and whether or not leveraging HDR to call attention to NextGen TV will be part of the effort were not available.
What is known is Gray’s HDR on-screen promos are receiving a thumbs up from other broadcasters. “We’ve showed the [Gray] design to all of the station groups that have turned on HDR, and they're embracing it,” Schelle said.
“These tickers will let consumers know that HDR via NextGen TV is available, and you’ll see it come into play more and more as more stations turn on HDR,” she said.
Now is the right time to begin promoting HDR and other NextGen TV features, Folliard said.
“We think it is important to start promoting the features of NextGen that are available today so consumers know that there is something better out there, start asking questions and buy NextGen TVs,” he said.
