ATSC 3.0 set for 2020 boost

The first US consumer television receivers equipped with NEXTGEN TV capabilities are coming to retail stores later in 2020, with the announcements at CES 2020 from the biggest names in the TV industry launching 20 ATSC 3.0-enabled TV models. The introductions by LG Electronics, Samsung and Sony mirror the initial nationwide rollout of NEXTGEN TV service, powered by the ATSC 3.0 broadcasting standard, planned for more than 60 markets across the US.

International, non-profit voluntary digital television standards organisation ATSC has released a Guide to ATSC 3.0 at CES, which will be handed out to showgoers at ATSC’s first-ever CES exhibit floor booth (#11329 in Central Hall). Leading participants in the booth include ATSC sponsors Pearl TV and the Phoenix Model Market, Sinclair Broadcast Group and ONE Media, Gaian Solutions, and Sony.

“Developed by hundreds of consumer technology and broadcasting experts across the globe, the ATSC 3.0 suite of standards has the capability to easily deliver 4K Ultra HDTV signals to give viewers access to more 4K content – along with a host of other features comprising NEXTGEN TV,” said ATSC president Madeleine Noland.

ATSC sponsors Pearl TV with the Phoenix Model Market, Sinclair Broadcast Group and ONE Media, Gaian Solutions, and Sony are offering examples of NEXTGEN TV technologies at the ATSC booth in Central Hall:

• Pearl TV and broadcasters who are part of the Phoenix Model Market are demonstrating the new NEXTGEN TV Application Framework that gives broadcasters and consumer device manufacturers a clear view of what’s available with NEXTGEN TV on each channel. Dolby is offering a demonstration of Voice Boost, which tests remarkably high with consumers in recent NEXTGEN TV research conducted in Phoenix by Magid. Broadcasters are planning the immediate availability of the technology to boost dialogue over background noise and normalise the audio levels with NEXTGEN TV. Research by Magid also shows strong appeal for the new technology.

• For introduction in 2020, Sony will showcase its TVs designed with integrated NEXTGEN TV reception. Sony is among the manufacturers supporting the Phoenix Model Market project.

• Sinclair Broadcast Group and ONE Media will enable live NEXTGEN TV demonstrations across the CES show floor with signals from KSNV-TV, the Sinclair NBC Las Vegas station which has switched its back-up transmission to ATSC 3.0. Using an LG OLED TV, Sinclair and ONE Media are demonstrating the first home over-the-air (OTA) and over-the-top (OTT) converged application to make switching effortless between broadcast and broadband-delivered channels. The live NEXTGEN TV broadcast will also provide live signals for other CES demonstrations.

• Gaian Solutions is showcasing the first-ever ‘AI & Data Lake powered NEXTGEN TV Broadcast Platform as a service’ that spans across broadcast control systems, full stack receiver solutions and cloud based microservices addressing business management functions, Ad-tech, data analytics, app designer tools and AI agents for rapid service curation and spectrum monetisation. Gaian is showing its ‘3 in 1’ service that enables broadcasters to immediately begin offering NEXTGEN TV services with low cost modular receivers and negligible capital investment by only utilizing the existing ATSC 1.0 infrastructure.

“Viewers in South Korea have been enjoying 4K video and immersive audio delivered via ATSC 3.0 since 2017 and a number of US broadcasters are already on-the-air with NEXTGEN TV. Many more channels in the US are expected to sign on as the spectrum repack is completed and stations work cooperatively to launch this revolutionary new service while also preserving current digital TV broadcasts. With a focus on the Top 40 Nielsen markets and more than 20 additional cities, NEXTGEN TV is expected to reach more than 70 per cent of the US population over the next year,” Noland explained.

To take advantage of the growth in Internet-delivered content, ATSC 3.0 suggests it is the first broadcast standard built on an Internet Protocol backbone and it promises to deliver new choices through both over-the-air broadcasts and broadband connections.

“CES is just the beginning of NEXTGEN TV for the consumer technology industry. And I know we will be back next year with even more stations on the air offering a growing list of new NEXTGEN TV features and welcoming news of even more receivers to be introduced for viewers,” Noland said.