President’s Memo: Innovation!

Posted on June 8, 2021 in ATSC News

While hopeful signs are emerging that the COVID-19 pandemic is beginning to ease in the United States, we are watching and concerned about ongoing outbreaks in other parts of our world. There is much work underway to continue building on the progress that the broadcasting industry is making each week in the U.S. transition to next-generation broadcasting.

Meantime, our collective work to stage ATSC 3.0 technical demonstrations in India is temporarily paused as the pandemic continues to have deep impacts on our colleagues at Prasar Bharati, TSDSI and across all of India.  With the lockdown in Delhi gradually lifting as of this writing, we’re hopeful that collaborative work can begin again soon in that region which has the dual primary goals of direct-to-mobile broadcast services and offloading data from congested two-way networks to a broadcast network.

This past month brought a renewed focus on the potential for ATSC 3.0 to be a lifesaving technology, as the AWARN Alliance convened a watershed virtual Summit that brought together broadcasters and the public safety community to discuss various projects underway to utilize next-generation emergency messaging – including an eye-opening presentation by retired Lt. General Reynold Hoover who pointed out the key benefit of reaching the population through next-generation TV technology.

An innovative project to study advanced emergency messaging for 911 dispatch uses took a big step forward with the announcement of Department of Homeland Security grant monies awarded to PBS North Carolina and NC Department of Information Technology. The project seeks to “increase coverage area and penetration, reduce delay and provide a secure and reliable means for transmitting [911 dispatch] emergency alerts [to first responders].”

Innovation was also on display at a recent demonstration utilizing ATSC 3.0 to deliver Enhanced GPS signals. The demo showed the system’s ability to “deliver positional accuracy within a few centimeters.”

The U.S will soon mark another milestone – the 30^th city to launch ATSC 3.0 service with broadcasters planning many more market launches this summer and fall.  In this issue of The Standard, you’ll read more about what’s required to launch service in a market and the innovations now being developed to insure cable compatibility with ATSC 3.0.

ATSC is also very excited to announce the return of our in-person Next Gen Broadcast Conference and Annual Member Meeting, which will take place at the familiar Reagan International Commerce Center in Washington, D.C. on August 25 and 26.  We’ll be moving to a different room in the vast complex and will also plan to livestream the event.

Another indication of how things are moving forward is the news that the first dozen engineers have now been ATSC 3.0 Certified by the Society of Broadcast Engineers.  We thank those within our ranks who helped to develop the Certification and salute the first 12 engineers who can now add this certification to their curriculum vitae.

ATSC 3.0 innovation is unfolding across the industry and across the globe  – a solid trend line that our members are helping to build.

Madeleine Noland
ATSC President

Posted in ATSC News