Looking Ahead with Confidence

Posted on July 7, 2015 in ATSC News

It’s hard to believe that the middle of the year is upon us – a good time for a brief ATSC 3.0 progress report and second-half forecast.

The past six months have seen ATSC member organizations invest tremendous resources (human, technical and financial) in the next-generation broadcasting standard. With the ATSC hitting key milestones so far this year, those investments appear to be paying off, I’m happy to report. Also noteworthy in the first half has been growth in the ATSC’s membership ranks – with tech firms and broadcasters joining to participate in the ATSC 3.0 process (and even some who left for a while returning with great enthusiasm). So far this year, we have 17 new members.

Looking ahead to the next six months, I expect to see continued membership growth and even more member engagement as the various elements of ATSC 3.0 move toward Candidate Standard status. Major broadcasting and technology companies already have made announcements about field tests and technology collaborations to help support the rapid standardization, adoption and deployment of ATSC 3.0. While the ATSC itself isn’t directly involved in these projects, the entire industry benefits from such activities, and we encourage others to plan technology field tests and service field trials.

I expect that the rest of the summer will see member representatives juggling family vacations and very busy ATSC meeting schedules. July will be filled with meetings for the TG3 Technology Group and its Specialist Groups and Ad Hoc Groups in Atlanta. Across town, ATSC 3.0 Audio System proponents will host expert listening sessions for immersive audio and personalization, among other features. And later this month, also in the Big Peach, the ATSC board will gather for its annual strategic planning summit.

To be sure, there’s a lot of work to do. But I’m confident that, thanks to the ongoing major contributions of our members, that our standardization work is on track. ATSC 3.0 is expected to become a Candidate Standard later this year and progress to Proposed Standard status next year, setting the stage for our ultimate goal of having the final approved next-gen TV broadcast standard in place by early 2017.

Mark Richer
ATSC President

Posted in ATSC News