President’s Memo

Posted on September 3, 2013 in ATSC News

Momentum Builds for ATSC 3.0

The ATSC prides itself in attracting the world’s best and brightest in our quest to define the future of television.  A terrific example is seen in the strong response to our call for proposals for the Physical Layer of the new “ATSC 3.0” broadcast television standard.

All told, 19 organizations – from North America, Asia and Europe – submitted 10 initial proposals in late August. It’s really exciting to see such a high level of enthusiasm in the industry for defining the modulation and error coding technologies in the transmission system that will provide a foundation for the next-generation TV broadcast standard.

With the media landscape and regulatory environment changing rapidly, we recognize the need for speed in standards development. While the Physical Layer is only one part of the overall ATSC 3.0 standard, the momentum behind this crucial element is gratifying. We’re looking forward to receiving detailed ATSC 3.0 Physical Layer proposals by September 27.

ATSC 3.0 is our future, and I urge all ATSC members to actively participate in the process. We’re charting new territory here, and ATSC 3.0 represents a once-in-a-lifetime (okay, maybe twice) opportunity for you and your organization to play an important role.

While our work on ATSC 3.0 moves forward, we’re also making great progress on the development of ATSC 2.0. The NRT (non-real-time) standard has been approved, and another key aspect of ATSC 2.0, “Interactive Services,” is approaching Candidate Standard status. In addition, the ATSC 2.0 Implementation Team is considering the necessary nuts and bolts to launch new services.

Now’s a great time for members to get involved. If you know of other companies and individuals who share our vision and passion for the future of television, please invite them to join the ATSC team. Let’s keep the momentum going!

Mark Richer

ATSC President

Posted in ATSC News