President’s Memo

Posted on August 6, 2014 in ATSC News

As we enter the final month of summer and thoughts turn to getting the kids back to school, we at the ATSC are having our share of summertime fun.

The technology groups are already back at school, forging ahead on their important standards work – challenging and dare I say enjoyable work for the scores of volunteers who are digging deeply into some pretty interesting technology issues related to the future of broadcasting:

• TG1 is putting the finishing touches on the ATSC 2.0 suite of technologies that represent important stepping stones to the future. For instance, key ATSC 2.0 elements like NRT (non-real-time) capabilities and triggers for targeted ads and targeted content will enable interactivity and personalization in ATSC 3.0.
• TG3 and its various specialists’ groups likewise are making solid progress.  In the round of TG3 meetings last month, ATSC members stepped up activities to develop the platforms to deliver more bits to more people with more devices, even more reliably.  Among other things, as explained in this issue of THE STANDARD, we established S-35, a new group focused on the entire ecosystem that will be required for successful implementation of the next-generation ATSC 3.0 Standard.

For its part, your ATSC Board of Directors held its annual strategic planning retreat, where we invited industry leaders to join the discussion. The frank and open dialog underscored the importance of ATSC 3.0 and having the right mix of mobile and fixed services, essentially confirming our overall direction.

In the two-day forum in Los Angeles (thanks to Univision for hosting us!), board members rolled up their sleeves, looking at transition scenarios for ATSC 3.0 and taking a fresh look at the organization’s long-term strategic plan. Among other things, they began to lay out an “ATSC Strategic Roadmap” that will incorporate a wide range of opportunities, from interoperability “plug fests and system field trials and” to optimizing SFN (single-frequency network) designs and the development of home broadcast gateway concepts, to name just a few items under consideration.

The ATSC is fortunate to have a growing list of members who are working in concert to develop next-gen standards that will benefit broadcasters, manufacturers and especially consumers. If you’re not yet involved, I urge you to attend one of the technology group meetings and/or join a specialist group. That’s the best way to assure you’re your organization’s voice is heard in our open process and to lend your expertise to our exciting work.

Mark Richer, ATSC President

Posted in ATSC News