Countdown to Launch!

Posted on May 3, 2016 in ATSC News

As industry experts and policymakers gather in Washington this month for the 2016 ATSC Broadcast Television Conference, ATSC 3.0 is on a roll! Our theme, “Countdown to Launch,” is underscored by the FCC’s fast-track consideration of a joint petition seeking authority to voluntarily begin broadcast services using the ATSC 3.0 transmission standard. Also setting the stage for our conference is tremendous momentum from last month’s NAB Show where, following years of preparation, ATSC 3.0 truly was unleashed.

I thought NAB ‘16 would be a great show for the ATSC and our major initiative, 3.0.  Well, it exceeded expectations – not just mine, but just about everybody I spoke with during and after the show.  Communications Daily said it well: “ATSC 3.0 was everywhere at the NAB Show, a primary topic of conversation where broadcasters gathered, raised as an issue during nearly every panel we attended, and nearly every FCC commissioner mentioned visiting the show’s demonstrations of the new standard in action.”

Many thanks go to ATSC members who went above and beyond to demonstrate the flexibility and capabilities of the Next Gen TV standard. Special thanks go to CTA, NAB, Pearl TV and many others for co-sponsoring ATSC 3.0 Consumer Experience exhibit. There visitors saw 3.0 in action with demonstrations of immersive and personalize audio, live ATSC 3.0 broadcasts of advanced emergency alerting, 4K Ultra HD and HDR, as well as interactive advertising and even cool new “gateway” devices.

The ATSC 3.0 Broadcast Television Pavilion at NAB ’16 highlighted a plethora of compelling workflow demonstrations from literally dozens of ATSC members. Especially noteworthy was the significant presence of Korean broadcasters and technology companies as an anchor exhibitor in Futures Park powered by PILOT. This particular exhibit, led by SBS, KBS, MBC and ETRI, illustrated how serious our friends in South Korea are in implementing Next-Gen TV, very soon— as early as February 2017, in advance of the 2018 Olympic Games.

In this issue of THE STANDARD, you’ll find highlights from the NAB Show and an overview of the FCC petition, as well as an update on the ATSC Broadcast Television Conference, where we are honored to have FCC Commissioner Mike O’Reilly and Sony’s Hugo Gaggioni as our keynote speakers.  Registration is still open for the May 11 “Countdown to Launch” conference and for “Ready-Set-Go,” the day-long ATSC 3.0 implementation workshop on May 10.

We look forward to seeing you in Washington to celebrate ATSC 3.0’s momentum and, most importantly, prepare for the exciting commercialization phase of Next Gen TV.

Mark Richer

ATSC President

Posted in ATSC News