WASHINGTON—An A team of FCC auction, repack and ATSC 3.0 experts will brief noncommercial broadcasters at their upcoming annual gathering Feb. 27 in Washington at the America's Public Television Stations Public Media Summit.
Noncommercial broadcasters were among the big winners in the incentive auction and joined with commercial broadcasters and the Consumer Technology Association to petition the FCC to approve the voluntary rollout of the next-gen ATSC 3.0 IP-based transmission standard, which the FCC did in November.
Lined up for a panel on the "aftermath" of the auctions and "beforemath," as it were, of the ATSC 3.0 rollout, will be Media Bureau chief Michelle Carey; Incentive auction task force deputy chief Jean Kiddoo and Deputy Chief Hillary DeNigro, and task force senior advisor Charles Meisch.
Look for the FCC officials to be asked about how the reimbursement process is going and when there might be another tranche of money, which a source says is one of the big issues the commission hears about. APTS has suggested it could use a second tranche ASAP. The FCC has made it clear that beyond that initial $1 billion allocation, it would time future allocations based on demand. Until it sees phase one stations getting close to using up their allocation, it does not have a burning desire to launch another tranche.
The first allocation came back in October.
The officials will probably also talk about consumer education and how stations can make the transition smoother for viewers.
For a comprehensive list of TV Technology’s ATSC 3.0 coverage, see our ATSC3 silo.
This story first appeared on TVT's sister publication B&C.
