Washington, DC, April 1, 2004 – Members and guests representing the diverse DTV industry attended the Advanced Television Systems Committee annual membership meeting on Tuesday at the Hotel Washington. Leading the day’s insightful presentations was a keynote address by Tribune Broadcasting president, Patrick Mullen. He focused on the commitment of broadcasters to the transition to digital and the need for cooperation among industries. “ATSC continues to play a vital role in advancing digital television in our country, and in forging cooperation among the many industries that are invested in the success of digital television. All of us can be proud to be your members and supporters.”

Giving the State of the Industry addresses were NAB’s Eddie Fritts, NCTA’s Robert Sachs, and CEA’s Gary Shapiro.

NAB president and CEO Eddie Fritts remarked, "We need to provide services that exploit all the advantages of over-the-air transmission-and reach the greatest audience possible with a reliable, received signal.  For example, ATSC's work on a standard for distributed transmission is commendable. The idea of synchronized multiple transmitters has the potential to help increase the reliability of over-the-air broadcast service."

“The cable industry’s rollout of HDTV ‘continues at full throttle’ with cable aggressively promoting its HD offerings and rapidly deploying HD services to further bolster its competitive position,” said Robert Sachs, NCTA president and CEO.

Gary Shapiro, CEA president and CEO, urged all DTV leaders to “work together to educate the American public and promote this wonderful technology.” Looking to the future he added, “Interactivity clearly is the next phase of digital television, thanks to work by the ATSC and others.  Perhaps the greatest compliment to this standards body is that millions of U.S. households now and in the future will enjoy your countless hours of hard work and dedication.

Graham Jones of NAB is this year's recipient of the Bernard J. Lechner Award for Outstanding Technical Contributions to ATSC. Mr. Jones led the effort to develop the Programming Metadata Communications Protocol” (PMCP) Standard. “Graham’s leadership exemplifies the role of a specialist group chairman. In addition to his technical contributions, Graham has run a highly organized and efficient specialist group that delivered its work in a timely manner. In addition, his outreach efforts have brought new participants into the work and new members into ATSC,” remarked Mark Richer, ATSC president.

The day included panel presentations on the hottest HD programming and the latest and greatest in consumer equipment. Phil Bond, U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for Technology, addressed the impact of ATSC standards outside the U.S. Broadcast leaders from Canada and Mexico also gave reports.

Technical demonstrations were conducted by ATI, Dolby, Microsoft, LINX Electronics, LSI Logic and Zenith. Sponsors of the annual meeting were ATI, Harmonic, LG Electronics, LINX Electronics, Panasonic, ST Microelectronics, Tandberg Television, and Zenith Electronics.

The Advanced Television Systems Committee, Inc. is an international, non-profit organization developing voluntary standards for digital television.  ATSC member organizations represent the broadcast, broadcast equipment, motion picture, consumer electronics, computer, cable, satellite, and semiconductor industries.

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Contact: Lisa Hester, ATSC at (202) 872-9160