PRESIDENT’S MEMO

Posted on November 8, 2017 in ATSC News

‘Movement’ is the watchword for November!

Movement: Keeping things moving on the Next Gen TV standard is the ATSC’s main focus during this particularly busy month, on the heels of a major milestone: member approval of A/300, the overall system standard for ATSC 3.0.

 Movement: The regulatory process is moving ahead quickly, too; the FCC is expected to vote November 16 on the Report and Order authorizing the voluntary implementation of Next Gen TV powered by ATSC 3.0. 

Movement:  All of the remaining documents that need to move forward to finalize the ATSC 3.0 suite of next-generation TV standards are in motion this month. 

The TG3 Technology Group just voted to approve the A/323 physical layer uplink document as a Candidate Standard.  In November, TG3 members are voting on Proposed Standard ballots for interactive content (A/344), application signaling (A/337) and the scheduler/ studio-to-transmitter link (A/324), the last step before ATSC members approve them as final standards.

Movement: There’s also significant movement related to the ATSC Board of Directors in November as ATSC members cast ballots to fill the three open seats for three-year board terms starting January 2018. 

The candidates are: Mark Corl, Triveni Digital; Jon Fairhurst, Samsung; and Craig Todd, Dolby.  Craig’s current term expires at year-end, and he is running for re-election. Cox Media Group’s Dave Siegler is term-limited and PBS’s Chris Homer has retired. Their service to the ATSC has been impactful and is greatly appreciated.

Movement: Next Gen TV itself is a “Movement,” representing an unprecedented level of cooperation, collaboration and innovation across the television ecosystem – both in the United States and in South Korea, where broadcasters already are on the air with ATSC 3.0. 

In this month of gratitude, I am particularly thankful for all who are part of the Next Gen TV Movement, from technologists and business people to regulators and pundits, all contributing to defining a bright future for broadcast television with ATSC 3.0.

Mark Richer, ATSC President

Posted in ATSC News